1st drive in winter weather

i think a lot depends on driving style, air pressure, terrain, type of snow/sleet/slush/ ice and etc. i've never had trouble with the oem's, but it's reasonably flat around here, and i drive slowly and carefully in bad weather. they do a great job of sanding, salting and plowing, and i don't have to be out much before the plows.

 

once, every 5 years or so, it starts snowing at 10 am, and the evening commute is a nightmare. i have seen bimmers stuck all over the highway, but rarely a prius.

 

Miles on cars? Excluding the first Prius that was upgraded at three years, past cars have been replaced at 130k, 130k, 235k, and 175k miles. Spouse's daily driver has 190k. Existing Prius has over 50k, its factory tires were taken off at 43k because the rainy season was returning and those tires lacked the wet traction for emergency braking when other morons do stupid things right in front of me. Factory tires on my first Subaru didn't reach 30k.

Never mind snow, what tires do you know about that have good wet braking traction on rainy streets after 100k miles of wear?

I don't like using tires that will slide twice as far as when new, especially with the tendency of some local pavement to glaze in the summer heat then really slicken up when wet. This seems to concentrate on the approaches to certain busy intersections, were some drivers are prone to run red lights or fail to yield.

My skiing habit and elder care duties produce a lot of snow driving, through mountains and in areas with comparatively little road grooming.

 

Living in the same area as the OP, I can attest to the crazy weather we have in Wisconsin. After crashing into a curb in my Honda Civic a few years back, I never go without snow tires. So long as the snow wasn't too deep, like more than 4 inches, the Prius (and thankfully the Volt as well) didn't have any issues with snow tires on.

 

That snowfall we had wasn't even close to being bad. You want bad, remember last year during the superbowl when we got nailed with 8+ inches? Now that was bad and my Prius C even with snow tires was struggling to get traction. Your all season will not survive if the snow is coming down hard like that day.

Luckily for us this year the forecast calls for a warmer then usual winter this year. I'm not a fan of the snow so the less snow, the happier I am. I do have snow tires on my Prius. I rather have it and not need it, then not have it and need it.

 

I've been thinking about getting all seasons, but just can't justify the cost. I'm pleasantly surprised how well the Prius handles in snow around here. The plows don't particularly like to plow the highway where I live by for some reason and only plow the far left lane. I'm left riding the left lane with everyone else then suddenly cutting over to the right lane to make my turn lol. Good to hear that it's going to be a warm winter this year. Hopefully they're right!

 

Too funny 4rpr15!! Slowly the driving public will be convinced of how well engineered the Prius is. I have to admit, the first few years they came out, I wasn't sold on them. My wife got a 2005 brand new back in 2005 and I was sold!! At the time, I owned a custom 68 Stang and drove a GMC truck, so I had the old "muscle" thing goin on. But the room inside, the smooth ride (you get up to 80 miles per hours so smoothly!!)......I told myself I need to get one. Well, in 2006 I got the Scion XB, kept it for nearly 10 years (only had to replace the water pump and brakes for 162,000 miles!) and just this year I got the 2015 Pruis. Gotta say, Toyota is building smart cars.

 

Both the BMW's and the Dodge Magnum mentioned above are rear wheel drive vehicles. For the FWD Prius to perform better in the snow that these RWD vehicles is not very remarkable. To me the Prius weight distribution is no better or worse than any other FWD vehicle. Differences are in tires and the ability to turn traction control off. The Prius falls short in terms of the latter.

 

The first time my Prius got caught at work in seriously icy conditions, after the original tires lost their initial winter ability (second winter, TC and VSC activated the instant I pulled out of the underground parking garage), I was surprised how many Subarus I still passed on the way home.

My other car was a Subaru of similar / older vintage, so I knew the basic cars were capable of keeping up with me. Either they allowed the tires to wear down much more than I allow, or they were much more nervous about winter driving. Or both.

 

Agreed. I've owned a lot of different cars and the Prius isn't any better or worse, in my opinion, than any of them except where the TC is concerned. A lot of that can be mitigated by a good set of snow tires. Keeping the tires from spinning keeps the TC from interceding.

 

Remember all the Pm's you sent me re. Concerns about the snow and snow tires, etc...



Told ya!...

 

I've been there: new car, new all-seasons, a few inches of snow: no problems. But don't kid yourself: proper snow tires will give you a tremendous edge. 195/65R15 are better/cheaper too.