Is it true that a Prius can't go into neutral at high speed?

Hgldr

This seems to be a common report for many of the Prius accelertion problems. I read comments again and again, "What didn't he simply put it into neutral?" Many of the drivers say they DID put it into neutral, but nothing happens.















pmc123, you don't need to tell people that high RPM's can ruin an engine. Eveyone knows that.















That isn't even the question I asked.

pmc123

Slipping a car out of gear during high RPM operation could be extremely dangerous. Removing the load could cause the engine to redline - leading to catastrophic failure. In addition engine rod, piston, or block failure, the transmission could fail - sending metal fragments flying.

Third of Five

Ive head this as well. That people have tried to put these cars in neutral and they simply will not go. Im not surprised. People need to realize these new Toyotas are not your fathers car. They are radically different in mechanics and electronics. Everything is computer controlled. More than likely it is designed to keep you from being able to shift it out of drive at a high speed.































You might move the gearshift up to the neutral spot but since its all computerized it might not register-the car might continue to accelerate as if its still in drive because the computer has not signaled the transmission to go into neutral.

carl

There is no Neutral gear shift on a Prius. It's an electrical switch for forward reverse and park. Also the brakes are electric, there is no telling what the computer thought it was supposed to be doing, but apparently you can use brakes and accelerator at the same time, and eventually, the brakes win. There is also no ignition switch on a Prius, just a start stop button, which does not directly control the engine. You can push the start button, flip the switch to forward and take off down the street before the engine ever cranks. The prius can even keep on going till the battery is dead with the engine shut off. So all the know-it-alls that keep on saying it's dumb drivers have obviously never driven one of these death traps.

wondering

See: http://lusciousgarage.com/blog/comme..._investigates/































Note that pressing the park button or selecting reverse while going faster than 6 MPH will put the car in neutral faster than actually selecting neutral with the "joystick"

Drew

Nope ... the Prius will shift into neutral just like a standard auto.































Also.... pressing the P for PARK will shift the car to Neutral .... and holding the start stop button will turn the car off .... it should also be noted that shifting to Neutral also disables the accelerator.































I have a 2004 with 77,000 miles and have had not a single problem.

JerryJ

The Prius can go into neutral at any speed. You can put the Prius in Neutral by:































1. Pressing Park.















2. Shifting to Reverse.















3. Shifting from B to anything other than D.















All the above act instantly and cannot harm the Prius.















4. Holding the shift lever in the N position for three seconds.















5. Holding the Power button down for several seconds will put the Prius in ACC mode, shift to Neutral, disconnect the traction battery, and shut off the gas engine. And no, the steering wheel lock will not engage ('cause I just know someone's going to say that).































And finally stomping and holding the brakes will engage a panic mode that will give the brakes extra boost and stop engine acceleration (the engine will be running at idle speed). This will occur even if the accelerator pedal is floored (A Yahoo Prius group member just tried several different ways to get the Prius to accelerate when it shouldn't, and the only way he was able to achieve it was to just press the brakes enough so that they rubbed and hold the accelerator down--it's also theorized that pumping the brakes would do the same thing--pumping the brakes is a bad idea in any car).















































As for the "Oh gosh, it's scary drive by wire" crowd:































1. The accelerator is drive by wire--just like a Ford diesel truck and many other American cars.































2. The steering wheel is just a normal rack and pinion steering nothing new here. It does have an electric power steering though.































3. The brakes have hydraulic override as well, for details see the Prius New Car Features Manual. There are four braking systems on the Prius:































1. Regenerative brakes















2. Friction brakes















3. Engine brakes















4. Parking brakes































Generally braking is done with regenerative braking. The friction brakes are used:































A. When more braking force is required than the motors can provide.















B. When any of the safety devices (TC, ABS, VSC, etc.) are activated.















C. When the vehicle speed is under 7 mph.















D. When a fault is detected in the regenerative braking system.















E. When the battery has reached the maximum allowed SOC.































You have to really work at it to not be able to stop a Prius.