Wow! I drove home tonight during a rather nasty snowstorm, and the Prius performed just magnificently. While other cars were all over the road, I never once felt like I wasn't in control of the car. I think it must be all that torque that is generated by the electric motor. On the downside, my fuel economy, after a week of temperatures near or below 0F, is down 17 mpg from where it was in early autumn. Oh well.
I've had quite a bit of snow driving just in the last month and I'd fall short of rating the Prius exceptional.....more like acceptable, and that's with snow tires.
I'm very happy with the package 6 and Revo 1s in the snow. Makes driving in the snow no challenge at all. The Revos give the traction and all the automatic stuf on the Prius package 6 makes it like a super-expert snow driver is running the car.
I think it's all in the tyres. The integrities are living up to the reputation that they've earned here on PC. We've gotten about 3 inches or so on the ground here and I've felt the tyres slip on numerous occasions while just coasting or in gentle turns. If it snowed more here in Denver I'd dump 'em now but we generally don't get a lot so I'll hang onto them for a while. Gotta research the options.
It doesn't snow in LA, but it rained about a week ago and I found the prius quite scary to drive... maybe it the tires or that my previous cars were all larger but there seemed to be no grip at all.
I think New England is going to be hit with the same nasty snowstorm tomorrow, so I'll have more of a chance to see how the Prius handles in adverse conditions... Last week we had some snowfall and my initial impressions were fair, but not great. Especially from a stop sign turning onto a road, I was able to get the tires to slip pretty easily, and the TRAC indicator light coming on... It slipped, but it seemed to recover quickly. I didn't have to do much on my own to recover.
In the snow do any of you feel the slush snow that can be on the freeway knock the Prius around? This has been one of my biggest concerns in getting my Prius. I traded my honda a few years ago for a Jeep Wrangler because of snow (now I realize that the basicly 6-10 days a year with any decent snowfall did not justify the wast of gas and money). Still the subject of snow is worry some to me in going back to a small front wheel drive car even with years of snow driving experiance.
We need to be careful with using the word "snow". There are many types of snow. Legend has it that Inuits have 50 words for the different types. Some allow for good traction, some are very slippery. Here in the ski area of Vermont where I live, I have had all wheels spinning going up hills with my AWD Subaru Outback with excellent snow tires, and at other times I have gone up the same hill with a two-whell drive Honda with all-season tires with no slippage. Also, there is a stage after roads are salted where the snow becomes almost greasy and is very slippery when the adhesion of the snow to the road surface has been destroyed. To make it more complicated, snow can have ice underneath and be impossible for even studded tires to handle. All of this is to say that comparative judgements about the ability of the Prius in the "snow" is more than subjective and difficult to judge with a few anecdotal incidents. One person can say it excellent in the snow and another can say it is bad, and both can be right even with the same snowtires at the same stage of wear. I am not aware of any truly scientific comparisons.
Wow... You own and drive a Prius in Anchorage? I nearly got a job there and was recently wondering how would I have been able to buy, own and drive my Prius there had I gone that route with my career... Down here in S. Texas we had snow once in 109 years last Christmas... What are your main concerns with driving the Prius in snow? Thank you.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("Vesasian")</div> I agree whole heartedly!!!! I was a bit worried about venturing out into the snow this morning on stock tires in Bucks County, North of Philadelphia. But there was nothing to worry about, as the Prius is the best car in snow that I've ever had. We have about 4 inches on the ground and it is still snowing strong. 15 miles of mostly unplowed snow on back roads was no problem for me. I had a little bit of trouble on one long unplowed downhill that was slightly banked to the right. The car kept wanting to slip towards the shoulder, but so was the Jeep Cherokee in front of me. He was having more problems than I was. Other than that, no problems. No spinning tires, no getting stuck. While I find the traction control to be a bit annoying on mostly dry roads with a little bit of ice here and there, it really shines in the snow. Just push down the gas pedal and off you go.
It would be helpful to me and perhaps the other people reading these posts if you were to mention the make and model of the tires you are using when you make your comments.
I agree the Prius is one of the best cars in snow I've ever had. I use Michelin Xice tires. I have no problems with traction in snow, slush, rain, puddles, or cold dry ice. But when I hit smooth wet ice I do wish for my old studded tires. Overall in snow the non studded tires work better than the studded ones in my prev car.
I have Goodyear ThripleThreads, live in the foothills SW of Denver and have had a good bit of snow this year. Our 2005 has VSC and both my wife and I pick the Prius over our two 4WD's unless the snow gets too deep. It has just proven impossible to make the Prius skid no matter how bad we drive.
So many divergent opinions about how the Prius does in snow... I can't help thinking that the differences have more to do with (1) how experienced the driver is with snow driving and (2) what the driver was used to driving before the Prius. than anything, though I'm sure type of snow and type of tires comes into it too. We don't have our Prius yet, but I drive a 2000 Civic coupe and I manage fine in 'normal' amounts of snow. I lived in New Hampshire when I bought it and still take it to NY and VT sometimes. My in-laws live in Buffalo and my mother-in-law drives a Corolla... my point is that there are many of us who are used to snow and used to small cars rather than trucks or SUVs. As a group, I bet we're much more likely to be satisfied with the Prius' snow handling, because we don't expect 4WD or AWD and we don't expect tons of ground clearance. But we can let you know what we really think once we have the car! Michelle
