I currently own a 2001 Toyota Highlander. I live in Western PA, which means that we get all kinds of weather in the winter, and my Highlander has been wonderful in all kinds of conditions. But my husband I like to travel a lot and well my Highlander is getting up there in miles, so we were thinking about buying a Toyota Prius, something with better gas mileage and I am a Toyota girl! My concern however; is the winter driving conditions. I only travel 30 miles round trip for work but there is a couple spots in the winter that can be troublesome. 1. There is a section where no matter how many times they plow it always has snow blown over it. 2. There is a moderate hill. I am looking for any input as to if this is a car I should be considering or not. Thanks!!!
You will get these responses: 1) The Prius is horrible in the snow 2) The Prius is fine in the snow 3) The Prius is fine in the snow with the right tires If you know how to drive, then #2. If you drive stupidly, then #1. If you are inbetween then #3. What it comes down to is the driver. As a Canadian who currently drives in the Colorado Rockies with a GenII it works fine. I keep a set of chains in the hatch under the false floor. If something does happen, I can get out. I have opened the bag to put them on once and familiarize myself with them. And since then they have been in the bag. I also keep a little cheat sheet printout on how to disable the traction control (it is a chicken dance scenario) for times when you want wheelspin. I have used that a few times. But my 2006 gets me up and down real mountains, not those little hills you have over in PA.
fatal blossom - I think what 2k1 toaster was trying to say is that the Prius needs some driving skills to manuever in the snow. In Chicago we had some rough snow / blizzards but I don't have to drive up / down any mountains. The Prius handled just fine but I am used to driving cars in snow ans ice. My previous car had traction control and abs brakes and prius handled similar to it. I had just the regular tires but I have not used snow tires for 20 plus years... You could get the snow tires the 2nd year if you think you need them... Good luck in deciding...
There's always a Highlander Hybrid option (1st or 2nd Gen). However, the TRAC in the 3rd Gen Prius has been improved and works much better. Winter tyres are a must. Ground clearance is average for its class.
Just to chime in - I believe that the Prius handles about as well as you could expect from a front wheel drive car. As others have mentioned having decent tires is a must - just as it is in any car. A set of good quality all-season tires with enough tread left on them is just fine for here in the Philly area. If I lived in a place like Vermont or the upper Midwest I'd likely get a set of snow tires on a set of steel wheels to make it easy to swap them - if you have issues this would be an easy fix that you could add down the road and it would greatly improve your grip in the snow - I have not done this nor have I shopped for it, but I figure that you would spend $500 to $700. Keep in mind that this is not all added cost - the snow tires would split the mileage with your other tires so that cost would wash out over time.
I live just outside of Pittsburgh and have toe drive to Morgantown every other week. I have no issues with going in the Prius. It has to be pretty bad to not get where you are going in the Prius. If you are really worried, go with snow tires, but I never needed them yet. I lived in Fairmont, WV for my first Prius winter, on a provate road with no maintenance, on top of a very steep hill. Made it home every day.
Regarding the highlighted portion, I used to think the same. But enough people had real problems (including Jayman in Winnipeg) who knew how to drive in winter, that it became apparent the 2004-2005 and some 2006 Prius had a problem where traction control was configured to kick in too soon, and cut power to the wheels. My 2006 is fine, as is yours. The 2010 should be fine as well. It drives as well as any other FWD car in the snow, the biggest problem is the clearance. But I've gone thru 10" of soft stuff with no problems, and I've gone thru banks of harder snow at least that high (but not sustained areas of compacted snow). I have a picture on my cell phone (but don't have the right cable here) from a blizzard last winter where I went thru some drifts leaving snow on the lower grill. Haven't had much of a problem. But I've driven thru PA a few times in the winter, and there's usually bad weather/roads someplace on the interstates, it's not fun. You probably would want snow tires.
I plan on having winter tires installed on my stock wheels after removing the TPMS sensors. Next spring, the sensors will be mounted on new 16" summer wheels and better tires.
I've driven as far as State College in slushy conditions. The car did just fine then. In fact, it handled the blizzards and DelDuh's snow plowing abilities just fine the past 2 winters using winter tires. I have to go part way up a hill to get to my house, and I made it up where 2 other cars gave up. If you had the option to keep both, I think a lot would say that's not a bad idea. Use the hylander in the snow. I'm not sure about for you, but as the state budget woes get worse, I think snow plowing follows. Less trucks, less salt, etc and things aren't as good. That said, I even went out without snow tires on in the first blizzard of 09 and saw several others stuck or in an accident. The Prius worked flawlessly. So, can the Prius handle the conditions? Yes. Is it right for you? Only you can answer that. Considering you didn't mention unpaved roads, etc. I'd say it should do just fine.
