Glass vs Plastic

This is a tip I had missed, will need to try it driving home tonight.

I've assumed the little window on my 2005 was glass, will also have to check that later.

 

I believe it was Tideland Prius and I would like to thank him too. I tried it today and yes it's neat!

 

Unless the VSC light comes on and you hear the chime associated with the VSC light, along with some strange vehicular intervention on the part of the braking and steering system, you received no assistance from VSC on your driving loop. You would have had to have a vehicle-out-of-control situation for VSC to come on. If VSC did activate, the road conditions you were on were excessively bad, or the car was being pushed well beyond its limits. That would have been one scary ride, not a pleasant or enjoyable one. Was that the case?

I'm unsure of the material of the lower back window. I am shooting from the hip here, but I'm certain it is safety glass. First off, there are resistance heat strips embedded in the material for fog and ice removal. Second I've washed that lower glass piece many times and it does not have the feel or sound of plastic. You can check because glass will be perceptively colder than plastic when touched with the bare hand, and it will also sound different than plastic when tapped with a fingernail. Low tech, yes. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

 

I think someone gave you some bad information on the small back window. My 04 is glass and if you look closely there are defrost elements in it. Don't think they can do that with plastic.

 

The lower back window is glass. Look at the right side and you'll see something similar to the attached picture. I could see the mark, even through the dirt.

 

So to what do you attribute this "noticeably better" handling? Overactive imagination? Power of suggestion on a weak mind?

Very few cars have any sort of dynamic suspension geometry adjustment to improve handling. The Infiniti M class has computer controlled rear-wheel steer, in whch actuators move the lower rear trailing arm mounts around to add or subtract 1 degree of toe on the rear wheels during cornering. On entry, it steers opposite the front wheels for quicker turn-in, and in mid-turn, it steers in the same direction for stability on exit. The Acura RL "Super Handling All Wheel Drive" actively drives the left and right rear wheels at different speeds during cornering to achieve a similar rear-wheel steer effect (apparently quite effective, as the RL hits .90 Gs on the skidpad).

 

Just out of curiosity, why would you tint the lower back window? Does it really gather that much sunlight?

 

Ditto - I'm much prefer the more polite tone that is prevalent on this board! Prius envy, there *could* be something going with the suspension and ride of the two cars that *even you* aren't aware of...

 

Ah, I see. Makes sense to me now!

 

So with all this said, ALL the windows in the Prius are glass and can be tinted?