Chains, a Substitute for Snow Tires???

Chains aren't good for much over 25mph. They beat you to death on any kind of clear road. They are a pain to put on and take off very often. They're great to get into town but once you're there they'll shake out your back teeth.

It would be easier to buy a cheap set of snow tires.

 

Agree that chains are for slow and short distance. That said, a few highway locations may be regulated as 'chains only' . I know of this in CA &NV but not sure about NM.

In the northern half of NM I would probably want Nokian WR G2 under Prius. I think they're about $90 each?

 

I run studded snows since I travel mountain passes in WA. I've tried the studless snows, they are a joke on a hybrid IMO. And I have a set of Spike-Spider Sport chains for the front, they take less than 1 minute to install, 45 seconds to remove once you have them down. I only use these when the going gets real tough, mostly for steep hills with ice.

Prius is at a disadvantage in snow because the advantages of front wheel drive are somewhat lost by the small, lightweight engine up front and the heavy batteries in the back. Snow tires, particularly studded ones for ice, help even up the odds. Traction control is nice too, it works.

There's an old canard, something like "never show up for a gunfight armed only with a knife"

 

Chains are for -emergency traction- when nothing else will get you going. As stated above, for short distances. Clearance in the Prius is tight for chains, so you have to be careful.

Also as stated above, the Nokian WR G2 might be a good alternative for the OP. You leave them on year round so there is no "extra winter cost", and they work very well in snow, ice, and rain. Nokian claim they are as good as Mich. ice tires. They don't wear out faster than summer tires on warm dry pavement. I found they handle much better than the Goodyear Integrites on dry pavement. They are a little noisier, but not objectionable.

I can attest to their good traction here in Edmonton. I have the Nokian WR in stock size 15".

 

My first winter with my Prius, I tried Dunlop Graspic DS-2, a winter tire a lot of folks swear by. Yeah, better on snow, but not that much better on ice, compared to the "all season" tire

There was vandalism comitted by a subcontractor at my former condo, all on surveillance. They knifed the Dunlops in storage, so I got a new set of winter tires: Yokohama Ice Guard 10.

The Ice Guard 10 is also supposed to be a good studless winter tire. About the same on snow as the Graspic's, perhaps slightly better on ice. Not to mention absolutely flakey dry road handling characteristics

I finally went back to a proven winter tire design: a studded winter tire. I have to wonder about tire tests that claim they are inferior, until I see the tire tested and realize it's a +20 year old tread design

A modern studded winter tire is much better on glare ice than a studless winter tire. I currently run Goodyear Nordic's from Canadian Tire. It's the same as the Goodyear Ultra Grip 500 sold in Europe

Goodyear Eur-Winter Tire-UltraGrip 500

If you click on Profile, a Flash movie loads that explains the tire construction. Due to the directional tread, this tire is *very* safe on water soaked roads during the Spring melt

Another European tire I'd like to see offered here is the Ultra Grip Extreme with Active Stud System

Goodyear Eur-Winter Tire-UltraGrip Extreme

Just curious, are you running Nokian studded tires?

 

Around a year or two ago, I downloaded a Goodyear Sweden winter tire test. They still rank modern studded winter tires far superior over studless designs

 

Depends on how "occasionally". Ski trips to Taos where there may, or may not, be snow on the roads? The occasional 1" snowfall that will melt the next day? The Prius OEMs are lousy snow tires, but if you really see snow very rarely, I would not go rushing out to get snow tires. The chains (as noted for slow speed travel when the snow is heavy) could be a good plan. I know that in Oregon, you can't get up Mt. Bachelor without chains. They stop you and make you put them on. No chains, go home

When you wear out the OEMs, get a set of GOOD All Seasons that are good for ALL seasons. My Goodyear TripleTreds were quite good as snow tires for 3 winter seasons including running them all year. I got the Hakka's last year when the TTs had 60K miles on them. Still using them for summer tires.

 

We got relatively pounded by snow here in the Seattle area, 2-6", cold, ice, high winds. I'm running the Kelly Magna Grips, a pretty much pedestrian studded tire, cheap too.

I even had to go around a 4x4 Jeep that was stuck today, I'd seen the guy earlier, he'd seemed determined to get him self stuck and succeeded.

If I drove in snow all the time I'd consider a more advanced tire but for the stuff I have to deal and the frequency, these are great tires.

They were $410 mounted, balanced and installed, I think I could have done better but I wasn't in a good spot to bargain.

 

Even with the "best" snow tires, you still need to carry chains under most state laws. A key is to learn to drive in slippery, icy conditions. Learn to drive on an oily greasy skid pan (as in most police academies). Remember that the brakes stop the wheels, not the vehicle. Drive slower, think w-a-a-a-y ahead. Let other drivers play bouncing off of rocks and snow banks and other cars. When in doubt, get off the road, park and walk or take public transportation. Even with experience driving on snow & ice, do not become overconfident.

 

I bought the Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 studless tires recommended by the tire rack for my 2008.
We experienced a major snow fall here 0f 25". I got home up a steep hills but just barely. The tires often broke loose. As the snow total grew I put on a pair of traction chains. With those I was better able to get through most of the roads except where the depth exceeded about 10". Even with those the traction control would take over and cut the engine speed back to a crawl. I parked the Prius and drove my 2001 Maxima with studded snow tires, and have gotten everywhere. If I were to redo it I would seriously re-consider studded, and definately have a set of chains for the deep and steep stuff.

 

"Cable chains" as they are called around here (western WA) are pretty cheap and pretty easy to install and remove. These are basically steel cross cables vs. the old fashioned link chains. Rougher ride than snow tires, of course, but lots less so that the old fashioned chains.

Traction control will pretty much bring your car to a stop on a slick surface, anyway, because it cuts power to the drive wheel at the first and slightest hint of spinning. Love my Prius, but I consider it to be nearly helpless in the snow.

 

I'm not sure the car balances quite the way you think it does. The batteries in the back are not quite 100 lbs, and up front there may be a small lightweight engine but it's sharing space with two honkin' electric motors and a high-power water-cooled inverter, to say nothing of the usual powertrain stuff. For a Classic (the one I happen to know) the front axle curb weight is nearly twice the rear: 1.7 to 1. It may be less extreme in the newer design, but light in front it ain't.

-Chap

 

Well the weight distro may not be as bad as I think it is but, I can say for sure of all the vehicles I've owned, and there have been many, the worst traction performance by far was my 2004 Honda hybrid; the 2006 Prius holds the number two spot. I will say the Honda was in a class by itself in this regard.