Prius drivability off road.....

An improbable solution:

 

Dang Computer...

 

Have you considered taller tires? It would throw off your speedometer and odometer a bit, but a taller tire could give you that extra inch of clearance you need. a 195/70-15 or 195/75-15 would be taller than the OEM 195/65-15 and provide a bit more ground clearance. Tires are cheaper than a new car...

 

Go with the Subaru. My wife and I have a Prius and an Outback and live on a dirt road. During the winter there are times that the road is flat out impassable to the Prius. More than a few inches of snow and it starts to snowplow too. Traction control works reasonably well in the Prius. It takes ice on the uphill stretch to stop the Prius. The real problem is ground clearance. Dirt/gravel roads are never the first maintenance priority for towns. When you've got 6 inch deep craters (or even worse, washouts) and 4 inches of ground clearance bad things happen. My wife and I commute together in the Subie when there's bad weather.

 

I have but wasn't sure what kind to get. I will look at that option next. Is 195/75-15 the tallest one available that will fit? Discount Tire doesn't show that tire as an option for the Prius: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tirePlusSizes.do?v=016484|2010&r=TDEINT|pc|75149 - I guess you've seen these in use on Prius before?

The road does have a few rutted areas.

I'm seeing the same lack of choice on Michelin's site: http://www.michelinman.com/tire-selector/vehicle/2010/Toyota/Prius/Standard/tires (I assume the alternate listed, P215/45R17 87V, is not a taller tire)

 

Discount Tire informed me that such a tire size (70 or 75) would rub against the fender and heavily decrease the turning radius. Sigh.

Paul, have you personally seen these fit on a Prius?

 

No I have not, just trying to think of an alternative to getting rid of your car and taking a huge hit from depreciation. You may want to do some measurements on your own. The width of the tire should not be a concern (of course you could go to a narrower tire like a 185/75-15, which would be better in snow), it would be the height that might cause problems. But, there sure looks to be plenty of clearance on my Prius with the OE 195/65-15s, I wouldn't think going to a 70 or 75 series would not add more than an inch to the overall height, but it might be enough to clear some of the ruts. Go to TireRack.com and look at the overall diameter of the different series tires and see how much of a difference there is, then measure how much clearance you have when the wheel are turned fully in both locked positions.

The plus sizes listed at the Discount Tire site are for increasing the wheel size and maintaining the same diameter. Increasing the diameter by a couple inches should not increase the height by much. I know there is a formula for figuring it, but it escapes me at the moment...

 

Thanks, just created another thread on this topic (hopefully someone will chime in who's successfully done it) but I'll give that recommend. a shot. Tirerack doesn't have any 195/75s listed. The diameter difference between the 195/70s listed on the site and my 60s seems to be 0.7-0.8 inches.

 

Would raising the back end help? Over in the PHEV thread, banshee08 reports success so far in using Firestone Coil Rite airbags to correct ground clearance problems caused by having an 8 kWh plug in kit in the back. This might give you an extra inch or so when fully pressurized. I had to use air shocks back in the day in a '67 Cougar where there were unavoidable bottom-out spots on the dirt driveway where I lived.

 

Link to the thread? That would seem to have little to no effect on the front end.

 

if you were to do air ride.. wouldn't you do the entire suspension? otherwise your rates will be off and you'll bounce down the road like a bad civic.

i've used my genII prius off road a lot. I've even bottomed out. One time i bent a bt tech brace in half.

i've had more success with taller tires than wider tires.

some places only carry certain tires, so check around. My current tires were not carried in the area i lived. i was on a road trip when i found them in stock somewhere at a very good price. (they are a bit taller than stock)

i've never bottomed out with these tires. (I don't really go off road too much since i moved to los angeles.. hehe..)

 

215/50/17, eh? I see that's for an earlier model Prius. Am still wondering if anyone's used taller tires on the Gen III with success.

 

Changing tire size will get you about 1/2" more clearance. Not worth doing in my opinion.

Last week -on the highway- in a construction zone I managed to bottom out the centre on the gravel. I then moved over a foot or two so the wheels would run on the centre "hump" of gravel. If you aren't moving too fast it shouldn't do any damage.

Any "car" will eventually have trouble on a gravel road. This IS NOT "off-road". It's off pavement. You just have to be more careful to avoid potholes and ruts. If you must hit them slow to a crawl.

 

The real solution to this problem is, why doesn't it have a paved road?

Buying an SUV to drive over potholes/poorly maintained roads is not a solution.

 

The Prius is an SUV? :O

In my case, the problem is an unforeseen move when I purchased the Prius over 6 months ago.

 

In some parts of the world it is more cost effective to drive trucks than pave roads. Nearby Beaver Island has a population of 551 people and a land area of about 56 square miles. This works out to about 10 people per square mile. It just doesn't make economic sense to pave the roads for those low numbers.

Tom

 

There are -hundreds- of unpaved roads in Alberta. In spite of oil-rich Alberta's pave all roads policy. If -we- can't do it nobody can. Learn to adapt/drive on gravel. Or loose the Prius and get an obsolete car.

 

What size do you think they squeezed on there?

 

I bet they didn't fit anything larger than 215/75 R15 K02s. Those tires are about 3 inches taller than stock and that "Prius-X" was stated to have a 2 inch (50mm) lift. So I don't see them pushing it much more than that. Looke like they have higher offset Sparco or Method wheels too, possibly to fix rubbing issues, but also possible just for the look..

 

Besides my 2013 PIP, I also have a RAV4, a '99 beater though in great mechanical shape and really good tires. But, I only drive it when I absolutely have to:deep snow, or true 4x4 roads. The Prius has spoiled me, with at least twice the MPG of the 4 and a much better sound system. I just changed my oil and noticed the underneath panels are all still there, though showing some obvious signs of abuse. The pic is of two days ago, I paused when I saw the sign, then continued for another 2 miles to where the road ended anyway, no sweat.