New Prius feature that you would want?

The new generation Prius will have "Ability to set % power or mpg vs. speed for cruise control (similar to speed limiter, but allows variable speed with constant fuel flow)"

This should make for some great easy mpg return. But also piss off drivers behind them..
I wonder how it controls max and limit speeds. 50mpgs downhill could be 30 over a legal speed limit or 30 under!
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Edit: that's not a Toyota change it's just a wish list from the Prius forum.

Well people slowing up going up hills then speeding to pass you is one of my primary peeves. It really messes with my cruise control. But then again, what do you expect out of a Pious?

haha. i'm one of those people who slows on hills. I don't use cc at all, i just set my right foot at fixed angle and monitor mpg and keep it above 50mpg uphills (usually go from 70mph down to 60 through the hill). that's how you achieve 50+ mpg on the highway

gulfcoastguy said:

Well people slowing up going up hills then speeding to pass you is one of my primary peeves. It really messes with my cruise control. But then again, what do you expect out of a Pious?

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I didn't know a Prius was capable of that. I only see them like this:

03_01_TDI said:

variable speed with constant fuel flow

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Oh, so a throttle lock? Wow!!

A device like that (as was pointed out by "jerrymander") is nothing new. I'm old enough to remember throttle knobs on the dash. What it is, is completely contrary to how most any traffic situation works these days. To set the throttle on the Dan Ryan in Chicago is dangerous to oneself and others; speed is simply what it is at any given time, and what's safe is to keep up with traffic. If you're driving on some lonely stretch of road in Montana, heck, just put a brick on the gas pedal.

Every taxi cab in my area is a Prius, I have PUKED in the back seat of them many times when getting a ride home drunk wasted...

Prius feature that I would *want*?

Self destruct, plain and simple . . . .



- Tim

Mike_04GolfTDI said:

I didn't know a Prius was capable of that. I only see them like this:

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Actually, if that had wheels it would be correct.

help with MPG or not this would be a massive cause of increased road rage. No thanks.

Prius features I would want are a diesel engine with a nice automated manual. Like in my TDI. I think I could live with the odd shape. I can't live with the fishy new car smell that at least one I rode in had. That animated power distribution display would also get annoying quickly. So, a way to delegate phone application displays to the in-dash display; or at least mirror the phone display. Actually, that's a feature I'd also like for my TDI.

Coworker of mine has a 2010 Prius with about 225k miles on it. no mechanical issues of any sort. I've got no complaints with the Prius, rode in one many times.

Even current Prii have a "solar sunroof" as an option. It's really two items packaged as one, as far as I can tell: a sunroof and a set of solar panels in the car's roof. The latter power a fan to keep the car (relatively) cool in hot weather. I've never owned a Prius, so I don't know how well it actually works, but it does sound great to not bake to death when you get in the car on a hot day!

I understand the idea behind the "constant power output" idea but on motorways, it would be infuriating to everyone around. People who speed up and slow down drive me nuts. You overtake them, then they overtake you, then you overtake them, etc. I usually end up doing a strategic lane change to block them behind a truck so that I can get away from them.

I can see radar-based cruise control that automatically holds distance from the vehicle in front being useful, but not this.

User-adjustable speed-warning can be useful, too, both to avoid accidentally going too fast and burning extra fuel, and to avoid trouble of the flashing-red-and-blue-lights variety. My Promaster has this ... I have it set to 110 km/h - a big thing like that has no business going fast. It doesn't stop the driver from going faster (so it doesn't intervene if the driver really does have to do a quick overtake or some such thing), it's just a beep.

Sounds like just about every old motorhome I drive around on the highway, except their constant throttle position is wide open, coupled with a bad power to weight ratio!

Interesting for a bit of press, but really this is a zero cost add-on for a manufacturer, and of little practical use. It might make some 'lazy hypermilers' happy that don't want to do the constant pulse and glide. I guess it's a great feature if we ever see a gas shortage again. Should be added to all cars "just in case" since it's free.

Our Prius just needed two front wheel bearings at 120K. Other than oil changes, that all its needed, but I did the front brakes at the same time for some early PMCS. Way cheaper to own and drive than the TDI (MKIV), and much bigger inside too. It's nowhere as "nice" as the TDI though. We usually need to drive over 3000-3500 miles round trip to save on fuel costs using the TDI in the past 5 years, but we have to stop more often for fuel. It's moot now, as we are going to be using a small travel trailer next year, and that is not happening with a Prius.

Constant throttle/power cruise sounds like a great way to reconnect with our childhood, when we were always maxing out whatever our undermotorized car or cheap bike was able to deliver. My old Corolla could do 200 km/h downhill, but often barely 130 km/h uphill. Sure annoyed the Porsches and BMWs and Mercedes's behind me. Ah, the good old times!

kd8cgo said:

Sounds like just about every old motorhome I drive around on the highway, except their constant throttle position is wide open, coupled with a bad power to weight ratio!

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I've had a few vehicles with floor-mounted cruise control

kd8cgo said:

Interesting for a bit of press, but really this is a zero cost add-on for a manufacturer, and of little practical use. It might make some 'lazy hypermilers' happy that don't want to do the constant pulse and glide. I guess it's a great feature if we ever see a gas shortage again. Should be added to all cars "just in case" since it's free.

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It's not really "free", because this gizmo is going to need a user interface of some sort and a driver who knows what to do with it, plus having to deal with more distraction while setting it.

Normal cruise control only has one variable thing to set: speed!

Even cruise control with following-distance doesn't require the operator to do or set anything else. The following-distance is dependent on the speed (and the closing speed on whatever is in front). There is still only one thing for the driver to do - press "set" at the desired speed; the car figures out the rest from that.

As soon as you have a "cruise control" with more than one operating mode, it gets more complicated (remember, the driver has to do this while still driving). Do you want constant-speed cruise control or constant-power cruise control? The driver is going to have to select which mode in addition to the setpoint. If they go to constant-power mode, how are the maximum and minimum limits to be set?

Eh, I doubt they will give much in the way of use interface, probably a button on the touchscreen as the infotainment crap keeps getting added to newer cars. So either Normal Cruise or "Eco Cruise" or some other marketing focus group vomit inducing naming convention. The plus/minus would work exactly the same probably. Setting the desired speed would probably be the same as well, just whatever your current speed was on engagement. A radar/laser based version with pulse & glide configuration integrated with normal adaptive cruise? Eh, probably not from a major auto manufacturer.

As far as programming a new feature into a mass produced item like a Prius that requires no extra hardware, yeah it's about as close as you can get to free, even with a mildly complex algorithm. If they add the adaptive cruise sensors, well that's of course not free, but neither is the current adaptive cruise on anything else. I would quite like to have the adaptive cruise and auto braking stuff, at least on other people's cars so they don't hit me or tailgate, lol.

If this happened it would never be "cool" from an auto manufacturer with the pulse and glide stuff, too much liability with driver distraction and crazy lawsuits. edit: Probably just like others have said, what you would actually get is a cruise that slows down on hills and kicks out on big hills - glorified throttle cable.

I am pretty good at doing the constant "throttle" with my Jetta manually and it does net GREAT MPG. But, I only do it when there is not much traffic around me.

I know it is common for TDIers to dislike Prii for many reasons, but I really think their owners' driving habits is the worst. Being a "left lane loser" is a pet peeve of mine, no matter what car, but percentage wise, Prius drivers seem to be the worst. They hog the left lane whether going 5 under, the speed limit, just a couple over, or if there is no one in the right lane preventing them from getting back into the right lane. There are signs posted all over that say "Keep right except to pass". Or, they just hang out in the left lane going slightly faster than the right lane, but leave a 1/2 mile gap between them and the next car in front that allows other cars to get in front of them, but no room for me to get around, resulting in us left lane people losing more and more forward progress each way.

I admit I might have a bit or road rage, but hogging the left lane is a very lazy and rude thing to do for people who only use the left lane to pass slow traffic, then get back over.

Yeah, I'd like a slightly intelligent throttle lock on a TDI.
Btw: I've got no problems with Prius as a whole, I regularly recommend them over TDI for certain people/ uses. Here is my Prius wish list (that is probably shorter than my TDI wish list)
I wish there was some road feel/ steering feedback, i see what toyota was going for, but I don't like it.
I wish that the doors didn't feel like coke cans,
that the car would make more information available in some sort of expert menu,
That there was an easy way to coast (it regens when you let off the throttle and doesn't coast as far as my tdi as a result) I know you can put it in neutral, not sure why this bothers me.
That there was an easy "max regen" no friction brake control.
That the car had some sort of intelligent oil life system
No tachometer was my original complaint, but it doesn't bother me so much anymore.
I wish there was a "start the engine now, I'm about to pull out in to traffic" button, I know PWR comes close, but not always.
Some sort of detent in the throttle pedal at MAX EV throttle would be nice for many circumstances.
Note that looks are not on the list, it has a purpose, and I wish they would take it further and make it look more like something from pre-war Germany.

Was in a Prius today to go to airport in Vancouver..basically every cab is a Prius. It was new. They just retired the last one at 720,000 Kms the driver said. They all sing their praises. I think they are a poor excuse for a car. I don't care how efficient they are they do suck the life out of you in feeling. They feel like crapola little tin cans with thin seats and steering wheels and feel like one big vanilla wafer. I rode in the larger one on way to airport today and it felt a "little" more substantial...

I spent some time in Vancouver. Every single cab I saw was a Prius. It would be interesting to see what type of fleet data they are getting on these cars? It would be interesting to see what type of efficiency numbers they are getting. And also the reliability of the cars.

The Priuses are not bad cars. Just wouldn't want to drive one myself.
Apropos cars you'd like to drive: Has anybody driven a 335d? Now that's a nice helping of torque! And still gets over 30mpg.

Rico567 said:

A device like that (as was pointed out by "jerrymander") is nothing new. I'm old enough to remember throttle knobs on the dash. What it is, is completely contrary to how most any traffic situation works these days. To set the throttle on the Dan Ryan in Chicago is dangerous to oneself and others; speed is simply what it is at any given time, and what's safe is to keep up with traffic. If you're driving on some lonely stretch of road in Montana, heck, just put a brick on the gas pedal.

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And when a corner pops up or a cow then you'd be toast. Amazing the number of people who've never been west of Minnesota who are experts on Montana.

LarBear said:

And when a corner pops up or a cow then you'd be toast. Amazing the number of people who've never been west of Minnesota who are experts on Montana.

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Someone was taking a tongue in cheek comment a little too seriously

If they can get some kind of renewable fuel source working well, like the algae one...and I think that will eventually happen, then hybrid and electric cars may become far less popular. Unless they can come up with better batteries, higher power to weight/size, lower costs, longer lasting, more environmentally safe components, and better recycling of the batteries. Plus better electrical infrastructure and/or charging abilities.

I'm a tech head as much as anyone, and like knowing how cars like the Prius work. But from a practical side, I just can't see it being better than my TDI. Maintenance is low, and I can probably keep it running almost indefinitely without breaking the bank. I've driven 1100KM on a tank driving at about 110Kph with bursts to 160kph in mountainous terrain. If I drove slower and less aggressive I could have gotten even more range out of it, but why bother when I can get about 59mpg while having fun at it. It's fun to drive, good torque and HP, and has a lot of space to carry almost anything I need. And there are a ton of upgrades that can be done to it if I want.


The throttle thing is interesting. I've driven vehicles that had them. And I've used it...or just keeping my foot at one position on the gas peddle...to get better mileage. But only on the highways with light traffic.
I can see people using this where it will piss other people off, or even cause a hazard. Still, it would be an interesting option to have, but I don't trust most people to use it in a safe and courteous manner.


just my 2 cents