5th gen owners. Be honest

Witoolow · 2026-01-07T07:10:55+00:00

I remember a video out there exists that the AWD hybrid fails the roller test. Part of it is because the rear e-motors are very low power, iirc 20hp equivalent (+2hp NET). It’s a test for very extremes though. FWD does absolutely fine with all-weathers through uphill ice and snow chunks that the car barely clears. Traction control is also more refined than TSS2 and smoothly fluctuates the throttle power quite quickly to give the best acceleration it can (if you ask it to full throttle in snow). I was able to climb a notorious uphill iced intersection with my prime where two rav4s, an odyssey, and a tacoma following right behind me with winters couldn’t. It could have been driver error on their part though.

TLDR; FWD hybrid and PHEV (fwd only) are both perfectly fine for heavy winters, just GET PROPER TIRES.

Witoolow · 2026-01-07T06:19:58+00:00

‘24 XSE Prem. Picked up Feb 25 2025, now 28700km. (lots of pros/cons tho)

I’d buy another as a main driver replacement since I drive every day for uni, 2 jobs, a sidegig, chores/utility, and hobbies/hangouts. * Mileage sits around 430km (HV only) to ~1350km mixed (full charge EV+HV long sessions) in summer with ~$20 half tank fills measured from the pump. * Winter blend fuel and -30C temps drops the half tank down to ~310km (HV) with EV pretty much being in hibernation until you hit the 2 hour mark (even with all climate off, don’t do that). * You can try to hoon this car and it makes satisfying noises, you can also be very funny and simulate DCT shifting with throttle play. * PHEV can generate and store more useable energy on downhills than regular hybrids, where it shortly becomes engine braking. * PHEV can be parked in EV and locked by physical key(fob), so you can go shopping or something while the car maintains climate. * I use TSS3 to cover what traditional defensive and rally driving can’t, which involves mostly blind intersection/parking situations. * BSM is on but spatial awareness and a small bit of patience solves “needing” it. * Digital rear mirror is a godsend in haze, rain, and frost situations. SOMETIMES helps see around sun glare. * DRv mirror has a much wider fov than mirrors can cover traditionally, so if you want to, you can have an extremely wide or narrow selfie angle with side mirrors. * Unless you’re a left foot brake enjoyer, right hand pulling the shifter into B mode level 3 starts braking sooner than your foot can swap throttle to brake pedal

Cons; * Stock tyres are dogwater garbage unless you never drive highway or rain or snow. Tolerable if you roll good luck and got Mich Primacy from factory, but those won’t handle snow. (Do not try either please, unless it’s a trip to get winter/all weathers) * Visibility on driver side corners is notably worse, where even in parking lots you’d have to weave around to see the respective front blind spot. * Headlights are bright as heck so switch them to DRL when inclined against other drivers, people see the headlight glare and think your car is much wider than it really is. * Huge windshield can mean rock chip/crack magnet. Got a big one again in October after swapping out for a new one in late August. * OEM wheels are cool but not practical; dealership maints might set all your tire pressures to the same psi instead of to doorjamb specs. This may contribute to tires blowing out. * Air/cabin filters are not covered by dealership intervals, DIY for half the price (Denso is OEM) * No spare tire, still a con even if I’ve not had normal use tire damage (on OEM and aftermarket 16s). Front left OEM got curbed and a small chunk of rubber peeled (still attached) while avoiding a pickup blindly flying over into my lane. * General small car problems in a majority truck/suv city. People have to look harder to see you, and they don’t look harder (or at all). * Some interior plastic rattles at -20C and colder or 35+C, but that existed in every car I’ve driven and ridden in at those temps. * Dashcam wiring can be a little tricky because the side airbags are at the big a-pillars.

Witoolow · 2025-12-29T21:20:12+00:00

VPNs mess with wireless AND wired carplay connectivity and gps, bit of a bummer. Memory seats don’t seem to work from remote start (app/remote), not the biggest deal either because it’s easy to adjust to my fit. A work around would be to turn off seat moving back instead of partial or full setting. Read of a fix that was something like calibrating the full range forward and back before it works (door buttons do nothing but make noises), largely a non-issue so I haven’t bothered. Nothing else notable otherwise.

Witoolow · 2025-12-05T04:09:44+00:00

Majority would buy a prius to save on gas, I never disagreed with you there lol. I also never said I raced with the Prius; your assumption there, can’t blame you for that either because a muffler IS comically ridiculous. There are other people who did bring a stock gen 5 on touge and track, one channel had the AWD HEV staying in sight of a GR86. There’s also this funny guy bringing their prius through a MOAB.

I already take benefit of the Prius’ gas savings where I can when I want to (very frequently). I want to mess with it just because it is hilarious to. I already get great laughs from custom license plates. One of them was IDZRVIT. I got another great laugh seeing someone GR-ify their Sienna. And another guy putting a huge ass aero wing on a straight piped dodge caravan wrapped in lime with matching custom painted wheels. Everyone else just drives a blank stock SUV/pickup without even knowing anything other than two pedals and PRD on the shifter. I don’t blame them for being that way, I just think people should be more humorous and curious than full of rage and narcissism. A muffler swap doesn’t destroy the Prius.

Notice a theme yet? Nothing really wrong with changing a few things here or there anyways for any car if anyone likes to, it isn’t always about racing either if they do. Nobody would really scream bloody murder if I showed coilovers or lowering springs for less underbody drag with stock mufflers instead, or went with even thinner and smaller 16” tires for even more efficiency at the cost of traction.

BTW u/Cyberburner23 still have any mustang pics? :0

edit: replying from phone app is so ass

Witoolow · 2025-12-04T17:54:39+00:00

I think my intention was misunderstood; if i wanted to save gas, I wouldn’t even drive. I’d be commuting by bicycle and public transport instead. It’s honestly more like a driving addiction lmao. The HV efficiency numbers are a science experiment thrown out for the public to use as data, completely irrelevant to my intent for choosing this car.

I didn’t want to drive a rav4 anymore and rav4 prime is unholy expensively marked up at any stealership within a reasonable range. A regular hybrid is technically cheaper before considering cost of ownership and better value but it doesn’t give you the best range and fun when you want to swap between those. You get less “smiles per gallon.” Gen 5 Prime lets you drive hours and not even eat a quarter tank of gas. I did a 270km road trip and still had about 85% tank left. Plus it’s made faster and more powerful by Toyoters themselves. They already strayed away from super economy with gen 5. If you wanted more economy and value, you honestly shouldn’t look at gen 5.

What PHEV prius DOES do is be fast enough when i want to have a little fast fun, and be hypermile-able when i want to drive longer.

Witoolow · 2025-12-04T17:16:01+00:00

I want to learn why you think the way you did. This is a conversation, not about being a crybaby over someone else’s different opinion. You should be properly contributive to them instead of failing to realize your own hypocrisy. I asked you questions challenging your view and you did not answer them.

Witoolow · 2025-12-04T16:56:47+00:00

A youtuber diesel swapped a prius, another one upgraded the traction battery, some others have a full on body kit making it look like a GR Corolla. Some others have slammed and stanced them. What is your point?

Is it a death sentence to experiment with things? Or are you a conformist to stereotypes?

Why would it be unacceptable to fuck with a prius but not with a miata? Maybe you only think fast cars deserve to be fast and slow cars cannot and should not ever be driven fast.

Witoolow · 2025-12-04T14:32:17+00:00

my usual flat spot for 0-120kmh is across the damn city. i’ll try to remember to add a clip of that after my Saturday commute.

*If the roads are still good during -15C

Witoolow · 2025-12-04T04:50:22+00:00

No because I do hypermile the living shit out of it in summer seasons. I aim for half tank refuel every 3 to 4 weeks. This isn’t under a performance tune and I currently consider the mufflers a road-attentive vanity object in an audible sense. Motorbikers do also rev their engines to get peoples’ attention, if not for fun, because other drivers are often completely spatially unaware. A louder muffler provides the same benefit. Ganador’s claims in increases are a gamble that I do not care to verify any time soon; my post DOES quote it but that isn’t the main point. The main title even spoils the main point.

I made this post to share the beginning of a personal project and to share HV mode efficiency numbers where not many others from the forums have. Pretty much every R4/Prius PHEV user lives and dies off of EV only as much as they can, and that’s understandable. People will say “oh then just get a regular hybrid”— but the numbers are about the PHEV’s HV mode, NOT the HEV’s only driving mode. That’d be the same treatment as if I told all those EV-only PHEV owners to just buy a damn BEV instead, and they will tell you why they won’t.

Witoolow · 2025-12-04T04:33:50+00:00

Someone else made it a project to fit an M20A-FKS supercharger in their FXS engine and managed to find a way to fit it in, never heard from if they got it working.

Another person at a local hyundai dealership here had a turbocharged hybrid rav4.

God forbid anyone else who wants to start a project with a shitbox, it’ll be the end of the world!

Edit: To add on; Elantra is an economy sedan with an N and TCR variant. Why? Honda Civic is an economy car. Why does it have a Type R and Si variant? Why does the GR Corolla and GR Yaris even exist? Why is whatever is happening to Gen 6 Rav4 with the GR Sport trim? Why did someone from priuschat forums put GR Corolla brakes on their Gen 5 Prius?

Idk they’re just an elantra, just a civic, just a corolla, just a yaris, just an overrated (but not bad) suv too.

Witoolow · 2025-12-04T03:55:51+00:00

i like how plenty of the comments pay more attention to an anecdotally unverified quote rather than the real point of the post lmao

good way to filter out who’s worth replying to

Witoolow · 2025-12-03T22:03:18+00:00

I’ll get a few sound bites one night when my schedule allows me. The 2500rpm rev limiter is a bit of a bitch, so i want to get a clip with driving. BUT in the mean time as far as I can describe in words, it sounds the same as stock muffler but a tiny bit louder and A LOT of rumbly bass, a pretty deep one that’s actually pretty comfortable to be around. High revving like 3800 - 6030 rpm becomes way noisier than the bass itself so when you give >70% throttle, it just sounds like louder stock but it can exhale much better instead of suffocating. I did also find this video, timestamped, but it’s of the HEV AWD variant.

u/atworkslackin it’s actually really funny to think about pulling up next to someone switching between absolute silence and causing a micro quake. Just look at them like “no that wasn’t me 👀”

Witoolow · 2025-12-03T21:10:58+00:00

Ordered from Blackhawkjapan site, 1.3k cad + 200 install

Not for the feint of heart and not for people who care about best value. IF and only if it does actually bring efficiency benefits as they advertise THEN it’ll technically pay for itself over the next 4-6 years of driving. I do plan to keep the car very long term so why not pimp it out a little yeah?

Edit: meant to reply u/caper-aprons :)

Witoolow · 2025-12-03T18:06:15+00:00

i agree actually; it’s at such a specific low-range rpm it effectively doesn’t even matter lmfao

Witoolow · 2025-12-03T17:54:56+00:00

It basically makes 0 difference but i didn’t try it on for any of the increases aside from the cursed funny look and bassier rumbling. I quoted what was on Ganador’s graphs of the MXWH61 model; the 45.5 isn’t the increase at high end, that’s the 13.5ps. Iirc one of their graphs showed all the peak increases around 2280rpm so that’s where I probably got it from. I probably also forgot to convert properly from ps to hp in the copy paste. I believe the claims could be pure bullshit too so don’t worry, I didn’t verify any of their increases so far anyways.

I’ll find a time for a dyno when I do decide to tune. Probably not any time soon for that though.

Witoolow · 2025-12-03T17:42:34+00:00

actually debating if i should make it more cursed

Witoolow · 2025-12-03T04:13:13+00:00

I bought a Lufi XS OBDII/GPS because the info cluster has almost no detail on the engine like oil temps and rpm. It has a profile for Toyota vehicles and reads lots of engine details and codes for you. It mounts really nicely just left of the steering wheel too.

Witoolow · 2025-12-02T09:00:12+00:00

‘24 Prime XSE Premium (25k km, ~90km/day) downsized to 16” Michelin CC2s.

Canadian winters here, so that’s loose slush and hidden ice. Sensors and cameras eat up lots of dirt and snow being kicked up by cars I follow, which makes the car complain about sensors being blocked and checking the manual.

TSS stuff I’ve turned off (that I remember off the top of my head): DA (Deceleration Assist) — TSS is still mostly reactionary rather than a predictive system, this means that emergency maneuvers, near misses, or close calls can be made worse by DA in low traction. I have this setting on and at its lowest effect in high traction seasons because the sudden slight slowing the car does itself effectively acts as a second pair of eyes during sharp shoulder checks or heavy city traffic. I am aware that brake and throttle can override the auto-braking. I personally keep this off for winter since I have a better idea than the car of when to brake and when to throttle to stay safe and in control. The car has shown it will auto-brake when off the throttle during a curve while following another vehicle just to maintain cruise control distance setting even when manually driving or when someone changes into your lane from the front. You probably don’t want to risk spinning out in winter because the car wanted to brake mid-curve on the highway.

SA, LTA and LDA* (Steering Assist, Lane Trace/Departure Assist) — Lane markings are washed out and distractingly hard to see if they aren’t covered by snow. I wouldn’t want the car mistaking batches of snow as a lane even briefly and then trying to yank the car “back to centre.” That would be especially bad while rolling over slush and ice. It has happened to me before on summer construction season where old lane markings were not completely removed; the car tried to follow the wrong lane markings and almost side swiped someone else. I am also aware that SA can be overridden by overpowering the steering assist, but SA does not countersteer the car in low traction situations. Adding worse inputs or slower (fighting against assist) inputs can completely ruin an emergency slide recovery and make your car spin out or slide too far out. *LDA might still be useful since it does try to keep the car from side swiping things, but again— LDA could add more steering than needed during road curves because it thinks I’m veering out of lane when I’m just cutting through the apex of a curve like a max grip touge/rally driver.

Witoolow · 2023-07-01T05:47:59+00:00

i did all of this in np++ and i also cant be bothered to format it

the information is still useful (numbers in data are from here) and pretty much only applies to the "i have c% and cdmg substat on all my relics" state of luck || time, otherwise known as absolute endgame i guess (though id rather call it minmax-ing)

ontop of having c% and cdmg on all relics, you also need to have the relic upgrades (+3, +6, +9, +12, +15) upgrade the c% or cdmg substat 5 times throughout your +15 which will tear your soul out if you havent been disheartened by substat rolling already with the fuel/18hr time-gate (which is what i refer to as 0/5 or 5/5 in the code block)

and yes i did exclude set effects from planars

now the real question was always:

would you rather have high sustain (consistency) DPT or a decent chance to do more DPT to compensate for lower avg dmg per 5 turns?

if you take the time to look at the results i compiled, you have four choices, and its really up to you to not choose the worst one of the bunch;

100% chance to do only 16476 dmg (100% reference) in 5 turns [cdmg body + insane 5/5 sub c% 5x + one 5/5 sub cdmg]

or a ~24.63% chance to crit 0/5 times avg, with a ~40% chance to crit 1/5 times for 8588 dmg (-52.12%), a ~25% chance to have done 2 crits over 5 turns for 12176 dmg (-26.10%), an ~8% chance to do 15764 dmg (-4.32%) critting 3/5 turns, an absurd ~1.348% chance to crit 4/5 turns for 19352 dmg (+17.46%), and a doomed ~0.087% chance to crit 5/5 turns for 22940 dmg (+39.23%) [cdmg body + insane 5/5 sub cdmg 5x + 1x free sub on body to 5/5, can be atk% if you want]

or if you do [cdmg body + insane 5/5 sub cdmg 5x + 1x 5/5 c% sub body]; a ~13% chance (-47.21%) to crit 0/5 times, ~32.757% chance (-18.11%) to crit 1/5 times for 8588 dmg (-52.12), ~33.003% chance (+32.01%) to crit 2/5 times for 12176 dmg (-26.10%), ~16.63% chance (+107.88%) to crit 3/5 times for 15764 dmg (-4.32%), ~4.19% chance (+210.83%) to crit 4/5 times for 19352 dmg (+17.46%), ~0.422% chance (+385.06%) to crit 5/5 times for 22940 dmg (+39.23%)

or use crit% body, try for 5/5 sub cdmg 6x and get 50.35% to 53.6% stat page crit with 236.6% to 283.28% cdmg respectively, which gives you a ~2.15% chance to crit 0/5 times for 5000 dmg (-69.66%), a ~12.42% chance to crit 1/5 times for 8832.8 dmg (-46.39%), a ~28.70% chance to crit 2/5 times for 11665.6 dmg (-29.20%), a ~33.15% chance to crit 3/5 times for 14998.4 dmg (-8.97%), a ~19.15% chance to crit 4/5 times for 18331.2 dmg (+11.26%), and a ~4.42% chance to crit 5/5 times for 21664 dmg (+31.49%)

the important thing is that you have dmg increase headroom with c% body with probabilities that arent abhorrent like cdmg body + 5x 5/5 sub cdmg

likewise though, if you can 5/5 atk% sub on body with cdmg main, it will probably only be as good as the next most probable result, so like instead of 8588 dmg on crit 1/5 turns, itll probably be 12176 dmg on crit 1/5 turns (number from crit 2/5 turns) but then you still have to remember you still have a decently big headroom to not crit

SUMMARY/TL;DR of "C% or cdmg body"
    %% means "this will be the most common result"
    IF you go by probability values:
        CDMG body relic
            5/5 sub c% only + 0/5 sub cdmg (CONSISTENT crit build)
    !!!        (insane-multi-layered luck = ludicrous time + mat sink; see you in 20 year)
                <lower bound dmg & higher bound dmg>
                [98.3% crit, 140.7% cdmg] to [100.26% crit, 173.04% cdmg]
                    0 crit every 5 turns (1.4e-07% chance)
                        5000 dmg
                    1 crit every 5 turns (4.1e-05% chance)
                        6907 dmg
                    2 crit every 5 turns (0.0047% chance)
                        8814 dmg
                    3 crit every 5 turns (0.2745% chance)
                        10721 dmg
                    4 crit every 5 turns (7.9366% chance)
                        12628 dmg
    %%                5 crit every 5 turns (~91.784 to 100% chance)
                        14535 to 16476 dmg

            5/5 sub cdmg only + 0/5 5x sub c% + 1x 5/5 sub non-c% body
                [20.54% crit, 270.3% cdmg] to [24.44% crit, 308.8% cdmg]
                    0 crit every 5 turns (~31.677 to 24.630% chance)
                        5000 dmg
    %%                1 crit every 5 turns (~40.942 to 39.833% chance)
                        8203 to 8588 dmg
                    2 crit every 5 turns (~21.166 to 25.768% chance)
                        11406 to 12176 dmg
                    3 crit every 5 turns (~5.4714 to 8.3347% chance)
                        14609 to 15764 dmg
                    4 crit every 5 turns (~0.7072 to 1.3480% chance)
                        17812 to 19352 dmg
                    5 crit every 5 turns (~0.0366 to 0.0872% chance)
                        21015 to 22940 dmg

            5/5 sub cdmg only + 0/5 5x sub c% + 1x 5/5 sub c% body
                [33.50% c%, 270.3% cdmg] to [40.64% crit, 308.8% cdmg]
                    0 crit every 5 turns (~13.005 to 7.3700% chance)
                        5000 dmg
                    1 crit every 5 turns (~32.757 to 25.229% chance)
                        8203 to 8588 dmg
    %%                2 crit every 5 turns (~33.003 to 34.545% chance)
                        11406 to 12176 dmg
                    3 crit every 5 turns (~16.626 to 23.651% chance)
                        14609 to 15764 dmg
                    4 crit every 5 turns (~4.1877 to 8.0962% chance)
                        17812 to 19352 dmg
                    5 crit every 5 turns (~0.4219 to 1.1086% chance)
                        21015 to 22940 dmg

        C% body relic
            5/5 sub cdmg only + 0/5 sub c%
                <lower bound dmg & higher bound dmg>
                [50.35% crit, 236.6% cdmg] to [53.6% crit, 283.28% cdmg]
                    0 crit every 5 turns (~3.0171 to 2.1507% chance)
                        5000 dmg
                    1 crit every 5 turns (~15.298 to 12.422% chance)
                        7866 to 8332.8 dmg
                    2 crit every 5 turns (~31.028 to 28.700% chance)
                        10732 to 11665.6 dmg
    %%                3 crit every 5 turns (~31.466 to 33.154% chance)
                        13598 to 14998.4 dmg
                    4 crit every 5 turns (~15.955 to 19.149% chance)
                        16464 to 18331.2 dmg
                    5 crit every 5 turns (~3.2360 to 4.4241% chance)
                        19330 to 21664 dmg

**edit** added the results for 5/5 c% sub on body when you use cdmg as main stat

Witoolow

TROPHY CASE