very little traction control

This is likely more a tire issue than a car issue. What tires do you have, and how many miles on them?

I was happy with my 2010's OEM tires' winter traction only the first winter, they had degraded significantly by the second. Rain traction was probably good for two years (I kept that car 3 years). The later 2012's tires are following the same pattern, and are now breaking traction in rain with noticeable frequency. But this is really no different than the original A/S tires on previous cars too.

My 'real winter' travel in seriously foul weather is in a different vehicle with true winter tires.

 

OP, why are you flooring the accelerator in wet conditions?

Perhaps you need to be in ECO mode to tame that Pb foot.

 

Our town is located in a low-laying around, our road follows along a river bank. We often get fog off the river. As the ground freezes, fog will settle on the pavement and from a layer of ice. this is locally known as 'black ice'. Because the pavement looks clean, but it is slicker than an ice-rink.

We get black ice in the fall and spring, until a good layer of snow and sand are put on top of it, it can be fairly hazardous.

In this area, we need winter tires with studs. Also studs are needed for when we are driving across rivers or ponds.

The problem that you describe, sounds to me like you need to look at your tires.

 

If your state still allows studs, it is one of only a very few.
People tend to not take them off the car when they should and the studs tend to chew up the roads........VERY QUICKLY.
Also if they run them WAY longer than they should, worn tires throwing out steel studs is pretty much like a gun shot.

 

Hot sun evaporates tar faster in the summer, than studded tires do in the winter.

 

That's a pretty funny misconception.

Hot tar does not "evaporate", it moves around and sticks to things.

How about concrete. Do you think that the summer sun makes that "evaporate" faster than steel studs grinding against it ??

 

but I don't recall anyone reporting any Prii allowing freely spinning tires. The Gen3 videos posted so far show 'chatter' as the tires repeatedly break loose and are caught and held back by the traction control. The drivers whose winter style requires some spin still complain about not getting that spin.

 

Mine would let it spin for a 1/2 second, cut back some, spin it some, and cut it back, and on and on, assuming my foot keeps flooring the pedal, and the traction is still limited.

This is more noticeable as now I am approaching 50K with my OE tires down to 3-4/32nd of tread depth left.

I thought traction control allows the most acceleration possible, given the conditions.

 

Don't think I know of any car 4WD, AWD, RWD, or FWD that don't spin the tires when you floor it on wet, dry, icy, or dirt surfaces. In other words, ESC doesn't work miracles. It has to sense slip before it activates.

 

This is how mine feels like, never got out to look. The TRAC system pulses the power, it seems.

This is one how the GEN II failed.

 

With the silver Gen 3 whats the issue? It got up the hill using traction control… It wasn't overbearing and got the car where it needed to go….


The Gen 2, Yeah it got stuck but come on that driveway was pure black ice… Its a no win either way…


But alas did it not get up to the garage??

 

A little misconception here. AFAIK Traction control doesn't use the brakes, it just cuts the throttle. VSC uses individual brakes to control direction of travel. In other words you don't have electronic LSD.

Sounds like you have "cheap tyres", and they are acting like they are cheap.

And yes, as others have posted, the GIII will allow -some- wheel spin. But even it won't allow full spin, there is some control of it.
Also, yes, contrary to what certain magazine wags claim, the Prius IS NOT "gutless". It produces a lot of torque off the line. Wheels will spin if the right foot is heavy.

 

Does use brakes. Is de facto electronic LSD.

 

Not true. All traction control systems use brakes to manage the spin. Some additionally reduce the power, but not all.