Driving in the snow with a 2012 Prius Gen III

1.Ground clearance can be an issue in deep snow. If you don't get it building up on the streets it won't be a problem.
2.The car behaves very well in snow and on ice. Better than most.
3.If you want to get winter tyres, get wheels as well. Steel ones are fine. You will be ignoring the tyre pressure monitor during use of the winter wheels but do check the tyre pressures at least once a month. If you get a lot of ice then "ice tyres" are appropriate. If it's snow mostly then just snow tyres. There are many in either category to choose from.
4.You already have an undercarriage cover. Just keep an eye out for plastic parts hanging down after you drive - perhaps a good idea at any time but in winter if you contact snow or ice inspect more often. Repairs are inexpensive, replacement of parts not so much.
5.Expect the car to do well. Gentle on the throttle at all times!

 

the prius drives just as well as any other fwd.

 

Traction control in Gen3, unlike Gen2, seems to work well. Ground clearance and possible damage to undercover are good reasons to choose another car in the deep stuff, if available. It's not so bad to compress fresh deep snow, but avoid deep, previously compacted stuff, especially refreeze.

 

I was surprised and pleased with how well my 2011 handled its first winter with the OEM Yokohama tires.
It did as well as any of my fwd cars has done in the past, noting that this is a mild corner of Michigan.

I used ECO mode primarily.

 

Car drives fine in NJ in the snow around these parts.
Points:

1. I used to live in Tidewater. They get ice, not snow, and it doesn't stick long. Ohio gets Snow and it's not unusual to have a foot on the ground. 6" snowfalls are normal, with the occasional biggie depositing more.. A lot more. Especially if you're directly south of Lake Erie and subject to Lake Effect snow. So, if you're from the southwestern part of VA (Blacksburg and that) which is on the Appalachian plateau and gets serious winters, central Ohio won't be much of a surprise. If you're from easterly VA, Things Will Be Different.
2. If you try to drive a Prius through 6" or more Life Will Be Interesting and at 12" It Will Be Impossible. At that point one starts looking for an AWD vehicle with high road clearance.
3. On the other hand, no standard passenger car should really be out on unplowed roads with 6" or more of snow. That's why $DIETY invented plows. (Motto of the Greece, NY Department of Public Works: 'We're always plowed on St. Patrick's day!'. They're north of Rochester, NY.. They get serious snow and have snowplows the size of 3-bedroom colonials. And use them.)
4. The various DPWs in Ohio typically Know About Snow and have the plows to do something about it.
5. If you are driving about in the 0"-6" left behind by the last pass of a snowplow, the Prius isn't bad. Weirdly enough, I suspect that this is at least partly because the car has regen braking. When regen braking, the front wheels do all the work, the rears free-wheel. The rears don't get into the act unless one presses down hard on the brakes (a no-no in most snowy/icy conditions for conventionally braked cars) or go below 10 mph or so. As a result, in principle, the car is less stable and would be likely to swap ends. Hence, my argument is that Toyota went out of their way to prevent this and put in stability control and ABS out the wazaoo. I've taken the car out on a snowy parking lot and tried to get it to swap ends. Unsuccessfully. I got the car to skiz along at about a 20-30 degree angle to the direction of motion - but the moment the steering wheel got released, the car would immediately straighten up and fly right, no fishtailing. I haven't tried this on sheet ice.. But I have avoided an accident pretty easily on packed, slippery, icy snow last winter on I-684 in CT where other cars were spinning out into ditches or just in the middle of the road. (On the other hand, I've been driving in snow for 40+ years, so go figure.) None of this means you do 60 mph on two inches of packed snow - you slow down to 25-30 mph just like all the other non-supermen/women. It just means that when you do corners, with care you can get around them, skizzing as you go.
6. In any case: If you haven't driven in ice and snow before, when you get up to OH, go and find ye a large, non-mall (malls are full during snowstorms: When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.) parking lot. When the snow hits, go and Practice there. The cops typically won't bother you: They'd rather have somebody who can avoid an accident rather than leaving them with the problem of Picking Up Pieces, which they hate.

Last point. Back when I was a smaller chicken, I lived in Massachusetts. They had an interesting speeding law at the time, now since repealed: The signs were a guideline, not a limit. This meant that if it was icy enough out there, a car on the road could be ticketed for going 0 mph, assuming that the policeman could stand on said surface long enough to actually hand the idiot out in that weather a ticket. Yeah, people got tickets for going 5 mph when the sign said 40 and, generally, the cop was right in said situations.
Then, one day some guy went through the Central Expressway in downtown at 120 mph on a warm, summer, Sunday morning at 2 a.m.. The guy got caught, sorta. But he beat the ticket because (a) he was driving a sports car that could clearly do those kinds of speeds, safely, (b) there wasn't any other traffic on the road besides him and the cop chasing him, and (c) the speed limit sign was a guideline. A year later the law was modified.

Moral: Don't go fast like those west-bound yahoos from Virginia Beach on I-264 when there's snow on the ground. (Every time it snows/ices in tidewater, a number of those people end up in the ditch on the first turn into Norfolk.)

Good luck!

KBeck

 

I drive all over the midwest and have a set of Gen II 15" alloys with Firestone winter tires on them. The car does great in the snow, I didn't have any issues last winter.

 

I live in Oswego NY which is located on the Lake Ontario snow machine. I have done fine with the standard all season tires on the Prius the last two winters. The car is pretty low to the ground which can present some issues but I have found that it goes pretty well.

Starting out from a dead stop works very well given the instant torque from the initial electric drive. It is very easy to pull out and limit wheel spin well before traction control becomes an issue.

 

Don't go out in more than 6-8 inches of fresh snow. Get 4 Nokian Hakipilitas with out studs. You can not ROCK this car out of drift or snow bank due to traction control. the Nanny prevents us from Rocking/burning out the Electric moter. I am out in Central New Yorks worst all winter at night. Don't spin tires at all! Will burn out Electric moter and trans axel. I've done it once. Great snow machine.

 

Does anyone increase their tire pressure in summer up above 40 PSI but then lower it in winter for improved snow traction?

 

Snow tyres in general work better with proper pressure. It allows the snow to be ejected from the tread. I run 40F 38R all year round, though in the winter it's hard to keep the pressure up, as airing up the tyres during a cold spell is nasty (I'm talking -30 to -40C here - usually with a wind!). You can really see the effect of temperature as when it gets really cold the TPMS usually turns on the light! Even if I had 40 PSI in them at -10C. My compressor won't start if it's colder than about -15C in the garage. And my hands don't like to handle the hose/air fitting. I need a heated air pressure hose!

 

I'm in Chicago and this is my first winter, thinking about getting snow tires also

 

If you do get winter tires- do yourself a favor, get them on their own dedicated rims!
It makes everything soooo much simpler.

 

They know snow removal up there and other drivers know how to handle it. I grew up around Syracuse NY and never blinked an eye at driving in snow in all seasons. Have family that worked in the aforementioned Oswego and had FWD and all seasons. Never an issue.

With that said, since moving to Northern VA, I feel winter driving is more dangerous here. Treatment stinks, there is more ice, and a higher chance I get cut off by someone in a BMW on summer tires. So I might get winter tires for the first time, after moving out of the snow belt.

 

1. Yes you will suffer in low ground clearance if you're in deep snow (8" of snow)
2. Drive smart to avoid it. It performs well in the snow but be cautious when going downhill.
3. Best tire to get is the Bridgestone Blizzak
4. No need. I go to Indianapolis, IN to do an underbody spray at RustCheck. My underbody looks clean.
5. Expect low gas mileage around 40-45 mpg. Be very cautious going downhill.
6. I'm your neighbor up north in MI and snow is no issue for a Prius as long as you drive responsibly. If you're not use to the snow I recommend getting the Bridgestone Blizzaks when driving in the snow. It'll be like summer driving although I just drive with my Bridgestone Ecopia all season tires.

 

YES!

 

If you are going to keep your car for 50000 or more miles, why would you NOT get a set of snow tires (it will save 50% wear on your all-seasons). You are going to have to buy another set eventually, why not get some extra safety at no real extra cost?

 

Oh, I don't know--$320+ worth of wheels, storage space for 4 extra wheels, the hassle switching tires twice a year and substandard performance of winter tires on dry pavement.
That being said, I'm shelling out for my first set this winter, since our other car is now a Volt and the Prius will be our whenever, wherever winter car. I've never before put winter tires on a front wheel drive car but we're not getting any younger and I don't want my wife shoveling out snow banks.

Spare me the "no real cost" though.

 

True, but I meant the cost of rubber. Sorry for the confusion.