New to Minneapolis-St Paul.. anxious about winter driving

Have to agree here - typical clearance is listed around 6", and plowing snow higher than that as you drive gets exponentially more difficult as it rises. *Very* easy to get stuck, even with new tires. A neighbor up my street with a new sedan and all-weather tires was stuck in a mere 9" of snow, and his car had a little more than 6" clearance. Granted - the snow was drifting into thicker areas, but that should be expected on the road, along with other driver's cars also forming deeper pockets as they drive.

About the only things you can do: winter tires, and/or chains.

 

I've done it both ways but ended up going with one set of nice wheels and changing the tires. Lugging the wheels and tires around vs. the easy to carry and easy to store tires only was the decision point for me.

I'm a Nokian WG person for my snow tires. They work great and have a 40,000 mile tread life vs. the lower 20,000 of some of the other dedicated snows. As someone noted, both sets of tires last a long time so it is a good investment in safety and mobility to get some great snow tires.

 

You asked about low clearence in your original post.

YES, pay attention to the issue. The Prius really is a low clearence car. The suggestion of going to a parking lot after the first big snow and seeing what you can and can't do with it is a good one.

Here's another suggestion--we will see if anyone agrees with it:
If you used to drive an SUV on rutted Forest Service roads, beware--don't think your Prius can get through piles of snow as deep as the ruts you used to handle.
On the other hand, if you have driven your Prius on rutted roads in National Parks, you probably have a good idea just how deep you can get your car in before having a problem.

 

I have never gotten stuck in snow in either of our Prius. One had Nokian winter tires (I 2nd the recommendation). The other Prius had good all seasons and did just fine as well.
If you need to off-road, perhaps the Prius is not for you. Snow is cleared pretty efficiently in urban/suburban MN. Only time I ever had any trouble with 6+ inches of snow on roads is when I went out on purpose to test it in a vehicle that had even less clearance
If you need to drive to deliver newspapers or something before 4am AND we get a 6" snowfall, the Prius may give you some trouble.

 

I have a 2010 Prius III at 136k miles. I live in Long Island where winter can be harsh sometimes. The stock tires were Yokohama which I replaced with Bridgestone EP422 at 87,387 miles on odometer. The Yokohama tires were still good, might be able to last 100k miles, but I decided to get new tires because Costco was running a $100 off sale. Either set of tires perform exceptionally well on snow or ice. I have no problem making turns on black ice. The stability control well overcomes the deficit of narrow tires. Braking is also very good, especially with Bridgestone tires if the pavement is wet, icy, or covered with snow.

Until now, my brake pads are still original and in good shape. I switch to "B" most of the time to assist braking and switch back to "D" before full stop.

The winter performance of this car matches my previous car, Infiniti M35X, an AWD car also with stability control. I believe you will be very confident after driving on snow or ice the first time.

You would want to avoid potholes more than almost any other car. The small diameter of the tires could make hitting potholes or ramps a quite unpleasant experience. It could also earn you a trip to wheel alignment...

 

Sacrificing efficiency to save a little bit of brake-pad wear isn't a tradeoff many owners choose. You're preventing some electricity regenerating opportunity by having the engine provide some of the decleration.

 

I have been driving fwd cars in the Twin Cities since my new Dodge Omni in the 80's. I have never put winter tires or rims on any of them. The only problem I encountered is ground clearance in heavy snow. I got my 95 Neon hung up getting out of my driveway twice. Winter snow tires will not help with that. We are not Syracuse, NY we rarely get 60 inches in a winter.

 

I have a separate set of stock Prius III rims with Blizzaks (the Prius III rims were a windfall from the tire shop) that I can readily swap myself for my summer tires. The Blizzaks are murder on my mileage but perform better in snow, so I leave my summer tires on as much as possible. That's probably the best reason for having snow tires on their own rims.

 

I have a 2005 and the problem with that era is that the wheel-slip limiter is severe and will leave you with ZERO power if there is even the slightest bit of slip--is dangerous as all get out. If that is a "feature" of yours as well do not even think about winter driving with the OEM tires and go directly to the best winter (NOT all season) tires you can manage. Have been running nokian hakkapeliitta's and love them--makes an amazing difference. What everyone has said about low clearance is true: prius will not go in deep snow (you can push through small drifts, but not consistently deep snow, above 6" or so).

Not meaning to be disrespectful, but suggest ignoring all who say something like "I still have my OEM's and live in Alaska and never had a problem"; simply surviving is not the best measure of what is best, and maybe they were lucky, mostly drove on plowed roads, were able to stay home on the worst days, who knows. If you want to minimize the thrill of sliding out of control and the joy of being stuck, go with the snows (on all four wheels, too, if not this year at least next--have Santa get them for you). I vote for separate wheels--if you have to switch tires/rims twice a year you'll tend to avoid it, end up driving with snows even when winter has gone bye-bye (not good--braking distance, performance in wet and dry are usually less than non-snow tires). With separate wheels with winter tires you just trade them out instead of having them rotated (my toyota dealer does not charge extra to mount them if done as part of normal rotation, which hereabouts is free with an oil change).

All the driving hints here= very helpful, and if you search google video for "winter driving...tips" (or "techniques") you'll find some useful instruction there if you don't have much snow time. Good luck!

 

First, using "B" is not sacrificing any efficiency. It improves deceleration efficiency. It does reduce electricity regeneration. However, I often found what you need to worry about braking too frequently as in city traffic is over-charging, instead of undercharging, and thus reduces battery life. Using "B" to assist braking helps generating less harmful electricity.

Try what I do a few times, and you will know what I am talking about. I have been doing many experiments on my Prius. After 136k miles of experience, I believe I have found one of the most cost-effective ways to run and keep my car. I constantly keep my mpg over 60, if the weather permits. My best record is 70.5 mpg after driving 46 miles on Long Island Expressway, 66F, no wind. My tires last over 100k if I do not replace them prematurely. Hybrid battery shows no sign of deterioration. Not too bad, right?

 

I second the motion. When I got my 2010 III in December of 2009, I took the car, my new-to-her-learner's-permit daughter, and the car into a solid 4" of wet snow in a couple acres of clear parking lot. We proceeded to skid and skiz all over the place.

Interestingly, despite both our best efforts, we found it impossible to get the car to swap ends. You'd find the car at about a 20-degree angle to the direction of travel, swap the wheel over the other way, hard, and end up with a 20 degree angle that way, but no signs of the rear wheels trying to break loose. Let go the wheel and the car would immediately straighten out and fly right. The ABS and vehicle stability control really work.

I've found that in New Jersey, anyway, where we don't get the same kind of weather one sees in Minnesota, the Prius handles well on ice and snow. Better than the 2002 Civic I used to own, and very much better than my old 1971 Bug, which I considered, before now, to be the best snow car I had owned. (Of course, one can get up on top of a pile of snow with the VW Bug's floor pan, but that's true of the Prius, too.). VW Bug's had all that weight in the rear, right on top of the drive wheels. Compared to most of the other cars at the time which were front engine, rear wheel drive, it was great in snow. Modern ABS and stability control make modern cars better.

KBeck