Prius v in snow ?

The first thing I'd do once I got unstuck is to roll over the guy holding the camera and laughing.

 

The v has better ground clearance than the Gen 2.

 

Well, no snow here yet but experienced driving on ice for the first time with my new v. Was working afternoon shift and driving home from work tuesday night around midnight. There was freezing rain half of the drive. i took it pretty easy as i'm riding on the OEM green-x tires. It didn't look slippery at all but the road had a nice smooth polished layer of ice on it. I have to climb a short steep hill from a dead stop just before getting onto the highway onramp. I had to feather the throttle to avoid spinning the wheels but i kept a decent pace up the hill without spinning the wheels considering how slippery it was. Guy behind me in an old pontiac sunfire seemed to have more trouble.
i'm sure i'll have plenty more opportunities to test the traction control in the months ahead but for my first experience in slick conditions it seems to work fine. I didn't try stomping on it because to me it felt like the wheels would just spin and slip on the ice. The Prius drivetrain is actually pretty nice as throttle application is so smooth and gradual compared to a conventional automatic transmission. I think that alone will make it much easier to control wheel spin.

 

Good to hear!

 

It's all about having the right tires. If I lived in snowy cold conditions I would run a winter tire or a studless snow tire. Forward traction is not the only thing you should be worried about. Lateral traction and stopping distance is more important.

 

Like F8L said - it's tires, tires, tires. Two wheel drive vehicles have been driving through snow for many years. It just requires a very modest application of intelligence - which is the opposite criterion of you-bube posting.
I have ordered my Michelin X-Ice 3 snow tires.

 

The answer is TIRE CHAINS. Especially when you have ice as well as snow. I just came back from a trip to Yosemite N.P. where they have a $5000 fine if you don't have chains when they are needed. That was enough of an incentive to convince me to buy chains before I started the trip. (I never needed them, but it was good to know that I wouldn't have to pay a stiff fine if the weather turned bad.) I bought my chains from tirechain.com. (That's not a recommendation, just the source I used.) I got the chains with a diamond pattern. They are the easiest to install chains I've ever owned. I test fitted them before my trip to make sure they fit and that I knew how to put them on. They went on without having to move the car. Once on, you then drive the car 15 feet and then tighten the chains.

 

An inch or two of ground clearance can make a HUGE difference. My other car is an Outback with Michelin x-ice 2's snows and we have a 4-Runner with LTX V2's. The Outback is unstoppable.

We have a brand new set of 4 X-ice 3 snows on five spoke alloys sitting on the shelf for the Prius V. Hopefully the traction control gives us enough slip to keep moving when it snows here. Will report when first snow comes with pictures.

Anybody running low rolling resistance tires should expect awful snow traction. The price of snows is pretty cheap considering the new michelin snows have a 40k mile warranty so you are just trading wear on one set of tires for another. The real expense is the $400-500 for the second set of wheels.

 

I'm trying to decide which is the least hassle: snow tires on OEM wheels, snow tires on aftermarket wheels, or snow tires switching on the 17" wheels I have on my v. If I just switch between my standard wheels, I get to not deal with the TPMS sensors and reprogramming the ECU. It will cost me apprx. $150/year in mounting and balancing. If I do factory wheels, I still have most of the issues as aftermarket other than being certain they will fit.

 

It does exist, hybrid diesel Citroen DS5


New DS5

 

Would love to. But they're illegal here.

 

I'm going to just bypass the TPMS or live with the light. No way I deal with swapping wheels on and off at a shop and it is not worth dealing with another set of sensors and reprogramming etx.

 

Living in Colorado, we also have a four wheel drive pickup. The pickup only gets used for towing, hauling or driving in the snow and ice. The Prius gets 95% of all our drive time, but when you need a 4x4 it is nice to have. In bad weather the Prius sits at home in a heated garage.

 

Not true: 169.72, 2012 Minnesota Statutes

Tire chain laws for other states can be found here: State Tire Chain Laws and Regulations

I lived in Minnesota (Apple Valley) from 1972 through 1979. I bought a set of snow tires with studs and the next winter season the state outlawed studded tires. So, I had to pull the studs out with a pair of pliers after using the tires for only one winter. But tire chains are still legal in Minnesota (at leasted when conditions call for them). For what it's worth, I never had a real need for chains when I lived in Minnesota. But now that I live near Seattle, I've had to use them on more than one occasion. In Minnesota it gets so d*mned cold that the snow crystals actually have some "bite." But, in the Seattle area it's usually right at freezing when it snows and that makes things a lot more slippery. Plus, we have a lot more hills in this area (earthquake territory).

 

Interesting! Sorry for my mis-information.

But you're right -- I've lived here since 1976 and have never needed chains. Then again, I owned an SUV for the last 20 years...

 

Yeah, you can't expect a vehicle with 6 inches of ground clearance to handle 7 inches of snow. Your High Centered.

 

Got my first taste of real winter driving in the v yesterday. Snowed a couple inches yesterday, turned highways and city streets into a sloppy mess. Traction control kicked in on a regular basis and worked very well. Was able to keep up with trucks and 4x4s no problem.
Maybe it depends what you are used to driving.
All my past years of winter driving i've never owned a 4x4, always small cars(2500lbs or less(subcompacts)) and i learned to use momentum to my advantage rather than brute force/power.
Now driving the v, a much heavier car, it feels very stable and capable in slippery, snowy conditions. I think all that weight over the front drive wheels sure helps.
Just for comparison sake, my v has stock oem LRR tires and so far it seems to handle the snow equally if not a little better than my Honda fit with 4 studded winter tires did.