I have not been able to go into "glide mode" above 40 mph. Is this possible? is there a maximum speed where you can glide? I have no problems gliding when I am going under 40 mph, but not faster.
41 mph is the max you can glide (no arrows) easily. It is possible to get a no-arrow glide at higher speeds, but it is very difficult to maintain and difficult to get repeatedly. At 42mph+, I usually just settle for a glides with arrows from the battery.
The glide mode(no arrows) is very hard for me to hit and hold at times but at other times it seems easy to hit and hold ... Maybe some of the experts will clear this up for us....
If you go into a glide before 41 mph you can throw it in N and you can go significantly faster than 41 mph in a true glide. At least that's what I've heard.
What Michael is describing is what many call "warp stealth." See this for more. The line chart about half way through the paper shows current flow with increasing go-pedal pressure. If you can manage to hit and hold it at around zero amps you might get the arrows to disappear. But I suggest not even trying and instead follow Michael's advice. It's an extremely small segment in the pedal's range of travel, and would require rock-solid steadiness with your foot and near-constant attention to the MFD to hold it, even it you can hit it. I've seen near zero amps on CAN-View during a 42+ MPH glide, but the smallest bump in the road jiggles my foot enough to lose it -- and I think I'm pretty good at holding the pedal still. Sandman, at what speeds do you find hitting a no-arrows glide easy? At <40 MPH with a good state of charge, it's very easy with a little practice. At higher speeds ... see above.
Yes you are correct on that ..Reason I was asking I have a long down hill that in my 5-speed truck I would hit around 60mph coasting. I thought that hitting the glide (no arrows would be best for this hill but cant get it to glide .SO I need to know the best way to get the best mpg down this hill..Thank you
That's what JimboK posted. Read the link (Hobbit's paper) for Warp Stealth. I do it all the time on the highway (very hilly) at 65mph. Yes. You will have arrows coming from the battery.
Above 41 mph, just settle for the warp-stealth. Same technique as the no arrow glide, but you'll be shooting for yellow arrows from the battery, only. I have serveral very long stretches inclined downhill highway on the way to work, and I can hold a warp-stealth for the full duration.
Is there anything wrong with putting the car into neutral? The manual says not to do it but it also says not to throw it in reverse when driving forward as well! I've tried shifting into neutral to glide and it seems to work fine. Is there any penalty to doing so? Will the transmission suffer from going back into drive at high speed? I haven't noticed any ill effects but perhaps over time it wouldn't be good for the car. jd
No harm, except that neutral causes the engine to drop to idle and start burning fuel again. WS is a more efficient state, optimized for high-speed coasting in fuel-cut mode. . _H*
I will, not infrequently, drop into neutral while in a no-arrows ICE-off glide below 40mph when I know I'm approaching a downhill area and my speed will exceed 41mph. This allows me to avoid the ICE-idle, it prevents the ICE start altogether. Thus I glide down the hill in an ICE-off neutral glide and just maintain the glide until my speed again drops below 40 and I go back into neutral. It takes practice, but it's become habit over time. Just be sure your maximum speed in ICE-off neutral won't exceed 62mph...MG1 will exceed 10k rpm at that point and there's risk of damage.
I was just coming to post about this very thing. I was wondering why it was so darn touchy. Now I know.
I'm a little confused by your post. I thought that the ICE remained running when you put the Prius in nuetral. No?
No. The ICE will remain running when you put the Prius in Neutral only if the ICE was already running when you put the Prius in Neutral. If the ICE is not running when you put the Prius in Neutral (which only ever happens at speeds below 42 mph) it will remain not running. Even if you are coasting in Neutral down a long steep hill and get up to 100mph, the ICE will remain not running. Of course, since there is no clutch to disengage the gears, to compensate for the fact that the ICE is not running the motor/generator, MG1, spins ever faster as you accelerate down the hill. As you exceed 62 mph MG1 exceeds it's rated RPM. I assume there is some amount of safety margin built into the RPM rating for the motor/generator, but at that point you are at your own risk.
