Winter Driving

[Roker]

After having a Avensis for many years, I am new to my Corolla hybrid, many thanks to those answering my questions 

The first thing that I noticed when I first drove it was how severe the brakes were and it took a little getting used to .

I would be concerned about driving in icy condition, with the Avensis there was some feedback but not the Corolla. Has anyone experience winter driving and is it a problem 

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

toyota hybrids are superior to most other type of cars in slippery wintry conditions. They have low end torque from 0 rpm from the electric motor strong enough to pull the car from standstill without wheel spins.
Brakes if all serviced and maintained correctly are not a problem at all and they are as smooth as can be on any other car. If your brakes are kind of grippy, noisy or discs are scored and corroded means they need a service, something that needs to be done every one to three years depending on driving needs. No need parts replacement, only dismantling, cleaning, lube and put all back together. And the most important things is to have suitable tyres according to the season and inflated correctly. You won’t have anything to worry about, it is better and safer car than most others. 

[Roker]

9 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, 

toyota hybrids are superior to most other type of cars in slippery wintry conditions. They have low end torque from 0 rpm from the electric motor strong enough to pull the car from standstill without wheel spins.
Brakes if all serviced and maintained correctly are not a problem at all and they are as smooth as can be on any other car. If your brakes are kind of grippy, noisy or discs are scored and corroded means they need a service, something that needs to be done every one to three years depending on driving needs. No need parts replacement, only dismantling, cleaning, lube and put all back together. And the most important things is to have suitable tyres according to the season and inflated correctly. You won’t have anything to worry about, it is better and safer car than most others. 

I saw in some reviews that the brakes are grippy so I assume mine are normal,  I only have about 20000 mile up

[Cyker]

The hybrids are all brake-by-wire, i.e. the pedal doesn't actually do anything other than tell the computer how far you've pressed it. (Well, unless something breaks and it goes into failsafe mode, where it does act on the brakes hydraulics for real)

It's one thing I don't like in my Mk4, as I've realized the amount of force the brake pedal is feeding back to me has only a vague relation to what's actually happening and I've had to stop using that to judge my braking force.

One reason you might be finding them a bit 'severe' is the new models especially have very strong regen braking, more so than the previous gen of hybrids, and the faster the wheels are turning the harder they can regen-brake. It takes a bit of getting used to, but TBH it's like that with any car change.

I wouldn't worry about braking in slippy conditions - The ABS and traction control on the newer models is really good, and also one nice thing about regen braking is it only works if the wheels are turning, so if they lock up the regen goes away and allows the wheels to turn anyway.

Obviously if you're being silly you'll still get into trouble, but I was playing with my Yaris on the snow and ice last year to get a feel for its limits and I found the system very well judged and set up. It kept the car gripped and in control far beyond what my Mk1 and Mk2 would have. 

[Stopeter44]

3 hours ago, Cyker said:

It's one thing I don't like in my Mk4, as I've realized the amount of force the brake pedal is feeding back to me has only a vague relation to what's actually happening and I've had to stop using that to judge my braking force.

One reason you might be finding them a bit 'severe' is the new models especially have very strong regen braking, more so than the previous gen of hybrids, and the faster the wheels are turning the harder they can regen-brake. It takes a bit of getting used to, but TBH it's like that with any car change.

That about covers the brake feel. It took me sometime, i.e. weeks or even months, to get the hang of using regen breaking to the full, that is not braking too late and too hard.

[fred88]

8 hours ago, Roker said:

I saw in some reviews that the brakes are grippy so I assume mine are normal,  I only have about 20000 mile up

Same here so was expecting them to be, but have to say that I find the brakes on mine are fine.