traction control on a Prius

This summer in Italy I drove up a mountain to friends over a 2km road with a lot of bends and covered with grid. On a certain moment the tractioncontrol came in, the yellow light came on and everything became very quit. No engine running. I could push the accelerator pedal but nothing happened, the car came to a complete stop. How to handle in such a situation? Thibaud

Reply to
Thibaud Taudin Chabot
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I was caught on a steep rain sodden dirt road once and the car refused to grip the road although the engine would rev. Only way out was to exit in a downward direction to another tar road.

Reply to
Lu R

I once encountered this on a steep gravel incline. I backed up about 50 meters and took the steep incline at a higher speed. The traction control activated a couple of times but I had enough inertia to get past the slippery spots. I've since traveled this incline with new tires and the traction control does not activate.

Reply to
Was Istoben

Hi Lu, I thought you said you never use this site. Thats whet you told the guys on the Oz car site. Why dont you tell them about that problem you have with your Prius , maybe one of them can help you. Scott

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Reply to
zonie

Scott, What are you smoking? I dont have a problem with my Prius and I never said I dont use this NG either. WTF?

Reply to
Lu R

Alright Lu, I stand corrected. My apologies. Scott

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Reply to
zonie

Snow tires, or (better), do not drive a Prius on un-paved roads. It is not an off-road vehicle.

Reply to
richard schumacher

That would exclude about 95% of the roads in North Dakota and South Dakota and 75% of the roads in Minnesota. Off-road means "not on a road." An unpaved road may well be graded, crowned, and covered with aggregate. I believe the OP was on a gravel road.

Reply to
Was Istoben

Correct, I was driving uphill on a well constructed road covered with stones about 1/4 inch. This road was easy to drive with a hand shifted car, we did it always in 1st gear. I don't call that road 'off road'. It is there for about 80 years.

Reply to
Thibaud Taudin Chabot

You people treat this obviously glaring design fault like its the drivers fault. It isn't. It's just a dumb choice on Toyotas part - just like that sorry excuse for ABS and the window lock button that turns off the drivers buttons. In many ways it's a good, maybe even great car but in other ways it's just the dumbest thing I've ever owned. I hate it when the traction control / ABS does it's dumbness but it's wonderful at the gas station. It bends and rattles a lot, and G_d help you if your inseam is more than 33 inches as there is just no way to get comfortable though a cushion from the 'Relax the Back' store makes it bearable. On a day with a moderate crosswind it tends to wander and it could sure use a bigger sway bar. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a solid 5.

Glenn Gundlach

Reply to
stratus46

Huh. Not mine. 28K miles.

YOU can't get comfortable, but I find it very comfortable--and I'm a tall lardass, relatively speaking.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Right. It makes so much more sense to sit there and spin your wheels when you don't have traction. This way the people behind you will understand why you are at a standstill. Of course, they will also know you outfit your car with crummy tires.

Reply to
Was Istoben

Well, it was very modest acceleration around a right turn but with a wet spot from sprinklers. The crummy tires are the originals.

My point is if an American manufacturer made those choices the buyers would be justifiably unhappy. Why do people make excuses when a Japanese manufacturer screws up?

When I remove my crummy tires in favor of my winter tires this November the traction problem will completely disappear. For all I know, both sets are made in China. These Goodyear tires that come on the Prius, are they unique to Japanese vehicles?

Reply to
Was Istoben

At 5000 miles I got a nail in the sidewall so the tire needed replacement. The orignals all say made in Japan. The replacement bought in California says made in USA and appears to be identical.

I'm glad your problem goes away but the car should do _something_ better than 'play dead' when it gets wheel slip.

Reply to
stratus46

At 5000 miles I got a nail in the sidewall so the tire needed replacement. The orignals all say made in Japan. The replacement bought in California says made in USA and appears to be identical.

I'm glad your problem goes away but the car should do _something_ better than 'play dead' when it gets wheel slip.

Precisely what will happen when a wheel slips depends so much on the situation it is impossible to generalize. I can remember situations where my car slid sideways into the ditch with the wheel spinning.. At speed and in a curve, a powered, slipping wheel may be worse than one without power. I know how frustrating it is to sit on an incline with the pedal to the metal and the engine shut down. That hasn't happened since I started using snow/ice tires. I'm having trouble faulting Toyota for this since it does as well on snow and ice as other cars I've owned, better than some, and very well within it's clearance limitation and with tires appropriate to the road surface.

Reply to
Was Istoben

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