So, as I have mentioned previously, after purchasing my '05 Prius, I convinced my mom to buy one also. She is terrible with car maintanance, and so I am always on her case about cleaning her car, and etc. So, she has been out of town, and I had her leave her Prius ready for me to take for a day, and I did. This morning I got the tires rotated, completely detailed inside and out- it was a pigstye, and also got her windows tinted. I was VERY impressed with the VSC, It handled noticeably better in the hills than mine w/o it. When the window tinting was completed, I noticed that they tinted the small rear window, and asked them how they did it, because when they did my car, they left it un tinted, stating that they can't tint in since it is plastic, and that her's was glass?? They are both 2005 models, mine was built in early 05, and her's mid 05. Did they make them with 2 different materials in the same model year?? I REALLY do not like mine with the 2 different colors in the rear, and would love it to match... any input? P.S. Thank you to whomever noted that by holding the "mode" button on the steering wheel, that it turns the radio on/off- that's neat!
This is a tip I had missed, will need to try it driving home tonight. I've assumed the little window on my 2005 was glass, will also have to check that later.
I believe it was Tideland Prius and I would like to thank him too. I tried it today and yes it's neat!
Unless the VSC light comes on and you hear the chime associated with the VSC light, along with some strange vehicular intervention on the part of the braking and steering system, you received no assistance from VSC on your driving loop. You would have had to have a vehicle-out-of-control situation for VSC to come on. If VSC did activate, the road conditions you were on were excessively bad, or the car was being pushed well beyond its limits. That would have been one scary ride, not a pleasant or enjoyable one. Was that the case? I'm unsure of the material of the lower back window. I am shooting from the hip here, but I'm certain it is safety glass. First off, there are resistance heat strips embedded in the material for fog and ice removal. Second I've washed that lower glass piece many times and it does not have the feel or sound of plastic. You can check because glass will be perceptively colder than plastic when touched with the bare hand, and it will also sound different than plastic when tapped with a fingernail. Low tech, yes. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
I think someone gave you some bad information on the small back window. My 04 is glass and if you look closely there are defrost elements in it. Don't think they can do that with plastic.
Hmmm, it looks and sounds like plastic, but who am I to say? Oh! The vsc doesn't adjust the suspension as you are driving? Hmmm.. again I was given wrong info by my uninformed dealer- he said that VSC automatically made adjustments to the suspension as you are driving. HA- guess I was fooled... So really then, other than the fancy headlights, and foglights, I shouldn't be jealous of her Prius haha. At least I have a 6cd changer
It's glass and it has rear defogger wires so be careful when cleaning it. Also, holding up/down on the change station/track will change CDs. it's all noted in the User Guide on john1701a.com
The lower back window is glass. Look at the right side and you'll see something similar to the attached picture. I could see the mark, even through the dirt.
Grrr. Now I am gonna have to take mine back and get it done! They said they are gonna charge me, and that isn't right since my mom's was the same price as mine, and hers included that window.
So to what do you attribute this "noticeably better" handling? Overactive imagination? Power of suggestion on a weak mind? Very few cars have any sort of dynamic suspension geometry adjustment to improve handling. The Infiniti M class has computer controlled rear-wheel steer, in whch actuators move the lower rear trailing arm mounts around to add or subtract 1 degree of toe on the rear wheels during cornering. On entry, it steers opposite the front wheels for quicker turn-in, and in mid-turn, it steers in the same direction for stability on exit. The Acura RL "Super Handling All Wheel Drive" actively drives the left and right rear wheels at different speeds during cornering to achieve a similar rear-wheel steer effect (apparently quite effective, as the RL hits .90 Gs on the skidpad).
Just out of curiosity, why would you tint the lower back window? Does it really gather that much sunlight?
No, it's not about privacy, sun or anything else other then rear visability. I have a dark tint on the back windows, and when looking in the rear mirror, it is very awkward to try to look out of 2 different colored windows, a VERY dark, and a light... sounds silly, but it is strange. Just a simple matter of, you wouldn't tint the rear passenger windows of a car, and then not the lil windows behind them!!
"Power of suggestion on a weak mind"??? Umm, not sure what you are implying, but it DID handle better, and I even have upgraded tires, so i am not sure why it handled better- maybe my suspension is just more worn, having 20k more miles... PUT THE CLAWS BACK geez
Ditto - I'm much prefer the more polite tone that is prevalent on this board! Prius envy, there *could* be something going with the suspension and ride of the two cars that *even you* aren't aware of...
