I hear the wind a blowin'!

Don't know about the wind noise. It gets quite windy here and I don't hear anything. As for the wobble - my first suggestion would be to check the tire pressure. I notice a bit of a wobble on curves when my pressure is low.

 

as i noted a year ago last march when my car arrived that the car is a little "twitchy" in side winds. the thing is so high that a little twitchiness is to be expected. tire pressures are very important as well as making sure your car is properly aligned. you get used to it .its not real bad and with light steering wheel pressure its ok.

 

Mine can be hard to hold straight in strong cross-winds. I don't notice more noise than I would expect, but that can be a matter of what you were used to.

As for cross-wind handling, I have not been on the highway since I got my HydroEdge tires. I think someone said that switching from the OEM tires improved it, though.

 

daniel, let me know when you do go on the highway with the new tires. i believe that john1701a is a strong advocate of that tire.

 

Here in Manitoba, the wind ALWAYS blows. It's also quite windy in Fargo too, I'm sure Daniel can relate. I've noticed that noise in strong head winds,

I think it's turbulence around the side mirror. I've tried folding the mirror in for a test at highway speeds, and the volume of the noise and the pitch changed.

With my stock tires the Prius was a handful. As it turned out, my alignment was off quite a bit too. I had Michelin Harmony all-season tires installed and that, combined with the alignment, made the car much easier to handle in sidewinds.

However, it's not the most stable car out there. I'm wondering if the over-boosted electric power steering and taller profile contribute to this. If you search for handling issues in this forum, a few members have complained about the lack of directional stability.

I'm not sure if tires alone account for it. I'm currently running Dunlop Graspic DS-2 winter tires on steel rims. The Graspic has very soft, squishy treads and very flexible sidewalls, this all contributes to much improved winter traction.

I have not seen any handling difference whatsoever in strong sidewinds, even gusts, with the Graspic tires. That is, the car seems to react about the same as with the all-season tires. However, on onramps and offramps, the steering response is delayed.

I would have expected more problems with the Graspic tires and the Prius natural tendency to wander a bit. So far, that has not been the case.

In comparison, my folks drive a 2003 Buick LeSabre Celebration Edition. Upon delivery, my dad insisted they check the alignment, and the toe was out a bit.

In summer that car runs Michelin Harmony, in winter Cooper WeatherMaster ST-2 studded snow tires. It tracks like on rails. I wish my Prius had the same stability at highway speeds.

 

I think because our Prii have high profiles and somewhat FLAT sides, it creates problems in high speeds (when it's blowing hard). For those of you who can remember and for those of you who had one....DO YOU REMEMBER THE OLD VWs? As a matter of fact, we also have a 2000 Beetle and it's pretty wobbly, too, on the freeway and high winds. I don't know if dropping the car a tad would improve it's stability. Personally it's too much work and money to bother. I don't know if I'd like the look either.

 

I too sometimes notice wind noise at highway speeds when the wind is also up. If I push on the gasket at the top of the window near the rear of the door, it seems to be less.

I don't know if there are any adjustments that can be made. Perhaps the door is sucked out just a tiny bit in some circumstances letting in a little air?

 

Yes, he is. And as Jayman says, the wind always blows here. However, I don't travel (outside of town) by car in winter. The road conditions are just too unpredictable. I suppose I could take a drive out of town on a windy day when the freeways are clear, but I'm not that impatient. John's reports and the tire's ratings were good enough for me to switch. But I won't have any first-hand report on highway driving on them until spring or summer.

As for handling on snow and ice, they seem good. But I'm such a cautious driver in winter that I seldom put them to the test. I have twice slid right through an intersection with them, but it's been so slippery here these few days that I don't think anything short of studs would have stopped.

 

Yes - the wind. By far the worst enemy of good MPG - in my experience lot worse than cold weather.

When it's windy I'm getting 50 - 55 MPG going to work (East) and 35 - 37 going home (West). Especially when trying to drive into the wind faster than 60 Mph, then the MPG really goes south...

And the side wind surely can do quite a number on the vehicle when emerging from behind obstacles (houses, trees, etc.) No wonder - Prius side is kind of flat and high...

 

If you think wind/road noise is bad in the Prius, take a ride in my old car...1999 Chrysler 300M. That car was LOUD. My Prius on the other hand is remarkably quiet...even in windy conditions.

 

i had a 99 chrysler 300M too!!

 

me too! mine was very quiet though. also very good in slick conditions. probaobly because of the huge weight and traction contro,

 

my Prius is 10 times quieter than my truck or my old corolla. i can make cell phone calls again~!!

we have several bridges where wind shear is a major problem. once going over the floating bridge to seattle, it really got a bit scary, but i think that would have happened in any car. the speed limit on the bridge was reduced to 35 mph from a normal 60.

one thing to consider is that the low Cd of friction will make the car effectively lighter on its feet. that will make it susceptible to sideways forces also. wider softer tires will no doubt help

 

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Try the bridge over the Columbia on I90 when it is blowing good. I would recomend using both hands to steer and let a passenger do the praying. Its one of those locations where they have a wind sock at both ends of the bridge.

 

I have noticed the car bobble from side to side on the freeways and highways from Houston to San Antonio and to Austin. If that is all I have to worry about during this car's lifetime, I can put up with it since most of the time I do not experience heavy gusts down in Houston, Texas.

I do however have a big question concering my alignment. As with a few other individuals I noticed who had their alignment checked after buying their vehicle, I had mine checked as well and it was off some. They aligned twice already but still it feels like the steering column is not centered right in the middle. The car doesn't veer to the right or left, but the steering column is not centered to my liking. The dealership says the computer has a range that it centers the steering wheel by and is not always perfect. Any ideas or anybody have the same sensitivity to "centering" of steering wheel as me? any suggestions on what I should ask my service advisor next time I go in? I feel like it's centered to the left more.

Thanks for your time.....I am probably more sensitive to those things than most other people...

 

by range that the computer centers by, they wouldnt be taking about "dead area" like in an adjustment for a joystick would they?... if that is the case, the dead area is adjustable.

also computers are not analog devices... they dont have a "range" per se unless a range is programmed in the software. if the centering isnt perfect, then the software is in error or something is out of adjustment. my car rides dead straight down the road. on a level straight road i can take my hand off the steering wheel for 5-10 seconds at a time without having to make any course corrections. so if mine is ok, then yours should be too.

 

I think the "computer" the dealer was talking about might have been the computer in the alignment machine, not the car. If the steering wheel is not straight (and mine is not, second appt. Saturday), and they didn't fix it, they probably didn't test drive the car, and used the fancy computer alignment, which as they say probably has a tolerance on the centering adjustment.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback on the alignment. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is still trying to get their steering wheel straight. I have an appointment as well to get that "straightened" out. By the way, if anyone has a printout of the correct specs of a true "straight" alignment, please provide me with the numbers so I can share this with the dealership....thansk again everyone!!

 

As for wind noise, is your window up all the way? I remember reading somewhere about the window "range" being programmed or set. Maybe that window wasn't set properly?