Hearing that Prius and Lexus hybrids brakes (possibly the regen system) are to be looked at. Isn't the TCH brake a similar technology?
Anyone know about this issue?

 

Larry, yes, they are all the same and did you watch the attorney that used to work for Toyota, talking on CNN last nite? he has turned whistleblower and has been singing like a bird all the crap that he was made to sweep under the table and the US Dept Of Transportation knowingly sighned off on. These cars are all going to be really scrutinized now with a fine tooth comb. My friend owns a 2010 Camry (none hybrid) she paid 24K for and now has 5K miles and she went to trade and value is 14K.

 

I never understood the concept of trading in cars or thinking of their value .
To me, it's just a car.
I buy it because I think I can get many years of service from it. I've kept each car I've owned for a minimum of ten years. I could care less if the TCH goes up or down in value.
My 1996 Avalon is now being driven by my daughter (pulling up on 200,000 miles).
It's not a Picasso, it's a car.
At least, that's how I see it.

 

Well I can say that 2 weeks ago we had a hell storm tear through SoCal dumping multiple inches of rain per hour in some spots. I was driving in it, up I-15 from the Mexican border to home. At some points I was clearly hydroplaning on the standing water.

Whatever it was that was overriding my control input was pretty creepy. I don't know if it was the VDIM or ABS or just what, but my brake pedal at some point just stopped responding to input.

Now, in Toyota's defense, perhaps the system worked exactly as intended. And perhaps I am just ignorant. But I grew up in Chicago and that's where I learned to drive. Threshold braking has it's place and I found it a little disconcerting to be over ruled by the HAL9000.

I remember thinking at one point as I was sliding diagonally across lanes... "I hope this thing knows what it's doing." What would it take to corrupt or confuse that instruction set??? I don't know. And it creeps me out just a little.

 

Larry, she has severe health problems.

 

Which Lexus models are involved ?

 

Sorry, I didn't know...I've been putting my foot in my mouth a lot lately, but meant no disrespect.

 

When your tires are hydroplaning the brakes might (EASILY) bring the wheels, ALL 4 of them, to a complete, DEAD, stop with no effect on the momentum of the vehicle.

 

Yes of course. And it is far worse on wet ice, aka March in the Midwest. But with experience one can learn to modulate that lockup threshold with a fair degree of precision, and surf the sweet spot between steering and rudder. Deeper lessons in physics could be explored with educated use of the hand brake, especially on a front drive car.

I miss those days. Don't get me wrong... the Toyota A320 has been a fine car, but seat of the pants driving is instinctual.

 

You do know that driving in deep water can make the discs wet and cause almost total loss of breaks? I learned that lesson long time ago in a Van, after driving through deep water I had no breaks whatsoever for at least couple seconds before the water had a chance to escape. And I couldn't blame electronics, since the car didn't even have ABS, it was pure, old mechanical system. And you're kidding about steering the car when hydroplaning, right? If you have some steering then you're not really hydroplaning.
I had no problem sliding and spinning my TCH on ice using parking break, not as convenient as hand break, but after little practice can be done. I do wish TCH had hand break, like my 2001 Accord, but I guess you can't have everything.
BTW I thought there was no break recall for Prius yet, just that they're looking at some complains from customers who feel the breaks don't feel right, which doesn't mean that the breaks are actually faulty?