I remember reading in the Prime's manual and seeing a quick reply here or there about the supposedly constant outside warning noise made by the Prime when moving at 15 mph or less so the unaware can detect the stealthy vehicle. Has anyone heard this first hand? I don't want it to be too annoying or loud since I have to do a bit if low speed driving in and out of my relativity quite apartment complex. It may also prove helpful since we have several blind tenants...
I imagine it sounds like the sound my Prius C makes under those circumstances. Which is to say it is not really loud enough to alert pedestrians to your presence. People are always telling me they did not hear my car approach. It may just be that the noise Toyota uses is not like an engine noise and so people do not realize it is a car making the high pitched whistling.
The noise is very unobtrusive, and can really only be heard in a quiet environment for only a few feet. The Prime boot-up sound is louder. Here's a link to the NHTSA Press Release on Quiet Car noise. My guess is that vision impaired persons may be trained to listen for the noise at crosswalks.
all prius have had this since 2012. i can't hear mine unless i'm in an enclosed space with the window down. and people walking right in front of me in parking lots don't even turn their heads. it may be possible to adjust the volume on gen 4 iirc.
Hmm, they changed the sound. I like mine better. Hey, an opportunity for Toyota to make more money. Offer different sounds (all legal of course) for the blind protect system.
mine sounds exactly like that, i didn't realize the plug ins were different. as far as the rest of the car sound? that's horrible. if i test drove a gen 4 and it sounded like that, i'd be keeping my 2012. whisper quiet. is that inverter noise?
