What is your snow driving experience?

I suffered through one winter with the OEM's as they are fairly new and like you, did not have the money to buy the snows that year. I ran those OEM's until the next winter. They only had about 15-20k on them and they were useless on all but clean dry pavement.

Just be careful when trying to merge into traffic. The traction control might leave you stranded. Leave plenty of space between you and oncoming traffic when merging.

 

Not any worse then any other two wheel drive car that i have owned!
I bought Blizzaks ws/70s this year after the winter we had last year 86.6 inchs for the season.so far this year just snow flurries!!
A 4Wheel drive is a nice back up!!

 

I'd disagree with many here; I say if you can't afford winter tires or don't want them, you don't need them. Just be aware that you'll need increased stopping and maneuvering distance, you should have a lower top speed, and there may be some extreme conditions that you can't drive in (though by that point, it would be dangerous even with winter tires).

Until a few years ago, I lived in Wisconsin. I never drove a car with traction control or winter tires. I was in one accident in the winter; a minor fender-bender when I slid a large van on snowy, slushy pavement into a car in front of me. It was entirely because I had left home late and was in a hurry, and wasn't driving appropriately for the conditions. I also wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been.

If you're driving appropriately for the conditions, you'll never be moving fast enough to get in much more than a fender bender - top speed on particularly bad days might only be 20 mph, on a straight with minimal traffic, no other obstacles, and no stop signs or lights. Snow tires will get you better traction. A 4-wheel drive will just make you feel better because you can accelerate faster, but then you'll just slam into the guy in front of you because all cars have 4-wheel brakes, so you can't stop any quicker.

 

Unlike Wisconsin, the Rockies are NOT FLAT!
Here in the mountains, you had better have an edge if you are going to navigate up and down hills in the winter. That means 4-WD, chains or snow tires - your choice.
... but, hey, what do I know. I am just an old curmudgeon.

 

From people I talk to it seems that few put on snow tires, they used to 20 years go but no longer. I thought that the all season radials had made snow tires obsolete for most of the country. . But then again I don't know much about tires and I've never been through a winter with a Prius.

I bought my Prius in October and it has Goodyear tires. I can't see myself going out and buying snow tires after spending so much for a new car, with new tires. I think I'll just see how it goes this winter, drive carefully, and hopefully will get through to April without any accidents.

 

One issue I see here is that all of us, the posters here, are located in different areas.

Some of us will drive on ice daily, we know this, so we mus tact accordingly.

Some of us will drive through 4 to 6 inches of fresh fluffy stuff on a routine basis. While others will not see 'winter driving conditions'.

There is no one answer that is best for all of us. Because all of us live in completely different regions.

I stated before that because of where I live, I know that I will see black ice on a routine basis. But that does not apply to someone down South.

I grew up in California. California does have mountain passes that will require chains. but for most of the state chains will never be an issue, because they simply do not experience winter.

 

I live near Bangor, Maine and just had 4 new snow tires installed. It did just fine during a trip to New Hampshire just before Thanksgiving - when we left with 2-3 inches on the road. I never would have tried it without the snow tires!

 

Well I live smack dab in the middle of those rockies at 9600' in an area that gets lots of snow and has grades of over 10%. I'll agree with most of the others in this thread that the stock tires suck horribly. But with good snow tires the Prius does as well as, if not better than, other front wheel drive cars. For many years we've had various AWD cars and SUV's. Of course appropriate driving techniques certainly add to the equation.

It's not uncommon for me to be driving up the hill and come up behind someone in a big SUV from a warm weather state stopped in the middle of the road spinning one or more tires thinking that somehow they will magically start moving again. If can afford the time I'll usually stop and help them get going again, but occasionally when I'm in a hurry I'll simply pull around them and chuckle as my little car, that they would probably look down their noses at, easily cruises up the same road that they can't seem to manage.

The only time I miss the higher ground clearance and 4wd are during the summer for 4wd only roads to various hiking/camping spots.

 

Well I live smack dab in the middle of those rockies at 9600' in an area that gets lots of snow and grades of over 10%. I'll agree with most of the others in this thread that the stock tires suck horribly but with good snow tires the Prius does as well as, if not better than other front wheel drive cars. For many years we've had various AWD cars and SUV's and don't have any regrets switching to the Prius. Of course appropriate driving techniques certainly add to the equation.

It's not uncommon for me to be driving up some hill and come up behind a big SUV from a warm weather state stopped in the middle of the road spinning one or more tires thinking that somehow they will magically start moving again. If can afford the time I'll usually stop and help them get going again, but occasionally when I'm in a hurry I'll simply pull around them and chuckle as my little car, that they would probably look down their noses at, easily cruises up the same road that they can't seem to manage.

There have been a couple of times when I needed to leave before they plowed our streets and the snow was deep enough to blow over the hood (probably 18"-24") and I breezed right through. Of course that was wonderful champagne powder, not the heavy Sierra or Boston style crud. If I'd have tried bashing through that I probably would have set off the airbags.

The only time I miss the higher ground clearance and 4wd are during the summer for 4wd only roads to various hiking/camping spots.

Here's a shot from early last winter just after we put on the set of dedicated snow tires/rims. We thought about going with a narrower profile 15s for the winter, but the little bit of extra snow traction wasn't worth it to me to loose the looks of the 17's.

 

I agree with what you said.

I tried to be as objective as I could in my reply to the OP, and since he lives about 50ish miles south of me in the same state, figured it was a close comparison, although it's more open land down there than up here.

While someone could probably easily get from A to B with the stock tires, if they took enough time and went slowly, you also have to be prepared to make any necessary evasive maneuvers and emergency stops. I don't think the factory tires would handle that well at all, and is one reason why I recommend going with a winter tire. The factory tires aren't rated well in snow, IIRC. You'd also have to take into account the history of how well the roads are cleared, kept cleared, etc. I know around here, DelDuh doesn't do the best job at this. We also get a range of weather in the winter months, and that can take us from fresh powdery snow, to ice, to rain, to black ice just during the course of one storm.

If someone was having to replace their existing tires anyway, I'd recommend getting a good A/S rated well for ice/snow as replacements in this area. I think it would be a good compromise (esp since we don't typically get a ton of winter weather here, the last 2 winters being completely the opposite of that) if someone didn't want 2 sets of tires, have the money for it, or have anywhere to keep them.

 

Mild 2009-2010 winter and long winter 2010-2011 on the OEMs. I survived with only a couple of drifts on corners (never in danger, but obviously I was going a bit too fast for the conditions). But, last winter on one occasion my wife signaled to turn right, then changed her mind when the brakes didn't do anything.

With the tread getting low and wanting my wife to drive the Prius at least 2 days per week through the winter I got winter tires (Michelin X-Ice). My wife had reported great grip in the dry but some hydroplaning on a wet Interstate yesterday.

 

The TC is aggressive. In snow, I recommend switching to Eco mode to allow gradual application and finer control to avoid the TC kicking in.

 

The one thing the mountains are more likely to have that Wisconsin usually will not is a steep drop off one side of the road (though those often get guardrails). Other than that, my regular commute still included a 10% grade. It does help that such things are much rarer though (so the streets department can prioritize steep spots like that for sanding, salting, and plowing).

And on the major roads, the grade will almost always be less than 10%. The only concern I'd have would be on a small residential-ish road. Those can get steep (yes, even in Wisconsin).

In any case, when traveling in the Sierras out here, I've noticed that the chain requirements are idiotic. It seems like they require chains on 2WD vehicles basically any time there's snow on the ground, even if the pavement is relatively clear. By the time there's enough snow that chains will actually have a positive effect, they just close the road completely. From personal experience, both a friend from Minnesota and I have discovered that putting chains on actually reduces traction in the situations the state requires them.

Not that I blame the highway department too much - most of the traffic in the Tahoe area is from out-of-towners that have hardly ever seen snow before, much less driven in it. (One of my friends was such an out-of-towner, and did a 720° spin - with chains on, I believe.) Still, a driver's license from a northern state should suffice at least in place of requiring 2WD vehicles to use chains.

There are some people that will need to use chains, snow tires, studs, etc. because they have some particularly bad roads to traverse. But on more mainstream roads, I still say that even all-season tires will suffice, given proper caution.

 

I'm debating whether or not to buy snow tires. The last few winters in our area have been worse than normal. My commute involves a lot of side roads, some of which have a significant grade. My OEMs are Bridgestones Ecopia A/S. I've had good experiences with this brand in the past, although I see the Ecopia model gets average ratings for traction.

I'd like an opinion on something a salesman told me. He said I could buy two front winter tires only and keep the Ecopias for the rear. That didn't sound right to me.

 

Don't mix snow tires with normal tires. It's a good way to get yourself killed. It makes much more sense to use good tires all the way around.

With our snowy northern Michigan winters, I run really good all-season tires: Nokian WRg2. They are basically winter tires that you can run in the summer, but still LRR, so mileage doesn't suffer. The only thing that would be better is dedicated winter tires with studs, but they aren't legal here.

We have good snow removal on our roads, so our Prius can almost always get through. If it's too bad for the Prius, we try to stay home. We use our Jeep TJ if it gets really deep. I run large diameter snow tires on it all year.

Tom

 

2 snows on the front of an FWD car is asking for the rear to pass the front.

I'd rather run 4 all seasons then a 2 & 2 setup so that both ends have the same grip, less chance of wonky (dangerous) handling.

 

Yet millions upon millions of people have been doing just that for the last 50 years or so ... it's a wonder there's anybody left on the roads ....

I'm not saying it's optimal ... but there's no way it's 'a good way to get yourself killed' ... unless you regularly and stupidly overdrive your car in bad conditions ... and that's YOUR fault ... not your tire's fault ...


REV

 

I looked online and had trouble finding a dealer for those Nokian WRG2 tires. Did you get them locally? When my Blizzaks run down (probably after this winter), I'd like to replace them with those, because it would seem to cover a better range of our typical winter weather. Even the Nokian website shows the closest dealer being 30 miles away, and their website doesn't even list their brand which makes me wonder.

 

Lots of people 'mix' their tires. I have done it for years. By that I mean putting studs on the front of a Front Wheel Drive vehicle, while leaving normal tires on the rear. Currently our Prius has studs on all four tires, though this is the first season we have done so on any o four vehicles.

It depends a lot on how you drive and your level of training, I guess.

You operate a Front Wheel Drive vehicle differently than you do a Rear Wheel Drive vehicle. It is those differences that count, and that will keep you out of trouble when you are on ice.

In this area, it is very common for people to take their vehicles out on iced-over parking lots and 'play'. To get the feel for how their vehicle handles on ice. I do this BEFORE I go out on the frozen rivers / lakes.

For us winter time means that many commutes are shorter because we can simply drive across bodies of water, instead of driving around so many of them.