Snow handling...

If we ever have winter this year, I'll let you know what I think.

 

I've had plenty of snow & ice here in CO, but none where I was driving more than 20 mph (neighborhoods). But if it has the same safety features as my 2004 Prius, then I should have no problem. That baby could swerve on a dime on snow/ice to avoid accidents (uphill even!). I suggest that after the first light snow/ice, you take it to an empty parking lot and put it through its paces (slam on brakes, use parking brake while moving, try to do a donut, slam on accelerator, etc...) to test the emergency handling response.

--Russ

 

Someday someone at Toyota will suddenly realize that in the norther climes of America we WANT all wheel drive. It would be trivial to add the rear electric drive system from the Highlander Hybrid to a Prius.

JeffD

 

That was gonna be my answer to the OP too...

Especially after the two incidents with the tractioncontrol I had a week or two ago. (Haven't owned the Prius long, and its traction-control reacts VERY different from all other cars/motorcycles I have or had.)

Last year we had >10" of snow (for the first time in years, hurray for AWD on the Volvo and making fun of stuck BMW drivers), and this week we may have one single day under 0ºC (32F?)
And they predicted us a stupidly cold winter...

 

I have a moderately steep driveway and was worried that I would not be able to make it up in icy conditions. In my previous car (Camry with traction control), I would turn off TC and let the wheels spin until they got some grip.

For the v, I bought the following gadget from Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B001LF6WNW?tag=priuschatcom-20 I have not yet had a chance to try it out so far since we have not had even a flake since I got it!

 

We drove our new V home from the dealer Thursday evening in a light snow. Ending up getting 4". My wife drove it to work Friday and had no problems. This was by no means a major snow, but handling the 4", so far so good.

 

Our v is equipped with Michelin X-Ice II's and the snow handling is excellent. I can't comment about the OEM tires. Never used them in snow.

Regarding the question about the traction control, we also have an '08 Scion xB with Blizzacks on it. The traction/stability control on the xB is very aggressive to the point of being dangerous when turning on ice and snow. I have not experienced any of that behavior from the Prius v.

I am a big believer in good winter tires. My wife came home laughing about driving away from 4WD SUV's in the v at stop lights around town. It also stops better. Cheap insurance in Wisconsin winters.

 

Our V does have the OEM tires (TOYO Proxes A20). They are an LRR tire so it will be interesting to see if we can get through this winter with them. They are new and the winter so been mild so far.

The OEM tires in winter seem to be a concern from the numerous posts I have read on PRIUSchat. But until we see that they can't get us to and fro we will give them a chance.

And if we have to switch we have some options thanks to the good recommendations of chat members.

 

I drove my V Three home from the dealer in a snowstorm. It was white-knuckle the whole way in metro Twin Cities highway driving, but it handled well. Traction control kicked in a couple of times, but always seemed to handle well. Sorry, I had no short, steep hills to climb to test that. I have OEM all-season Yokohama tires.

 

It handles it better than most cars the same size. The only car I really like that handles snow like a champ is actually the Mitsubishi Lancer. That car is where it's at as far as snow control goes. The prius does well. It needs to be handled properly and don't go barreling into giant mounds.

 

We have a 2010 Prius IV that my wife drives. It's been a mild winter so she just drove it for the first time in snow recently and said the car handles horribly. I spoke to friends who own Priuses and they concur that the handling in snow is terrible. One friend who has had a Prius for three years got so frustrated with the car's handling in snow that he went out and bought Cooper snow tires that were "skyped" for $700.00. The salesman told him that poor handling complaints with Priuses are quite common and the best thing is to get snow tires and have them "skyped", where they cut minor grooves of some sort in the tire to give it additional traction in the snow. My friend now tells me the car handles great in the snow with these snow tires that were "skyped". He is upset however that he had to spend $700.00 to buy snow tires for this car. Has anyone heard of "skyping" tires and/or have recommendations for getting better handling with a Prius in the snow. Thank you for your time.

 

Do you mean 'siping'?

Its my understanding that is largely for wet conditions and of arguable value.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber)

 

Siping is a way to make dry-road tires work better in low traction situations. Tires designed for these conditions are already flexible without any additional siping.

Tom

 

You didn't say when you bought this 2010, how many miles it has, or what tires it has. But it these answers match mine, I'd place nearly all the blame on worn OEM tires.

My Prius experiences real snow and ice only a few times per winter. The first winter, with 10,000 miles on the OEM Ecopias, I was quite happy with it. Second winter with 24,000 miles, tire traction was awful, but I was still happy with how the traction and stability controls dealt with the poor tires. This winter the tires have 36,000 miles, but with brand new tires on household's Subaru, the Prius stayed parked the few challenging days.

All the All Season tires on our 2WD cars have followed the same pattern. When fresh, they are plenty good for our needs. But their winter capability deteriorates quickly, and they are banished to 3-season-only use before the tread is even half worn.

There are plenty of winter tire choices available without applying aftermarket siping.

 

It's snowing hard (well, for Dutch conditions...) and the wife's out with the Prius on normal tires instead of our AWD Volvo with all-seasons with winter-rating. And she's never experienced the traction control kicking in on the Prius I may go and pick her up and/or swap cars...

 

The good news in your area: no hills.

Tom