Hybrid Brakes And Braking Worries On New Yaris Hsd

[CPN]

I take your various points but the results are still quite interesting nevertheless... Just goes to show what they are capable of.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Neutral (even in an American car) does not lock the transmission. "P" is what most Americans put it in when finished (which does lock the transmission). I have to own up to having got into the same habit myself having driven a lot over there. They don't even call the handbrake by that name either; usually referring to it as the "emergency" brake. Why, I have no idea...

Tbh I think in 5 months of PiP ownership I've used the hand/parking brake half a dozen times. Was discussing it with a friend the other day and were convinced its probably only fitted due to being a legal requirement or something. If sat in traffic I normally hit the park button and take my foot of the brake, as wouldn't dream of leaving it in drive with the hand/parking brake on, and wouldn't put it in neutral and use the hand/parking brake as the car wouldn't ever charge etc then. When quitting the car, switch it off and leave it to lock the transmission just as it would if I hit the park button first.

The only time I use the parking/handbrake also is in very steep hills out of paranoia more than anything else.

Regarding PiP mpg figures, here are mine from a completely different driving style to Chris's, and I record % of each tank driven in EV mode vs HV also thanks to the onboard trip on the PiP allowing this. I've never owned a normal Prius, but from figures I get vs what I see for normal Prii on Fuelly am tempted to agree with Chris regarding better HV mpg with the PiP, which I believe is probably due to being a lithium ion Battery rather than nimh, I think I remember seeing somewhere that lithium ion to accept charge better / quicker allowing better energy capture from regen braking.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius/2013/MEP/303281

[CPN]

Unfortunately, that link doesn't work Jonathan. Comes up with "database error" from Fuelly...

That's a good point about L-ion vs. NiMH batteries... It's a pity they didn't use L-ion in all the latest iterations of the Hybrid variants...

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Unfortunately, that link doesn't work Jonathan. Comes up with "database error" from Fuelly...

It appears their site is down currently, worth having another try with the link in the morning.