PRIUS OUT-OF-CONTROL IN HEAVY WIND !!

I'll add my two cents to those who mentioned the tight steering. We get wind in this part of Michigan like you can't believe, and at first I found the Prius quite skittish. Mostly I was over controlling, reacting to each just rather than letting the Prius have its head. Once I loosened my grip and stopped over controlling, the Prius handles just fine. It's not the most stable car I've ever driven, but it does just fine. I did switch from the crappy OEM tires, but yours being a touring model, you shouldn't have that problem. I think your wife will do fine once she gets used to it.

Tom

 

How many times do you have to point out that you have the TOURING model???

 

I've said it before, but the Prius drives like an old Jeep Wrangler with a soft top without the noise. At least on the Wrangler the noise level was a warning to be careful.

Just today I was at 70mph on the G. Bush Turnpike when I passed 75 going East. At that point the road is unshielded to the wind and is also elevated a few stories up. The wind was very gusty and it almost blew me into the lane to the left several times. I estimate that I was counter-steering at my personal human maximum. Any higher wind speed or vehicle speed, and I would have been blown far enough into the lane next to me to hit another vehicle. I consider myself pretty good at highway driving - even in high wind I always could always keep my previous vehicles perfectly straight. I just came from driving a lifted 2004 Discovery, which is a pretty high-profile vehicle, and the Prius is harder to drive in these condiitons.

Let your wife get used to the vehicle. Her counter-steering skills will improve. If she doesn't have extensive highway driving experience (you drive on all the long trips), then she will have a harder time. Let her get to know the vehicle and know her limits in the wind. The handling of the Prius at high speed in gusty wind is it's one really big flaws, but like the Wrangler it's a trade-off. The Wrangler suffers on the highway to give you off road ability - the Prius suffers the same fate to give you higher MPG.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ May 23 2007, 10:18 PM) [snapback]448667[/snapback]</div>

Lighten up, Francis.

It was only a joke.

I just get a kick out of how you are always putting TOURING in your posts. The capitalization just kills me.

Anyway, the BT Plate is going to behave the same on your Prius as it would any other. It is stiffening the chassis and does that regardless of the tires or suspension. The BT Plate is agnostic in that regard. It is just a piece of metal.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ May 23 2007, 10:42 PM) [snapback]448678[/snapback]</div>

So, are you telling us that we have essentially just wasted an entire day debating solutions to a problem that didn't really exist? :blink:

As the old adage goes, "The quickest way to a better handling car is to check for a loose "nut" behind the wheel."

 

Well take it from someone who drives a Prius in the flat, wind-swept landscape of "Blowing Green" ... The prius is more succeptable to lateral winds than many other cars (i noticed the difference on the Interstate within days of trading in My 2002 Beetle for a 2006 Prius.. however, the car is not 'out of control' or 'unmanageable' as many posts have claimed over the last several years... We get a LOT of wind here... we have 4 390-foot wind turbines 3 miles west of town and they are now planning to install 30 more turbines because they are generating so much wind power from the constant winds we get here...

http://www.greenenergyohio.org/page.cfm?pageID=453

 

I just traded in my Acura MDX for a Prius.

Actually, I recall my biggest peeve with my MDX was that it would blow all over the road in high winds! My friends even commented on how scary it was.

While the Prius is lighter, and is proportionately taller, I bet it is an alignment issue. Don't know yet, as we have high winds in the fall and winter here, not in the late spring/summer...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ 2007 May 23 7:30 PM) [snapback]448671[/snapback]</div>

I'd recommend having the alignment checked before you install the brace. It won't cure any misalignment, and you can't appreciate the difference in handling if the car won't steer properly.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ May 22 2007, 05:09 PM) [snapback]447663[/snapback]</div>

Be aware that a Pilot Induced Oscillation may be the true root of this issue. I've got a Touring edition with the same tires as you do and I run a higher pressure (37/35). The Prius' steering is unlike other vehicles that I've driven in the past (in a good way) and it took time to get used to the veeeery small inputs required to get it to respond appropriately. Drivers that are used to ham-handing it will ultimately continue to over-correct back and forth in a cross-wind which will lead to a PIO and a perception of instability.

Here in California and especially in the areas that I drive (The previously mentioned Altamont Pass) I have had ample opportunity to acquaint myself with this phenomenon. It took me about a month to re-train myself and now I don't perceive any issues with wind instability... funny how that works and it didn't cost me a dime

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ May 24 2007, 06:00 AM) [snapback]448898[/snapback]</div>

Again, you need to learn to take a joke. My comments were in jest. I am sure your wife is a fine driver and a fine woman.

This entire thread is amusing to me. You have taken some knee-jerk reactions (BT Plate) to a situation that you have now mostly attributed to your wife's adaptation to the vehicle. Instead of giving her a chance to climb the learning curve, you immediately started talking about modifying the car and ordering aftermarket parts. To me, that is putting the cart before the horse.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bgdrewsif @ May 23 2007, 10:55 PM) [snapback]448688[/snapback]</div>

My wife drives a 2001 Beetle and of all the cars I have ever driven it has to be the worse ever with crosswinds, but that being said I agree that the Prius isn't anywhere near as unmanageable as many posts have claimed. I think that anyone who is a halfway decent driver shouldn't have any problems whatsoever with it, oh and same goes for the Beetle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ May 24 2007, 06:09 AM) [snapback]448909[/snapback]</div>

[sarcasm]Please, please, please stop posting. You're style is making my eyes hurt with all of the quotes, caps, bold, and extended ellipses. Your ad nauseum declarations of owning the touring model is annoying too. That detail is in the first post - bolded yet - and that's enough for me.

I suggest you turn off the MFD (just because) and put a couple of thousand miles on the car before freaking out again. Otherwise, I expect to soon read about the brakes grabbing or your wife doing something else annoying. Oy vey![/sarcasm]

 

I echo what other posters have commented on. You should have your alignment checked. I have read that shipping the vehicle on and off the carriers to place of sale can cause it to go out. I had mine checked and it was out of alignment. I had them adjust it to the specs recommended on this forum. They got as close as they could with the rear but insisted they would not use shims.