Prius drivability off road.....

When my wife and I lived in rural Idaho, we had a Subaru and a two wheel drive car. In deep snow, I would much rather use a Subaru than any two wheel drive vehicle I've ever had.
In a couple of other threads, folks have suggested renting a Prius and seeing how it works in your specific conditions. I agree here. But I probably would want to test it when the road was dry--or at worst, subject to rain. I would not expect it to be my family's deep snow car.

My new Prius seems fine on a rutted uphill gravel driveway of about 200 yards, and a barely paved (chip sealed) hilly road of a bit over half a mile..

If, however, your mother will be the only car owner of the family and has a long unpaved road subject to deep snow on a semi-regular basis--I might think about the Subaru.

 

I concur with kgall. I've had a 99 Outback and it did extreamly well in the snow plus the mileage wasn't terrible. Under the conditions you described, I would go with the Ru.

 

The Prius has a problem with low ground clearance. She should rent one and test it before buying one.

 

I can't even park on the pavement without scratching the bottom.

Like some said you should test it out. But this car is really not for Off road at all. No acceration, No Power, No AWD, and No Ground Clearance, you are better off with something thats totally opposite of a Prius.

 

Low clearance is a problem with many cars these days. Gawd I still miss my '82 Corolla. That thing was robust as all get-out, having among other things a timing chain and not a belt just like the Prius. I had an alternator cable go out on the way to LA and I still made it over the grapevine. But the best thing about that car was those big ole springs and high clearance. Offroad? I took that thing on epic roadtrips, going miles offroad and once getting so bogged down in desert sand I had to let half the air out of the tires to get back to a paved road. Yep, they don't make small cars like that anymore - at least not small economy cars. Mpg on that thing were about the same as the current Corolla to. I've missed that high clearance on every car I've owned since.

 

We do a lot of back road driving when we go rock climbing. The Prius does about as well as any normal car, but it doesn't have the ground clearance of an SUV.

One issue peculiar to the Prius is traction control. This is mostly an issue on the pre-2010 Prius. Traction control can make it impossible to go uphill on lose gravel or snow. Make sure you have good tires if you need to do this. The problem is really bad on the pre-2005 Prius. Later 2005s and newer are much better. The 2010 Gen III has mostly eliminated this problem, but we will know more as winter driving reports get posted.

Tom

 

I drove on snow/ice covered dirt roads last week during a big winter storm. The X-ice tires on the Prius performed very well. However, I am surprised by the low clearance. I'm driving around town now (pavement), in areas very well travelled by others, and I'm dragging on the strip of snow between the two tire ruts.

Also, I almost got stuck in a snow drift at a drive-thru and then later trying to backup a slight incline through a few inches of snow. The Prius traction control stopped the car as soon as the tires started spinning in reverse. I couldn't rock the car back and forth very easily, and to get up the slight incline, I had to turn around and go up the incline forward. I'm not sure if this limitation in reverse is a 'feature' but it sure would be a problem to extricate from a snow drift.

I would expect that 4-wheel drive with good tires and a bit better clearance would make a much more reliable vehicle. Fuel economy is great, but if you get stuck in a snow drift or in the ditch, what's the point?

 

I regulalry take my Prius off-road for work and in most cases I have no issues but in severe snowy conditions or thick gravel (on a slope) I become very concerned. It is in no way going to outperform something like a Subaru in these conditions. We only got a few inches of snow the other day but when it turned to ice I had trouble getting into a parking spot because of a VERY minor slope (you can see the slope to the right of my car in the pic) so I parked in a the handicapped spot. I've also nearly been stranded on one of my nature preserves due to a steep slope and thick gravel.

*Note I do have a late model 2005 Prius. The traction control TSB has been applied but I still have traction control issues.

Logging roads I had no trouble with expect for ground clearance in the rutted areas.

 

Most of the time is not good enough is it? You don't want to take the chance even one time, at least I don't anyway.

 

So, sam, what did your mom do?

 

Bottoming out is the most common issue with vehicles in snow and off road. I had a 77 Toyota sedan with a manual choke my last winter in Vermont. It started when it was 48 below, my neighbors who were plugged in could not start their cars. Even with chains on though once I got into deep stuff it was all done. The Prius is so low that certain non-offroad surface change can scrape the bottom if the driveway is kept well graded it might not be a problem.....

 

I've gone hiking a couple times with my gen2, and while it works fine, I definitely worry about the clearance and what the rocky terrain is doing to my struts and shocks. It works, but if you plan on driving on unpaved roads often, I'd use another car, preferably small SUV or crossover.

 

The prius has a timing belt? Where can i find pics or info about this?

 

Gen III are reportedly belt free.

 

The engine has a timing chain, not a belt. 'Timing chain' and 'timing belt' are kind of misnomers - it's a drive chain or belt that runs from around the crankshaft and up to the intake and exhaust camshafts (double overhead camshaft design). The camshaft rotation is synchronised, in time, with the crankshaft by the chain or belt.

A timing belt is a toothed belt that shouldn't be able to slip, so the camshaft shouldn't get out of sync. Over time, it does wear and stretch and can slip. A chain lasts longer, but tends to be noisier. Toyota has stuck with chains because they're generally more reliable.

The Gen 3 is considered beltless because it doesn't have a serpentine V-belt to drive accessories. (It's called a serpentine belt because it snakes between the different pulleys, so that the pulleys can skid slightly against the belt if they're encountering resistance without majorly affecting the engine's rotation.) On a conventional car, this would drive the engine coolant pump, alternator, and air-conditioning compressor (with a clutch so it doesn't run all the time, only when A/C is on). On the Gen 2 Prius, the A/C compressor is electric and the function of the alternator taken up by MG1 or MG2 as appropriate (MG1 when cruising or coasting, regen braking done by MG2, MG2 also charges in 'heretical' mode), the 12V system being powered from a DC/DC converter to step down from HV battery voltage. The water pump is still belt-driven.

Gen 3 keeps the electric A/C compressor, though of an improved type to reduce power use, but replaces the mechanical water pump with a variable-speed electric one. That leaves no accessories to be run from the belt, so the belt is gone. The pulley that would drive the belt, if one were required, remains, in order to balance out the spinning masses somewhat.

 

Had to bump this due to a potential disaster in the making.

So I may move to an area with 4-5 miles of off-road travel (gravel interspersed with rocks and unevenness). I traveled the area for the first time this weekend and experienced some bottoming out (I think it's mainly due to one steep hill). I checked and a panel on the bottom has certainly come loose, so I'll have to get that addressed at the dealer (and hope they don't try to fleece me for it). I can't easily get rid of this car now (upside down!); would I risk sending it to an early grave by making this move? I think if the hill is smoothed out (rainwater tends to create a ravine), I can make it work (paying particular attention to tire pressure). I should perhaps be able to get by with rarely driving it and if I can limit the damage to just scratches/scrapes to the underside panels (avoiding larger rocks), I will *probably* get by okay (though the unevenness will surely wear down the struts/shocks more quickly).

 

I often visit a dried up lake to take photos. It is a dirt road with many holes in it cause of the rains, and gravel in some cases. The car does fine, I have to slow down and avoid the hole sthough. Be extra careful on those cause the low front bumper will hit the ground (done that many times). Its so scratched its almost white on the underneath. I have no experience on snow sorry

 

To the OP -

You say the gravel/OR situation is 1 mi or so; is it rutted, or smooth? If rutted, I'd be concerned. The undrcrriage/plastic insulating flap that you have to open up to change the oil is, well, IMO, cheaply constructed and held on by cheap plastic clips. They tend to fall off (or not be installed in the first place, or left out or broken during oil changes). I have experienced this in my car and seen reports of many others, many of whom do not go OR at all. When the thing breaks off, it can crupmle up and damage things like the CV boots. The plastic access panel is pretty expensive--around $300 if you go through Toyota (there are other places to get it though).

If your gravel road is smooth, reliably, you might consider it. Otherwise, I'd go with the Subaru. Just my opinion.

I now realize I'm posting to a thread that started a year ago (sorry). So, OP, what was your decision?
~T