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Prius SUCKS in the snow...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Mystery Squid, Dec 9, 2005.

  1. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    Ok, first day of driving it in REAL winter conditions. Is there ANY way to shut off that F'ING stability control feature?

    I'm going up a slight incline with maybe 3 inches of snow on it. Front wheels start to slip a bit, computer decides to simply NOT TURN the front wheels. So much for "spin-creep" driving... Hell, even my Mustang with rear wheel drive and summer performance tires would have made it.

    Then, there was an incident this morning, just like out of a Hollywood action movie, I need to turn onto a road, slight incline at the stop sign... Plow is coming, but it's sooo far away, I'm certain I'll have the time to make it. Half way through the intersection, F'ING stability control kicks in, and I BARELY make it in time.

    This sucks. I've lived all my life in New England, and know how to make the most out of using my car's momentum, spinning wheels, and drift. I'd have to say the Prius is downright DANGEROUS in the snow.

    :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:
     
  2. 2Hybrids

    2Hybrids New Member

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    All the more reason to move to Florida - weren't you considering that?

    I've owned other vehicles that had a little push-button switch that would turn off traction control. Wonder why it's not avail on the Prius?

    I grew up driving in the snow but have not had the chance to drive in the snow with the Prius - how is everyone else approaching these situations?
     
  3. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    When i was driving in Colorado with snow. I learned to just floor it. The system knows you want to take off. As you slowly gain tractions, it will start to accelerate as quick as it can. So.. my advice.. floor it when starting. slow starts dont' work with this car. It's either a Go or a No
     
  4. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    You didn't happen to mention it, Squid, so I have to ask: You've got snowies on, right?

    And it has to be better than the crotch rocket, yes?

    My grandmother could never understand why I didn't put snow tires on my motorcycle instead of taking the bus in the winter. :blink:
     
  5. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    It won't. I floored it and nothing happened! If anything it slooooooowly starts to turn the wheels, you can't "spin-drift" when you need to.
     
  6. jchu

    jchu New Member

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    Answer: True traction tires such as Blizzaks or chains as well as sane use of power. No problems with going thru either the Blues or Snoqualmie pass (both know for horrible winter conditions) last winter on lesser tires than the ones I mentioned above, though far superior to the OEM GY Integritys which are poor in snow and ice.

    PS. Spinning the tires much is liable to ruin the transmission which is why even the non VSC equipped Prius has TRAC
     
  7. pkjohna

    pkjohna Member

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    The Prius is not as much FUN to drive in the snow since it's hard to get out of control unless your on ice but it's far from dangerous unless your driving style is dangerous to begin with. I've never had the wheels just stop..I think what happens is it drops into electric only when the wheel slips -- which of course robs you of some power.
     
  8. Jonnycat26

    Jonnycat26 New Member

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    The Prius is fine in the snow as long as you're moving. If you're trying to accelerate... well, 'trying' is probably the best word for it. Sometimes it'll take you a long time to get moving because the traction control is overzealous.

    And don't forget, the traction control is *NOT* there for your safety. It's there for the safety of the transmission. The fact that protecting the transmission overlaps somewhat with assisting with traction is a bonus, not the intended purpose. That's why you have those frustratingly slow crawls away from intersections and lights when there's snow on the ground. A normal traction control system would allow for some wheel spin. The Prius's system allows for virtually no wheelspin.
     
  9. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    First, it's important to differentiate b/w TRAC (traction control) and VSC (vehicle stability control). They are different though related.

    Every Prius has TRAC and it is essential to the protection of the hybrid system...spinning the tires would result in direct damage to the HSD components. It is possible to disable the TRAC (I don't remember the exact technique, but if you search through BT Tech's posts on his top speed and HP tests he had to disable it for that and the technique is listed or linked to there). I very strongly urge you to NOT disable it as you will almost certainly severely damage the HSD under the conditions you described.

    VSC is optional and relates to slide/skid prevention in cornering. It is signalled by some beeping when it kicks in and a VSC light comes on on the dash very briefly (hard to see b/c it goes off so quickly and most people aren't looking at the dash when the car is going fast enough and sliding enough for VSC to engage). It independently controls the braking and power distribution to the wheels to recover from the slide/skid. Whereas TRAC is simply to prevent the forward wheel spin when there is loss of traction.

    If you're still using the Integrity tires you can expect continued issues. Winter snow tires will dramatically reduce the frustratingly aggressive TRAC function from kicking in so often. My HydroEdge offer clear improvement as well in the very light snow I drove in yesterday.
     
  10. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    Thanks for all the inputs. I most certainly won't shut off the TRAC, as, THANKFULLY, there are only a handful of days where this is an issue. Today happens to be one of them when I'm far from home too... :angry:

    For the record, I don't have snowies on it, just the Integra's that came with it, regardless, you still should be able to use wheel spin to your advantage, so I put on snowies, and I get on a steeper incline, probably same thing (although I admit, I could be wrong). I swear, between this and the anti-lock brakes (which IMO, is more dangerous than it's worth), I just wish I could shut down all this crap. I'd drive far better without it. I guess there's such a thing as too much technology.... I just wanted to yell, "STOP TRYING TO DRIVE FOR ME!!!"

    :angry:
     
  11. diemonde

    diemonde New Member

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    The Prius is probally so advanced it reads this forum and saw the awful picture you are using of this certain person and decided to give you a hard time... :lol:
     
  12. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    i learned to drive in northern climates with all-season tires (couldn't afford snow tires) and no anti-lock brakes. i can't imagine how frustrated i'll be when we go back with this whole trac nonsense and what not trying to drive the car for me.

    sure, i realize its integral function in protecting the car. and if i didn't, between priuschat and my husband it would be drilled into my head. but when i'm on snow i don't really care about anything other than being able to go where i need to go, when i need to go there, to avoid collisions.

    guess our trip back in a few weeks will teach me a thing or 2 about driving in the snow in the prius. to be honest, i am a little nervous about it.
     
  13. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Hey, Squid. Maybe you should talk to Jayman. He thinks the Prius is a veritable snowmobile.

    And don't get mad at me - I mean this in a nice way - some of us have changed our driving habits since we bought a Prius. :rolleyes:
     
  14. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    lol... No, won't get mad!

    You can change your driving habits all you want, not going to help you get up a slight incline on from a stop.
     
  15. Marlin

    Marlin New Member

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    I live near Philadelphia, and we got the same wet snow today that you got, and I didn't have any problems. Bucks County is very hilly too, so I had to go up and down many hills.

    I left a 6:30, before most of the back roads that I take are plowed. There were only a few spots where I saw even a hint of pavement.

    Now, along with the other cars on the road, I was only going 20 - 25 mph, even on 45 mph roads, and I accelerated slow, and I gave myself longer to brake. But the roads were covered with snow after all. You can't expect to drive on them the same as when their dry.

    I never got stuck. I could climb hills with no problems. I could accelerate at rates appropriate to the conditions. The only time I even felt like I was loosing even the slightest amount of control was on a steep downhill that was slightly banked to the right. My car, and everone elses, kept trying to slide towards the shoulder. My car pretty much stayed oriented straight on the road though, but the Jeep Cherokee in front of me spent most of the time at an angle about 10-15 degrees off from the road.

    Sure it took twice as long to accelerate as it would if the roads were dry, but given the conditions, it was an appropriate rate. I wouldn't have tried to accelerate any faster if I was in any other car, because if I did, I would lose traction and my rear wheel drive Explorer would fish tail, or my front wheel drive Malibu would cork-screw it's way into the curb.

    I'm guessing that Mystery Squid expects to drive and accelerate in fresh snow just as fast as he would on dry pavement.
     
  16. Marlin

    Marlin New Member

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    I find the TRAC annoying on mostly dry pavement, when you expect to pull out fast and you hit that one little patch of ice that gives you a one second feeble acceleration penalty.

    But in actual snow, it worked great for me. No feathering or constant adjustment of the gas pedal required. If you want to go, just push down the gas pedal and it goes.
     
  17. Betelgeuse

    Betelgeuse Active Member

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    I must say that my experience with this "first real snow of the season" has been very similar to Marlin's. I have an '05 with the stock tires that everyone complains about, and was really dreading trying to drive anywhere today. Imagine my surprise when I had NO problems. This includes getting out of a parking space where I was basically plowed in (OK; the wall of snow was < 12 inches, but still. . . ), driving on roads that had been well plowed, some that had ice on them, and some that were completely unplowed. By adjusting my driving habits in a reasonable way (slower accelerations, slower braking), I had NO problems. I think the TRAC only came on once; and that was when I tried to floor it to see if I could get it to come on.

    Basically, despite the lower clearance, I think the Prius performs at least as well in the snow as my previous car, a 16-year-old Jeep Cherokee (which was RWD, but still. . . )

    You can't drive it like a rally car, but I've found it totally acceptable for basic "driving around" in the snow.
     
  18. Vespasian

    Vespasian New Member

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    I drove my Prius yesterday during one of the worst snowstorms in Chicago in quite some time (about 9 inches in only a few hours), and I have no complaints whatsoever.
     
  19. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    I have to agree with squid that it doesn't seem like it takes much to get the car to slip. I don't have VCS since I've got a pkg 3 but TRAC comes on a lot. The integrities just don't seem to grip very well in snowy conditions. Someone mentioned (TidelandPrius, perhaps) that they thought the tread thickness was quite shallow on the OEM tyres. I haven't pushed the car hard at all in the lame excuse for snow we got earlier in the week. On all snow sections it doesn't take much too feel the tyres' tenuous grip on the road.
     
  20. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    Well that's just it, I don't. I can usually average 60-61 in the summer, you can't quite do that driving rally style.

    It wasn't so much the slippage that bothered it, it was the way it would spin the wheels at a rate IT thought acceptable. There was more than one situation where even feathering it, nothing happened until I actually dropped back down an incline. A SLIGHT incline mind you.

    Granted, maybe serious winter tires will do the trick, but dang, if the stock tires perform THAT badly in the snow, they truly are crap...