Prius v in snow ?

Mine did alright this morning. Just have to take it easy.

 

Finally had some snow and plenty of good ice here in Iowa. We have a 2012 Prius v 2 with X-Ice xi3's. For reference we also have a 2002 Subaru Outback with X-Ice xi2's and before that I had Yoko K2 snows on it. On our 4-Runner we run Michelin LTX ms2's which are darned good on snow and ice for an all season but no comparison to the snow tires.

I have heard horror stories about Toyota's traction control system so I was pretty worried that our v would get hung up in snow and on icy climbs because the traction control would be over aggressive in trying to stop wheel spin. My dad has this very problem with his 2008 v6 Sienna. He has to shut off the traction control to pull a boat out of a slippery ramp or move in deep snow from a stop. The Prius V thankfully exhibits plenty of wheel spin before the TC kicks in! In fact the whole car slips sideways a bit when you jam the throttle at a standstill before it kicks in and then as you accelerate quickly on the ice you can feel alternate front wheels spinning and some clicking as the TC does some wheel braking. By about 35 mph the xi3'2 have so much grip the Prius doesn't have enough juice to induce wheel spin and so you just experience just excellent acceleration. My Subaru feels like a rally car under these same conditions with AWD and limited slip in the rear end but the Prius v still feels really considering it is front drive.

Braking is awesome. Slam the brakes on and the car stops very quickly on ice. Unlike my Subaru which modulates the tires much to quickly (especially when you near a complete stop) the Prius v locks and unlocks the wheel at a nice slow rate which really lets the tires stick to the road and push snow in front of them if they have to. Super impressed. Part of this might be the superior rubber of the xi2 versus the xi3.

The ix3's are noticeably better on dry roads than the xi2's. They feel more like a summer tire. A little tighter and a little less slop. The 3's have a noticeable sing song at under 20 mph which is similar to the 2's but above 20 they really quite down. The xi2's are also very quite so this is probably a push. Need more dry road time to test this.

We had about ten inches of very heavy drifted snow in our sloped driveway with ice underneath. Crunchy nasty stuff. The wife backed out just fine and went to the drug store during the blizzard we just had. On the way home she pulled up the driveway slowly and made it most of the way through before getting hung up. Backed up a couple of feet, gassed it, and the xi3's and the Prius v shot right up the driveway through the snow into the garage. The Subaru eats stuff like this for breakfast but I was damned impressed with the v not just making it, but making it with authority.

/Relieved.

Love the v. Getting the rear windows tinted very soon so I'll get a new pic up of the car with the anthracite five spoke alloys and snows. Looks really sharp.

 

Had the Hydro Edge on my CRV 4WD before this and I'd go out to play in the snow on them but not on ice. They were absolutely fabulous in rain, smashing through puddles at speeds that the original-equip Michelin Energy A/Ss I have now on the Prius would hydroplane on. Noisy as heck though. You pay for the aggressive tread. I only had them on for 5k miles and yes they had a very long treadwear warranty. I can't see them as any sort of LRR tire though. All tires are compromises.

 

Some people may need to remember a basic principle of motor vehicles: if you're going to plow snow, you need to get a snowplow. If your vehicle clears 6", you may get away with an inch or two beyond that if it's powdery, but much more is going to float you, you lose traction, and you're done, I don't care how many wheels are driven or what sort of TCS is employed. One of our vehicles is a Dodge Dakota 4x4 that has a foot of clearance, and it will go through that much snow just like dry pavement. No way I'd take it through more.

 

You can actually go through a bit deeper than your ground clearance. There's a lot of travel in the suspension, and 2~4 inch beyond ground clearance you'll still muddle through. But there comes a point...

 

I've gone through light powder snow that is over the hood in my Outback with snows just for fun and to thumb my arrogant nose at a bunch of cars stuck in the shallow snow nearby.