1. Does the solar roof, when open, have more wind noise due to the deflector (compared to "normal" sunroofs)? 2. Does the solar cell-derived juice get stored in a mini battery, or is it no sun = no go, like in covered parking lots or hot nightimes. 3. I'm confused about this talk about inflating tires to max indicated on the sidewall. Doesn't that create hard ride, lessened grip, faster wear. And, is that safe? I would sacrifice 2MPG if tires last 5K longer... 4. What was Toyota thinking with the 15" alloys and covering with less than attractive covers? Seems to me it wouldn't have been a stretch to design nice aerodynamic light 15" alloys from the start. 5. LED headlights - docs state auto off. Is it a timer, or like (as I hear) the standard headlights turn off when driver's door is opened. 6. Why does Toyota include the low tire pressure monitoring standard? I think I read it's quite costly, and feel the $$ could have been put to better feature use. 7. It appears as if there are NO trim differences (in or out) from the II thru V. Other than fogs, LEDs, leather, tires/wheels, etc the basic car is visually exactly the same. As well as all drivetrain and mechanics, except the steering on Vs. And of course the major Packages. And finally, 8. I, for one, feel headlight washers are a waste unless one drives in a dusty dirty environment for long periods of time. Does anyone that has them on other cars really use them? Another $$ (on V models) that could have been useful somewhere else IMO. sorry for the rambling but wanted to get the thoughts out all at once...
Well, I'm definitely not one of the knowledgable ones, but I did think the 15 covers looked better in person, at least on the Blizzard Pearl I saw a few weeks ago. That said, I still like the Gen II covers better. Does anyone know if it's possible to put the Gen II covers on a Gen III?
1. Does the solar roof, when open, have more wind noise due to the deflector (compared to "normal" sunroofs)? I think I read someone say that they actually found it quite quiet compared to another vehicle they owned with a sunroof. 2. Does the solar cell-derived juice get stored in a mini battery, or is it no sun = no go, like in covered parking lots or hot nightimes. The solar cell only provides power for the recirc fan while parked, I dont think it gets stored anywhere. 3. I'm confused about this talk about inflating tires to max indicated on the sidewall. Doesn't that create hard ride, lessened grip, faster wear. And, is that safe? I would sacrifice 2MPG if tires last 5K longer... Quite a few of us on here have been running over on our G2's. I am getting a Prius V this time around and while I will run higher I will not go as high as 40psi with the low profiles. I have had this size tire before and at least for where I live running that high a psi will run the risk or more blowouts as well as premature damage to the suspension system. I plan on running 36+- but not much more. With the 15" though, 40 or a bit more should be fine. 4. What was Toyota thinking with the 15" alloys and covering with less than attractive covers? Seems to me it wouldn't have been a stretch to design nice aerodynamic light 15" alloys from the start. Unfortunately many agree but they are what comes with the car. You can always remove the wheel covers as some have already. 5. LED headlights - docs state auto off. Is it a timer, or like (as I hear) the standard headlights turn off when driver's door is opened. I could be wrong but I think now there is a timer, 30 seconds, until the lights turn off instead of the door being opened to turn them off. HTML may remember better what the new setting is... 6. Why does Toyota include the low tire pressure monitoring standard? I think I read it's quite costly, and feel the $$ could have been put to better feature use. It became a federal mandate in 2006 I think that all vehicles must now have it. 7. It appears as if there are NO trim differences (in or out) from the II thru V. Other than fogs, LEDs, leather, tires/wheels, etc the basic car is visually exactly the same. As well as all drivetrain and mechanics, except the steering on Vs. And of course the major Packages. Nope, there is no badging to represent a Prius II III IV or V... And finally, 8. I, for one, feel headlight washers are a waste unless one drives in a dusty dirty environment for long periods of time. Does anyone that has them on other cars really use them? Another $$ (on V models) that could have been useful somewhere else IMO. Depends on where one lives, there have been many on here who in a thread about this some time ago said for where they live with all the snow and road salt use them and love them. I just hate that they are tied to the spray for the windshield washer fluid spray as well. I would only want them to spray when i push the button for them to spray. If I am wrong about something please correct me!
Harder ride, of course. Lessened grip, nope. For that to happen, the tire shape would have to change. That doesn't occur unless you excess the max. Faster wear, quite the opposite. The edges last longer due to less flexing. Federal mandate. All vehicles must provide monitoring. You obviously don't live in the north, where sand & salt are used in the winter. A single commute is all it takes to coat the vehicle with a crust of grime. .
Lessened grip, nope. For that to happen, the tire shape would have to change. That doesn't occur unless you excess the max. Faster wear, quite the opposite. The edges last longer due to less flexing. Aha! Thanks! Federal mandate. All vehicles must provide monitoring. Really? Have I been asleep? You obviously don't live in the north, where sand & salt are used in the winter. A single commute is all it takes to coat the vehicle with a crust of grime. I did - Chicago then Boston. Now Florida. How soon we forget. I forgot. And I stand corrected. (just as I typed this...the Prius commercial came on TV...)
We'll find out more as time goes on, but I immediately inflated my 215/34 R17s to 42/41. This is about halfway between the Toyota recommended inflation and the sidewall max. I have just driven 500 miles on these tires, and I don't feel any discomfort. Driving on a washboard road is no fun, but it doesn't feel any different than driving the same way on my 186/65 R15s at 44/42. It may be more like 43 seconds -- I can't remember exactly. I believe it starts when the driver's door is opened, but I haven't checked it out. It is a nice feature! I think it is a nice feature, probably bigger for winter use (to remove salt and ice). There is a button to activate ONLY the headlamp washers. I don't know whether it is tied in to the windscreen wipers, too, but I have been able to wash the headlamps only when pushing the button.
I'd have to look it up but I think Rick had posted that in the manual it said that when you use the windshield washers it activates the headlamp washers as well. That is aside from the button to just make the headlight washers work. I feel the headlight washers shouldn't be tied to anything but their own dedicated switch... I've gotta look for that thread about this and see what exactly the deal was with it...
p. 206 of Manual says Auto Off turns Lights off 30 seconds after a door is opened and closed (if car if off or in accessory mode). LED and halogen appear to work the same. However, p. 581 (custom settings) says default is 60 seconds, and can be changed to 0, 30, or 90. I think the 60 seconds is right, but there's a slight possibility the custom settings only apply to cars with auto on/off (not the U.S.) Headlight washers - work manually with button push, if headlight switch is on. Will operate once if lowbeams are on and you turn on windshield washers.
TPMS did become law, but it was in 2005. 20% of all cars had to have it by 2005, 70% by 2006, and 100% by 2007. All the other questions were answered correctly.
What a coincidence -- I went into "late nite slug mode" while I was posting on PriusChat last night. (I re-read one of my posts and could not understand what happened at the end of my final sentence. Boy am I glad for the "Edit" feature!!)
Some people spend far too much time online, which my wife is more than happy to repeatedly point out to me!
43 seconds might be for the retained accessory power. That's the typical time for Toyota. No idea how it was set on 43 lol. What's wrong with 45?
