We love our Prius except when we have to take the long way home from our vacation home in Maine because it won't go up the little hill in front of our house if there is any snow accumulation at all. We're worried that some day we may not be able to get to the house at all. Has anyone tried carrying small rugs with them to put under the spinning car wheel to get some traction? TIA LAS
Or snow tires. If the hill is short, going up in reverse may help. But again, one needs traction via chains or snow tires. OP also posted in the wrong area. I've already flagged the post.
I have a set of Michelin winter tires mounted on the factory wheels that I swap onto the car in the winter. This solution provides added winter traction, extends the life of my summer tires, and gives me nicer looking wheels to run in the summer.
Get winter tires and toss a bag or kitty litter in the back instead of mats. Wonder if putting the car into B, regen breaking "gear", would help keep the wheels from spinning when going up slippery slopes.
Reverse might help but keep in mind prius runs on electric only in reverse, depending how long/steep the driveway is you may not have enough power/battery to reverse all the way up. I experienced this on a very steep and short driveway(no snow, paved driveway in the summer), around a 45% grade. My v at full throttle in reverse came to a halt after advancing 3 feet up the slope, no wheelspin or revving engine sound, felt very strange.
Are you still on the OEM tires? How many miles? The stock 'All-Season' tires on my 2010 were quite decent their first winter, but had seriously degraded to mere 3-Season effectiveness by the second winter.
I live in the snow belt as well. And I have a moderately steep hill to climb to get up the road to my house. I do not have snow tires and only once had a problem this past winter where I thought I may not make it up the hill. The problem that night was deep wet snow. I usually make sure I have enough momentum to climb the hill without going to fast to lose control. I'm sure snow tires and or chains would help but this was the only time this winter I felt I would have needed them.
Do a search for one of the many other threads on snow driving. Short Answer: Mine lives in the Rocky Mountains and climbs a huge vertical drop everyday. Yesterday we had 6 inches of snow (Yes, in May...) and never once has it been stuck. It is 90% driving style but having crap balding tires will make even an experienced driver fail.
Standard all-season tires are unsafe in snowy (or cold) conditions. Not only does forward traction degrade but stopping distance is dramatically increased when temps drop below 45F. Better to run appropriate tires and reduce the risk of an accident.
Would you go hiking in loafers? Running in sandals? That's what you're asking your car to do in winter without snow tires. SPH-D710 ? 2
With 37000 miles on my OEM Toyo's I thought I could get one more winter out of them. The first time it snowed here in New England I had ZERO traction. Did a little research on Tirerack and found that the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max's were good in snow. I've had no problems in New England snowy conditions since I put them on. And we have had a very snowy winter with all types of snow (wet/dry) and they get me where I want to go.
What you need is a traction track see the link: Motomaster Tire Traction Aid | Canadian Tire Most of the time you just need it if you get stuck on a section of the road, main roads are usually OK, but you will just need it on residential road or steep/slippery driveway. I was thinking of buying one set for myself.
