Does our 2016 Leaf SL have a forward pedestrian warning chime?

[paulwkrueger]

We bought the midrange 2016 Leaf, I believe it's the SL model with longer range.
It has a warning "chime" for pedestrians when we back up, in reverse, but doesn't not sound that warning chime when moving forward in drive.
The owner's manual seems to indicate that our car is also equipped with the forward warning chime, but I can't find anything about an "on-off" switch or switch location, in the manual.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Paul Krueger
San Diego

 

[LeftieBiker]

It isn't a chime. That whirring sound you hear when driving at low speeds is actually the pedestrian warning - the motor doesn't make the sound itself. The Prius is the same. (Actually, the Prius is worse: the backup alarm sounds *inside the car* instead of outside.)

 

[Flyct]

Leftiebiker described it well. If you pull into a McDonalds drive in with your driver window open you can hear very noticeably it as you drive slowly.

 

[cwerdna]

The forward and reverse noises can be heard at http://priuschat.com/threads/nissan-leaf-noisemaker-truely-disgusting-noise.81375/.

2012+ model year Toyota/Lexus hybrids, PHEVs and EVs have a VPNS. You can hear it at http://priuschat.com/threads/2012-prius-vehicle-proximity-notification-system-vpns-video.104980/.

As for interior reverse beep inside Prius... yeah, it's been there since the 04 model year. I don't recall about ones before 04 or 2016+... I turned off the reverse beep on my 06 via a "chicken dance". In Gen 3 (2010 to 2015 model year), one has to use Toyota Techstream or send the right CAN messages via other tools to shut it off.

 

[gshepherd]

Yes, forward motion sound is a combination of a whirring tone plus a whooshing white noise from a speaker in the driver side front fender. It is more noticeable when standing outside the car and nearly inaudible inside with the windows up. The sound fades in when you let off the brake pedal from a stop while in D. It fades out as the car comes to a stop. It also fades out when you reach 19 MPH as the tires will be making plenty of noise by then.

2011 models and current models sold outside US/Canada have a VSP Off button as ability to silence is required in some countries. US models dropped the button in 2012, so the VSP is always enabled.

Backing up only rings the bell without making the motion sound.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I turned off the reverse beep on my 06 via a "chicken dance". In Gen 3 (2010 to 2015 model year), one has to use Toyota Techstream or send the right CAN messages via other tools to shut it off.

Are you sure the "chicken dance" (silly, impossible to memorize combinations of control inputs) can't do that in Gen 3? It will deactivate traction control and a couple of other things. For anyone who hasn't ridden in a Prius: the backup alarm is excruciatingly loud inside the car, and pretty faint outside. It screams at the driver and passengers - who presumably know that the car is in Reverse - while muttering softly to pedestrians, who probably don't. It's Nuts. It's as if Nissan and Toyota engineers traded jobs on that day. ;-)