Prius in deep (15cm+) loose snow (Results)

Your get a lot of snow out there already
They are calling for snow this week up to 20 cm on Wednesday , really have had no snow yet
Still have the stock tires on, planning on wear out the stock wheels, the put snows on the 15" and get new 17's for the summer

If it bad I will just use the 4x4 pick up and the BMW runs on winter tires
I guess I should get some gas for the snow blower

 

Thanks for the info! No snow in Vancouver yet, but it is coming.
If the snow gets deep, I'll be staying home or taking the bus.

Can't trust the crazy drivers we have around Richmond.

 

I finally found your video on YouTube. It's not very long but it gets to the point, which is nice. From what I see this car is most likely going to behave similarly to having no traction control in very deep snow. I have to say it's a relief, out of all the features that I don't particularly like about the Toyota Prius this is the only one that could be a killer one for me. I'm a shift worker and rely on the vehicle to get me there in deep snow, fortunately I also have a 4x4 truck. The reality is sometimes after a 12 hour shift the weather changes and have to go back using my car. I don't live in a particularly snowy part of the world, but a very cold part of the world with long winters. I know with studded winter tires, front wheel drive car is good enough for me. The only thing I was worried about was whether the inability of the traction control system to turn off could hinder me in the winter.

It's rarely we get more than 15 cm of snow, we just had some a couple of days ago and it definitely pushed front-wheel-drive cars to the limit. Having a 4x4 vehicle, means I have something with large ground clearance to get me through. The problem is, this 4x4 truck is still not a nice thing to drive in such bad weather. It may have a 4x4 system to keep me going, it doesn't have any better braking or handling in the front-wheel-drive car. I also do not have winter tires for this truck.

It's interesting that the Toyota Prius in eco-mode seems to behave similarly in terms of traction control to the 2004 and 2005 Toyota Prius. Once you get out of eco-mode it's reassuring to know that you can make the tires spin in all conditions. I think one of the biggest flaws of traction control is the system given up. I hate to say it but it's actually a safety concern. It's not always the safest thing to give up spinning their tires when you're trying to cross a divided highway and turn left. Even though you might get still stuck, the system should never ever give up. I don't care if the system gives up in economy mode. As long as there's a switch to override it, and make the tires spin with traction control.

Can you explain more about the time you killed the power. Are you saying this only happens in reverse, which is not a big deal as getting stuck while trying to go in reverse is not important. Are you saying this only happens in reverse, or are you saying that it happens in both directions but you just happen to be in reverse when it happened?

Did this happen from standing still or all power was cut when you were already in motion?
Are those tires studded by my chance?

 

Tideland Prius,

thanks for that - quite interesting. From what I understand about your experience related with killing all power, it only happened twice on quite many trials. Is that correct?

I see they forecast very cold weather in your area in the next few days. Please tell us how it behaves at -30 C : engine start, front/back defrost, amount of heat from heater, behavior of handle detector for keyless entry, etc.

It seems you are getting all the bad weather first this year...

 

That's a little disappointing to hear that you killed/lost all power twice.

One thing I've wondered about since reading about it in an European PriusChatter's post last year, is whether you are less likely to kill/lose all power from TRAC if you put the car in EV Mode. That's what he said he does when climbing gravely inclines, etc., and that it seems to work.

 

I live in Wisconsin, and so far have been impressed with how well the Prius goes through the snow. When it's deep or slippery, the yellow slippage light flashes, I ease up on the gas, and it goes.

When the snow is deeper than 5-7 inches (12-17 cm), I take the van. The clearance of the Prius is only about 5.5 inches, if that.

Flooring it on any car in snow is just plain crazy - all you do is make ice around the wheels and dig a deeper hole. Rocking back and forth is best, and turn the wheel to get a different grip.

 

I've thrilled with the performance of my Prius in the snow.
The Michelin ICE-X's help a lot to enhance that performance.

I had to go and pick up one of my employees at her home since the useless idiots that run our city and drivers that belong to the local Union haven't got around to plowing her street yet. Yes guys it snowed on Friday Night and (three of my employees who haven't been bright enough to move out of the city) have yet to see a plow come down their street in five days.

But back to the main point due to the lack of plowing on Monday I had to run over to her house and pick her up two-three blocks from her house. The route I took, I didn't realize that there was a steep hill I had to go down to get to a main road. It was plowed but the road was covered with packed snow. I sat at the top and said I'm nuts for even trying this. I creeped the car down that hill with zero slippage. There wasn't a car I've ever owned in the past that would have done so well in snow conditions like we have had since Friday night.

 

Slightly off topic. If I am stuck in snow, how long will the Prius keep me warm on a full tank of gas?

I figure maybe about 24 hours at a rate of half a gallon an hour (1.9 liter per hour) on eco mode. What do you think?

 

It depends on the outside temp and the set temp in the cabin. I haven't recorded anything but I sit in the car with it in ready mode for 2 hours each week and the heater on and it is surprising how little it has affected my mileage. Now that I think about it, one time I did time it and with an outside temp of 34 F and 70 set inside, after the cabin was up to 70, it only ran about 1 minute out of every 6-7 minutes to maintain the 70 temp inside.

 

What is snow

Glad, I live in Canada

 

LOL. We got 31 INCHES (78.7 cm) 3 days ago, and another 20 INCHES (50.8 cm) today. You got nothin'

The problem with driving the Prius in deep snow is the low clearance of the car. Most sedans have a few inches higher clearance than the Prius, and SUV's, higher still. Even when plowed, you still get deep ruts that can hang up the Prius. Best advice - stay off the roads when the snow gets deep, less we start to hear from the Prius whiners.

 

I think that I had same thing with my driving in deep snow? If I stopped to snow and try to get going again, I have to use “normal†mode to get out and let wheels spin freely. With stud tires this is only way to get going in certain snow type. I had this moment several times last winter, and usually I leave “normal†mode on to not to get stucked on every crossroad.

With that curtain in trunk I did not have any problems at all. Last winter was over -25 deg Celcius in some days.

 

My nephew has had a Prius for 5 years in Minnesota, with OE tires, and has never had a problem getting to work. Works fine in snow, though I doubt any car can get through snow deeper than the bottom clearance height--about 6" or so. The main advantage of trucks and SUVs is the higher clearance height, but that makes them more prone to rollover due to the higher CM.

I had a 4-wheel drive Jeep which was OK as long as you didn't turn too hard in the 4-wheel drive mode, where the wheels are all spinning the same. Parking it was a problem in this mode. I would recommend all-wheel drive where the wheels are spinning independently. Some people claim that none of this makes much difference--the main factors are snow tires and road clearance height. I would add front wheel drive, which puts the weight over the drivetrain. Definite difference there. Conversely, a rear-engine car with rear drive is also very good in snow. I had a Corvair in the 60s and drove through a few blizzards in New England. With snow tires.

 

I have the goodyear assurance tires and was wondering how much of a difference the snow tires make and if you could still get around during what you are describing? I dont want to shell out the extra money for snow tires if its possible to drive in snow without...

 

Difference is huge if you get somewhere same tires what we have in here. I have Continental WinterViking 2 stud tires and you can drive with them on winter almost like in summer.

Winter tires are noisy, more slippery! (you won't belive before try it) and consume fuel more when driving on summer roads, so is better to get bus than buy winter tires if you don’t really need them.

 

Thanks for your information on tires for snow. I have the factory tires on from last Feb, now at 13000 miles and they are slipping over the thinnest snow. Feel very uncomfortable driving right now..feel like I could slide into cars,,,doesn't brake fast enough and I have that other issue of slippage besides so it has really been a challenge.