So, one trick I read about to get the ICE to cut out during early stages at a stop is to hold the brake down as hard as possible. I furrowed (sp) my brow at this since crushing the brake pedal down doesn't sound too healthy for a car. Anyway, I gave it a go and the stability control icon lit up. I released the brake and the car jerked forward several feet. I tried this again on another day and the same result. the only way to prevent the car from flying forward is to put it in park with the brake depressed. So when the poster said to press down on the brake as hard as possible, did I take that "too" literally?
When you press the brake pedal to the floor, you activate the Hill Start Assist. The car beeps once and the slip indicator starts flashing. When you let go of the brake pedal, the brakes will remain active for about 1 second, waiting for you to press the accelerator pedal. If you don't, the brakes relase. If you are on level ground, the car will start creeping forward when you release the brake, regardless of whether or not the ICE is running. This is perfectly normal. If you want to keep the car from moving, hold the brake pedal down until you are ready to start moving forward.
This is not good advice. As the above poster said, pressing the brake pedal activates the hill stop feature. So to get the ICE to stop, you just need to come to a complete stop with the brake depressed enough to stop the vehicle and then the ICE will go out when all the parameters are met. Now it is winter, so if you have the heat or defrost on, the ICE may not go out as it needs extra heat to warm the interior of the car. There are several factors to look to to get the ICE to go out at a stop, not just haveing the brake pedal depressed.
I am unaware how holding the Brake extra hard will cause the engine to shut down at a stop, however, now that it's cold, if you want the engine to stop whenever it's at rest, (if the car's reached its warm-up temperature) turning OFF the HV/AC will cause the engine to shut down, but you will not have heat until you turn it back ON. Also, if the car has reached its operating temperature, and its SOC is sufficient, it will shut down Automatically whenever you come to a stop. As IraS said, all pressing down hard on the Brake will do is activate the "Hill Start Assist", which has NOTHING to do with the ICE shutting down. David (aka Blind Guy)
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-fuel-economy/68164-gen-3-gas-mileage.html#post946653 This is where I saw it, I just never bothered posting about it until now. I didn't realize pressing on the brake would do that. The only thing I ever try to do to combat the increased warmup stages in cold weather is to keep the car moving and not run the heat. I do consider myself a fairly decent driver when it comes to gas mileage. Heck, I managed to get 52mpg going above the speed limit in a hilly area and sub 40 degree (F) weather for a full tank. Except my current tank, which has gone through a blizzard and mostly freezing/windy climates on the same hilly terrain. I won't even look at my tank MPG just so I won't get completely discouraged haha. Thanks for the information, btw!
Brake pedal makes no difference in ICE shutdown, however anything harder than very light pressure will cut power to MG2 (as witnessed on the energy flow screen). Light pressure keeps light power applied to MG2 for simulated creep mode. This may be where the confusion lies. The only user parameters that affect ICE run time after stop are heater demand and leaving the drive selector in "B" (Braking) mode vs "D" (Drive).
