@@@ Prius v water wade @@@

Yesterday on my way to Media Pennsylvania the rain suddenly poured down like crazy. On RT 476 it was just a slow traffic all around but when I turned into a smaller street with hills and valleys I did not expect the water to run like a rushing river especially along the shoulders. Since the rain was so heavy and the visibility was at best 10 yards and as I was coming down the hill I saw the huge mass of water coming towards me really fast! wash was suddenly slowed down by the full force and the impact was so much that the water rushed onto half of the hood at which point I was trying to move to the center lane but the car wouldn't steer as fast as I like. I came up to the second hill and waded through a foot or so running water then decided to pull into a gas station.
Later I popped up the hood and found leaves, debris and water marks everywhere! I was happy and surprised that my v got through that without any problems. The door seals also held tight and showed only water left around the "outside" edges of the door frames.
It was the scariest moment for me though.



The wiper was at full speed!!

 

That with Rain-X which I just applied 2 days earlier! I also used the one that mix with the windshield washer but haven't done with my new v yet.
Thanks,

 

One of my ad-on DRL's took in some water and stopped working. I had to replace it today but I did not have enough slags in the wires so I had to remove the front undercarriage panel which revealed a lot of leaves and debris. I also found those that got stuck to the radiator. I has to tape a brush to a long screwdriver and slid it through the front grill to brush them off first because if I chose to hose it off, the debris may get pushed deeper into the radiator fins. Later I sprayed plenty of Simple Green then hosed it off. I though about using the air compressor but it may blow the dirt everywhere. I also did a good clean up in the engine room where I found more water marks and leaves and etc. I forgot to mention that the force of the running water also pushed the square cap on the left hand side of the front bumper half way off! Fresh out of the water the brake acted funny for a few seconds though.

I was trying to use the cruise control just to see if it work while I was driving in the heavy rain, after a few second I got the "E2" error and the cruise control turned itself off! This is a good sign because I heard somewhere that the cruise control may cause hydro-planing while trying to keep the constant speed on wet roads.