How to drive Auris Hybrid?

[Bruce Lea]

Picking car tomorrow never drove auto before, some questions.

I seen from a picture the Auris auto box NDR

 

1. When parked at lights, do you put the car to N then press park button, then put up manual handbrake OR put handbrake up then press P? 

 

2. See point 1 above, when setting off after doing above. Do you release release handbrake, then foot on footbrake then put into D

 

3. If parked up at lights or traffic do you put foot on footbreak then put handbrake up, then press park?

 

What is the purpose of the N on the auto box?

[Steven83]

1. Just press P, or just keep your foot on brake. (Hard pump of brake engages hill start mode) 

 

2. Setting off put in to D and just drive. If you have applied hand brake the you can take it off before going in to D or after. (To go into D your foot needs to be on brake) 

 

3. P first, then can choose to use hand brake or not.

 

4. I would recommend doing some research yourself since you seem to have so many questions it seems you know absolutely nothing about the car you are buying.

I would recommend asking the dealer many questions tomorrow. 

 

N is necessary if you want to roll the car, have it on a ramp with wheels released, use an auto car wash that drags you.

[Bruce Lea]

6 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

1. Just press P, or just keep your foot on brake. (Hard pump of brake engages hill start mode) 

 

2. Setting off put in to D and just drive. If you have applied hand brake the you can take it off before going in to D or after. (To go into D your foot needs to be on brake) 

 

3. P first, then can choose to use hand brake or not.

 

4. I would recommend doing some research yourself since you seem to have so many questions it seems you know absolutely nothing about the car you are buying.

I would recommend asking the dealer many questions tomorrow. 

 

N is necessary if you want to roll the car, have it on a ramp with wheels released, use an auto car wash that drags you.

Thanks, got understanding what N is for now.

3. I would have thought foot on footbreak, then car comes to stop, handbrake then press p, in that order

So footbreak must be pressed to put the car into D P R modes

[mcntosh]

22 minutes ago, Bruce Lea said:

Picking car tomorrow never drove auto before, some questions.

I seen from a picture the Auris auto box NDR

 

1. When parked at lights, do you put the car to N then press park button, then put up manual handbrake OR put handbrake up then press P? 

Footbrake, handbrake then P or N (releasing foot brake)if I’m stopped for a while.

22 minutes ago, Bruce Lea said:

2. See point 1 above, when setting off after doing above. Do you release release handbrake, then foot on footbrake then put into D

Foot on footbrake, release handbrake then D and release footbrake. The footbrake must be applied to change into D or R from P.

22 minutes ago, Bruce Lea said:

3. If parked up at lights or traffic do you put foot on footbreak then put handbrake up, then press park?

 

What is the purpose of the N on the auto box?

IIRC it’s a safety requirement in some jurisdictions. I rarely use it as the hybrid Battery won’t charge if you’re in N. You’re generally better to put it in P if you’re stopped for any length of time.

 

[Derek.w]

In P mode you can put the handbrake on or just keep your foot on the brake it depends on how long you think your going to sit at lights or stuck in trafic brake if applied will come off automatically once you press the accelerator.

Hill starts no problem you have sifficent time to move foot from brake to accelerator even on steep hills.

[Derek.w]

Note N is neutral no drive and no charge for big Battery.

[Cyker]

Yeah, my Mk4 will start complaining to me if I leave it in N for some length of time and actually tell me to put it in P or D!

Leaving it in N is one of the few ways you can brick the car, as it can't charge the traction Battery and if you e.g. had the aircon on it could drain the traction Battery to the point it can't start the ICE, then the whole car would stop working. You'd then have to get it taken to a dealer and wait for them to get the special charger, that someone reckoned there are only 3 of in this country, to re-energize the traction Battery enough to allow it to start the car and crank the ICE! (You can't jump, bump or push-start the ICE on a HSD hybrid!)

Being in P or D is much safer...

I must admit I do wish Toyota had been braver and put the Auris' drive mode puck in the Mk4 instead of the conventional automatic shifter. It uses up so much space and is just a glorified giant switch. It also discourages me from using P in traffic because I have to move the lever so far, and it flashes the reverse lights. Being able to go straight to P with a button is so much better, esp. as the newer ones can automatically engage and release the EPB when going into and out of P (Finally!!).

 

[Bruce Lea]

1 hour ago, mcntosh said:

Footbrake, handbrake then P or N (releasing foot brake)if I’m stopped for a while.

Foot on footbrake, release handbrake then D and release footbrake. The footbrake must be applied to change into D or R from P.

IIRC it’s a safety requirement in some jurisdictions. I rarely use it as the hybrid battery won’t charge if you’re in N. You’re generally better to put it in P if you’re stopped for any length of time.

 

Thank You for tips!

Last question...if your on a hill stuck in traffic or any place for that matter and can't be bothered with keeping your foot on the break until traffic starts moving.

Sequence would be

Foot on break stop car

Parking button

Apply handbrake

Put into either N or leave in P

Leaving in N could damage the Battery or charger?

 

Moving off sequence from above

Handbrake down

Foot on foot break

Select D 

Press Gas 

To move

Is that correct, how Toyota recommend?

[Bruce Lea]

1 hour ago, Derek.w said:

In P mode you can put the handbrake on or just keep your foot on the brake it depends on how long you think your going to sit at lights or stuck in trafic brake if applied will come off automatically once you press the accelerator.

Hill starts no problem you have sifficent time to move foot from brake to accelerator even on steep hills.

So your saying if car in P mode at lights or traffic queue THEN to move off you just press the gas pedal and the car will automatically go into D mode?

[mcntosh]

12 minutes ago, Bruce Lea said:

Thank You for tips!

Last question...if your on a hill stuck in traffic or any place for that matter and can't be bothered with keeping your foot on the break until traffic starts moving.

Sequence would be

Foot on break stop car

Parking button

Apply handbrake

Put into either N or leave in P

Leaving in N could damage the battery or charger?

I tend to put the handbrake on and then P, which I believe is the recommended sequence.

Putting it into N won’t do any damage but if the hybrid Battery becomes fully discharged then you’re in a world of trouble (the car should warn you if the hybrid Battery is getting dangerously low).

The only way to charge a flat hybrid Battery is to use a special charger which a Toyota dealer will have to rent from Toyota UK (the dealership won’t just have one lying about). Don’t know how much that costs but I’m guessing it’s not cheap.

12 minutes ago, Bruce Lea said:

 

Moving off sequence from above

Handbrake down

Foot on foot break

Select D 

Press Gas 

To move

Is that correct, how Toyota recommend?

I’d put the footbrake on before taking the handbrake off.

The driving procedures are explained in detail in the owner’s manual so make sure the dealer provides it.

[Steven83]

Did you not test drive the car?

walk around it at the dealership and ask questions?

I learn everything I can about a car and drive it before I commit to buying. 

Or is there still Covid restrictions in your country?

fortunately the auris hybrid is a good car  so you should be fine but you could have ended up very disappointed buying this way. 

[Saxmaniac]

Avoid N unless there's a very good specific reason to use it. 12v and traction Battery not being charged at that point so there's potential for serious damage. As above, I think the car does warn you. You really should do a lot of reading up about these cars as they're different in a number of ways, they're brilliant but the owner really needs to understand how they work and how to treat them 

[TonyHSD]

9 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

So your saying if car in P mode at lights or traffic queue THEN to move off you just press the gas pedal and the car will automatically go into D mode?

No, all that will happen if you do that is the engine will start , the stop lights will go off but the car will remain stationary in P and you may get hit from behind. ⚠️

I highly recommend to you not to play with your gear selection and especially on traffic lights , just hold the car with foot brake in D ready to go. Lights change release brake and press accelerator the car will go. 

Just keep it simple : 

Start the car - press foot brake push start button 

Driving off - Hold foot brake , select gear D or R , release hand brake if applied and off you go. 
 

Stopping the car at junction or intersection-

hold the car in D with your foot brake, in case you will wait more than a minute then while holding the car in D with foot brake apply hand brake, select P and release foot brake. 

Moving off afterwards- press foot brake select D release hand brake release foot brake and press accelerator. 
 

There is also a gear position B (Braking) - Do not use this  for normal driving, only use D. 
 

B can be selected while driving and it will force start the engine to work as engine brake, adds more regenerative power to the hybrid Battery and slows the car ( kills the inertia while going downhill). You can use while going long downhill to maintain constant speed without need to use the brakes constantly. For now do not use it at all. 

N - you can flip between D and N while driving or stationary either with pressing the foot brake or without but you need to push your gear selector into N and holding it for 2 seconds. For now Do Not use N at all. 
 

P - press P while stationary only and while holding your foot brake, you can do hand brake first or P first, when parking on incline better to apply hand brake first , select N , release foot brake and then select P. 

Again , keep it simple don’t change gears while driving or stationary at lights, there is so much to learn about the car., take it easy , one thing at the time. 
Good luck and please come back with pictures and first impressions. 
Enjoy your new car 🚙👌

[Steven83]

14 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

No, all that will happen if you do that is the engine will start , the stop lights will go off but the car will remain stationary in P and you may get hit from behind. ⚠️

I highly recommend to you not to play with your gear selection and especially on traffic lights , just hold the car with foot brake in D ready to go. Lights change release brake and press accelerator the car will go. 

Just keep it simple : 

Start the car - press foot brake push start button 

Driving off - Hold foot brake , select gear D or R , release hand brake if applied and off you go. 
 

Stopping the car at junction or intersection-

hold the car in D with your foot brake, in case you will wait more than a minute then while holding the car in D with foot brake apply hand brake, select P and release foot brake. 

Moving off afterwards- press foot brake select D release hand brake release foot brake and press accelerator. 
 

There is also a gear position B (Braking) - Do not use this  for normal driving, only use D. 
 

B can be selected while driving and it will force start the engine to work as engine brake, adds more regenerative power to the hybrid battery and slows the car ( kills the inertia while going downhill). You can use while going long downhill to maintain constant speed without need to use the brakes constantly. For now do not use it at all. 

N - you can flip between D and N while driving or stationary either with pressing the foot brake or without but you need to push your gear selector into N and holding it for 2 seconds. For now Do Not use N at all. 
 

P - press P while stationary only and while holding your foot brake, you can do hand brake first or P first, when parking on incline better to apply hand brake first , select N , release foot brake and then select P. 

Again , keep it simple don’t change gears while driving or stationary at lights, there is so much to learn about the car., take it easy , one thing at the time. 
Good luck and please come back with pictures and first impressions. 
Enjoy your new car 🚙👌

At lights for a long time or stuck in traffic I just use P, take my foot off the brake and don’t use the hand brake.

 

I will only use the hand brake once parked.

not sure why everyone on here is so worried to use P without the foot on brake or hand brake, I’m pretty sure it is designed to be used the way I am using it other wise there would have to be specific warnings and being a Japanese car.. Beeps! 

[TonyHSD]

10 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

At lights for a long time or stuck in traffic I just use P, take my foot off the brake and don’t use the hand brake.

 

I will only use the hand brake once parked.

not sure why everyone on here is so worried to use P without the foot on brake or hand brake, I’m pretty sure it is designed to be used the way I am using it other wise there would have to be specific warnings and being a Japanese car.. Beeps! 

You can use P without hand brake , I also do when park the car on level ground. On incline I use hand brake for obvious reason plus I let the car weight been hold by the rear brakes instead of parking pole inside the transmission, then after restart the car it’s easier and quieter to select D, no nasty loud shift. 

[mcntosh]

54 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

 

not sure why everyone on here is so worried to use P without the foot on brake or hand brake, I’m pretty sure it is designed to be used the way I am using it other wise there would have to be specific warnings and being a Japanese car.. Beeps! 

I think my concern is that transmission lock isn’t designed to hold the car on a slope or if it gets a hard shunt from behind. Having said that, I now can’t remember the manual actually saying that so I’m probably being my usual overly cautious self.

Certainly on level ground P without the brakes is fine.

 

[Steven83]

21 minutes ago, mcntosh said:

I think my concern is that transmission lock isn’t designed to hold the car on a slope or if it gets a hard shunt from behind. Having said that, I now can’t remember the manual actually saying that so I’m probably being my usual overly cautious self.

Certainly on level ground P without the brakes is fine.

 

If I get a hard shunt from behind I want a new car courtesy of their insurance 😆

[Saxmaniac]

The P position is just the same as a parking pawl on a traditional auto. If you let the weight of the car hang on that, like say, holding on a slope without the handbrake, that's a strain that is better avoided by using the brake n also when you go into drive, the pawl has to be dragged out against the weight of the car. Those of us with mechanical sympathy will wince at the car's pain at being treated like this 🤐

[Cyker]

I think the pawl is quite fragile; There were a few early posts on here where someone was in traffic in P and got tapped from behind and that was enough to snap the pawl off, which basically wrote off the car as it can't be repaired (at least officially) and the whole engine and drive train needs to be replaced.

I wouldn't want to risk it!

It was more of a pain before, but since on the newer ones they finally at last tied the EPB to P there's no reason not to.

[TonyHSD]

On the auris and Prius if you press P while driving slow the car will select the P and will lock the driving wheels, very unpleasant and a bit dangerous situation. When at higher speed 8mph and above if you press P button nothing will happens, just a sound warning. I did that once mistakenly pressed P instead of hazard lights and kissed the wheel, thankfully there were no cars behind. Nothing happened to the car though. 

[Bruce Lea]

12 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

No, all that will happen if you do that is the engine will start , the stop lights will go off but the car will remain stationary in P and you may get hit from behind. ⚠️

I highly recommend to you not to play with your gear selection and especially on traffic lights , just hold the car with foot brake in D ready to go. Lights change release brake and press accelerator the car will go. 

Just keep it simple : 

Start the car - press foot brake push start button 

Driving off - Hold foot brake , select gear D or R , release hand brake if applied and off you go. 
 

Stopping the car at junction or intersection-

hold the car in D with your foot brake, in case you will wait more than a minute then while holding the car in D with foot brake apply hand brake, select P and release foot brake. 

Moving off afterwards- press foot brake select D release hand brake release foot brake and press accelerator. 
 

There is also a gear position B (Braking) - Do not use this  for normal driving, only use D. 
 

B can be selected while driving and it will force start the engine to work as engine brake, adds more regenerative power to the hybrid battery and slows the car ( kills the inertia while going downhill). You can use while going long downhill to maintain constant speed without need to use the brakes constantly. For now do not use it at all. 

N - you can flip between D and N while driving or stationary either with pressing the foot brake or without but you need to push your gear selector into N and holding it for 2 seconds. For now Do Not use N at all. 
 

P - press P while stationary only and while holding your foot brake, you can do hand brake first or P first, when parking on incline better to apply hand brake first , select N , release foot brake and then select P. 

Again , keep it simple don’t change gears while driving or stationary at lights, there is so much to learn about the car., take it easy , one thing at the time. 
Good luck and please come back with pictures and first impressions. 
Enjoy your new car 🚙👌

Thanks Tony!!

The dealer gave the car on reserve so put £67 to fill up. Driving range was 375 or 385. Driving back range is now 347.

Will take a few days to get used to it but I'm following your easy to understand tips Tony.

 

[Bruce Lea]

I can't seem to get the car into steering lock🙃 tried both ways with car off 

[Derek.w]

When you park after a few seconds the stering lock light will flash and thats it engaged.

[Derek.w]

Put car into D to drive need to have brake on to move lever then apply throttel to gain speed.

Note car can creap forward when you release the hand brake or just take your foot off the brake pedal unless you an a steep hill.

[TonyHSD]

Steering wheel unlock when the car is unlocked. , locks again when you lock the doors. 👌