Winter readiness

Colder ambient temperatures mean a longer warm up time. That said, the v drives like any other FWD car. We fit a separate set of winter tires, but others find that unnecessary. Depends on your situation.

 

Drives fine in snow and ice, but has low ground clearance. Optionally you can buy an engine block heater like this one (Toyota Canada) for $59 or find others. Use a timer to warm the engine up a couple of hours ahead of departure in the morning and you also gain faster heater function and ability to use EV mode.

 

Tire inspection, want good tires inflated appropriately for the temps. Consider winter tires for all 4 wheels. Consider additional set of wheels to make mount remount over several years easy. Cary some reflective triangles and an old shower curtain to kneel on. Make sure you know where the tool kit is and how to remove a tire.

Snow brush, plastic scraper. I sometimes carry a push broom to clear the snow off the flat surfaces.

Fluids, like windshield washer fluid, full and fresh. I even have taken a bottle of windshield defroster for the times the washers are covered with ice.

Wiper. condition.

Battery condition, if in doubt, replace.

Cell phone battery condition. In-car charger.

Don't let the tank get near empty for the type of trip you are taking. Figure you are going to get stuck in a traffic jam because of some accident.

Emergency phone numbers.

Enough in your wallet to replace the tire.

Snow/Ice boots.

Lots depends on the weather, where you drive it and what precious cargo are in the seats how many of these precautions I take.

It is just a car, capable of driving in moderate winter conditions. It isn't 4WD equipped with off road tires.

 

Do you have instructions on installing a Block heater or any schematics? I used to have one of these on my Scion Xb and it worked great! Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

See attached for Toyota installation. Looks like there is a designed location for the heater which can be accessed from the top. However it requires removing the windshield wiper motor, trim, loosening existing cables, heater installation and finally, routing the heater cable. Either the dealer or a trusted mechanic could do this.

 

Driving Tips in the Snow:

Accelerate and decelerate: Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids. Don’t try to get moving in a hurry. And take time to slow down for a stoplight.

Know your brakes: Whether you have antilock brakes or not, the best way to stop is threshold breaking. Keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.

Stay home: If you really don’t have to go out, don’t. Even if you can drive well in the snow, not everyone else can. Don’t tempt fate: If you don’t have somewhere you have to be, watch the snow from indoors.

 

We have had no problems driving in snow and ice here. The other morning it was 6 F and the car had no problems. We do get a little wheel spin when it is icy at a light but backing off a little stops it. We have original Michelin tires and have no problem in the snow, except low clearance.

 

All good advise. My problem is that I always seem to work when the weather is at it's worst. But I always take it easy and coast when getting to a bridge or overpass . When on snow or ice, when braking the traction light flicks on because the wheels are slipping. A clue that you are not in control. What blows my mind is in Chicago a few years ago. There was a big snow storm perdicted and local people went to work with no emergency supplies or even a coat. The story was on the weather channel and the 2 people they featured were idiots. They went to work without a coat or full tank of gas. Almost froze to death on Lake shore drive. If you are going to travel much in winter you need a good sleeping bag per person. A blanket is not good enough.

 

I (finally - one year after purchase) installed the engine block heater onto my PiP. Observations:

Easy to see everything from the bottom, so doing it while changing oil is a good time investment - especially if you have access to a lift. But...

After seeing the engine block heater casting from the underside to gain a good layout orientation, it is actually much easier to maneuver the EBH into position from the top where you can't see anything but can reach everything better. I stood in front of the front grille for the insertion process and draped myself across the engine for key actions.

Key Step: on the 2012 GenIII, you really have to remove the bolt that holds the horizontal plastic wire-holding bracket to slide the EBH into position. I thought I could cheat my way past that step - and wasted 40 minutes of time. Removing the bracket bolt was easy, and then the EBH snick-snicked into place. I suggest having a telescoping magnet handy during the job, because it is almost impossible to reposition that li'l bolt back into its bracket mount without dropping it into the engine bay.

Packing most of the supplied heat-transfer grease into the EBH hole before loading the EBH is a good technique. I used 1/4 of the grease to lube up the EBH and placed 3/4 of the grease into the hole beforehand, distributing it evenly with my finger around the hole's periphery. That assures the grease doesn't get scraped off the EBH as it snicks into position. This action is best done from the underside so you can see what you're doing.

If your Prius is parked outside during the cold season, then 2 - 3 hours of EBH warmup really works for comfort and probably for the engine's overall longevity. I plug it in when I get the paper off the driveway as soon as I wake up - by the time I go to work, the car is ready.

Two final observations: 1). I now wish I had made the time in Fall 2012 to install the EBH right as I had bought it, and 2). now that I've done it I could probably do another one in less than 20 minutes' total job time. Most of the time cost is indeed removing and reinstalling the windshield wiper cowl and motors - but it's not complex at all.

Hope this info is useful for winterizing tips.

 

A further comment on the install pdf: they show the cord coming out between edge of hood and fender at driver's side headlight. My preference, and I think it's quite common, was to run it under the plastic trim atop the zone with radiators, then down in front of the radiators and out through the lower grill.

I'd suggest to run secure the plug end to one of the horizontal slats in the lower grill, with two sturdy zip-ties, spaced a few inches apart. Leave it dangling out enough for practicality, but not enough that it could touch the ground. The object being that if you forget to unplug it will not end up dragging along the road.

And when setting up your extension cord for plugging in, try to secure it so that if you forget to unplug and are backing away, the cord has a straight pull, not to the side, and will stay with the garage, lol.

 

One more Engine Block Heater observation, now that snow, ice and nastiness is upon us: to my pleasant surprise, the EBh when plugged in 1 - 3 hours before driving, helps to quickly clear the usual Winter interior windshield fog. Now that I've been plugging it in when I wake up, the windshield moisture clears within a block of driving off in the morning. Nice unexpected bonus

 

Ooohh, yes - the EBH is soooo appreciated in today's temperatures