I've had the v for about three weeks now, and I noticed today that the wheels looked "funny". Turns out there is a coat of brake dust on all four wheels. I'm a little surprised at the amount of brake dust given the mileage (~600 miles), and that I thought the electric motors shouldered a lot of the braking function. (I realize that driving styles is a big factor, but I'm pretty easy on the car and the brakes) I'm curious to know if anyone else is seeing a lot of brake dust on their v.
Is it actually brake dust and not just some tyre dressing that's been thrown from the sidewall onto the alloy? Had that happen to me in the past. Depends on what type you use. That's my view considering the very low miles and that it will have been detailed before delivery. Either that or you're massively unlucky to have 4 sticking calipers.
It's brake dust alright... I recognize the black powdery substance anywhere... I have ceramic pads on my other cars to keep the brake dust down. It doesn't feel like sticking calipers, but this is my first Toyota and a hybrid, so I am still learning the "feel" and noise the car makes... BTW - I washed the tire dressing off when I washed and waxed the car last week. That goop was flying off and covering the bottom of the rear bumper... ordered some mud guards today to hopefully keep that problem from occurring again...
If you get in the econ mode of primarily using regen to slow the car down instead of the friction brakes, your dust problem should go away. If you don't care to change the way you drive, then ceramic pads would be a good approach if you can find them for a Prius. Most Prius drivers are very easy on their brakes because energy absorbed by the brakes is gasoline wasted. It's common for Prius brake pads to last well over 100k miles for most drivers.
The dust is normal due to the new pads and rotors seating. Washes off very easy, if you keep up on it. Wax your wheels like you wax the other painted areas, the wheels will be easier to clean off. They will still dust up, just not as fast. My wife’s previous Ford Focus had a terrible problem with dust from the OEM pads. When I replaced the pads the dust went away. The dust builds up on my Camaro, interestingly my Chrysler 300C does not dust up.
Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm still learning the most efficient ways to drive the v. I was pretty good with my other cars (always managed to get above EPA mileage ratings), but the v is very different in many ways.
Depending on the type of vehicles you are accustomed to driving the hardest thing to probably get used to is leaving a bit of distance between yourself and the car in front of you. This way it will give you room to slow down using more of the regen-brakes vs the friction brakes... I am not sure if the V is the same as our regular Prius, but on the page with the bar that moves with your pedal pressure there should be a little section to the far left. If you can keep the area from shading completely to the left this usually means you are utilizing max regenerative braking. Here is a picture of mine. Tried finding a tutorial video, but no such luck. You can see though that on the very left there is the CHG section, and that is where you want it to be to get regen braking. If that little bar gets all the way full then it starts applying the friction brakes. Hope it helps.
The v has a similar graphic, except it's vertical, and there are 3 bars to show how hard you are braking. Is it correct to assume that as long as I keep the braking pressure to 1 or 2 bars, then I'm not using the friction brakes? I do try to leave some extra space between me and the car in front of me... Unfortunately in the DC area, other motorists see that gap as an invitation to cut over...
I had that issue in Florida as well, and now in Virginia.. Think it will be that way no matter where you go sadly. Just wanted to make sure you weren't riding bumpers. That was a huge problem of mine for a long time, and once I figured it out my mpg's improved a bit.. Without seeing the V's graphic myself I am unsure. I would think like you say as long as you keep it in 1-2 bars that you will be gettin maximum regenerative braking. It does depend to on speed/depth of pedal application as to the mix the computer provides.. I have noticed a bit of brake dust on my own Prius as of late, but I have been doing a lot of highway driving.. In low speeds (somewhere in the 10mph range) the Prius will strictly use the friction brakes as well.. So being in DC I picture a lot of traffic jams and such, so that may also be another reason you have a lot of dust is you are unable to use the regens in wall to wall traffic.
I have the brake dust too on my 2013 V. Never had this problem with my 2007 Prius II. So I guess Toyota must be using a cheaper brake pad's on the V's. I will have to check my sisters car and see if she has a brake dust on her 2013 Prius III.
