I am relatively new to the Prius scene as I purchased mine in late July of this year and though I have adapted quite well to the various techniques I am wondering if there is anything I should know about its handling in the winter? For reference I live just outside of Milwaukee, WI and in the full force of winter we can see 4 or 5 inches of snow in a matter of hours. Last year I drove a Honda pilot with blizzac tires and so what should I know in advance before the winter kicks in? Thanks! iPhone ? - now Free
It drives about as well as any front wheel drive car does in the snow. Are you planning on getting a set of snows?
We've had plenty of plenty of reports of older Prii with poor tires not doing as well as other FWD cars, due to a 'traction control' whose primary purpose is to protect the transaxle. That traction control has gone through several iterations over the years, and the system in GenIII is better than the several GenII versions. We're also had plenty of owners report being quite happy with Prius winter performance, GenII included. A common thread among them is good winter tires.
13 winters with 3 different generations of Prius for me, here in Minnesota. I'm currently just using factory tires too. It's no big deal. In fact, driving is better than some traditional cars, like my mom's old Corolla.
I agree, the prius does as well as any other FWD car. I've driven several through ND winters and drove my prius on LRR's last winter. IMO snow tires are a waste of money. Just put on a good set of tires that you are comfortable with and drive carefully. Although you should look at other articles on this site about how to save some MPG's in the winter time. iPhone ? - now Free
Car has low clearance, but you know that from scraping over parking stops. FWIW: I've driven from Chicago to Wilmot Mtn. every weekend since 2006 to teach skiing, without snow tires and without any problems.
Snow driving means vastly different things to different people in different places. Perpetually cold areas drive different (and often much easier) than places that usually hover just above freezing with occasional high-precipitation excursions barely below freezing. Places with lots of low clearance 2WD traffic tend of have much better grooming by highway departments than places with very light traffic that leans heavily towards high clearance 4WDs.
You can tell Fuzzy lives in the Pacific Northwest. Our roads are much more of a hassle because of the temps that hover right around that 32-degree mark. Folks from the Midwest tell me they could not understand how difficult it is to find traction on PNW "snow." So, you can imagine, the Prius is a bit of a gamble on our winter roads -- it tends to shutdown all the time, in the most dangerous places. I leave it at home when the weather is icy/snowy -- that "traction control" feature is really not my friend.
Burns, I live west of Milwaukee near Oconomowoc, out in the country. I put General Altimax Arctic snows on the Prius every winter with great results. If you're in my area, Big Bear Tire is the place to go.
IMHO, as much as I love my Gen 3, it's not the best car in the snow. Low clearance, inability to turn off traction control are sometimes a disadvantage. Also, you lose mpgs slogging through the snow and ice, using your defroster, etc... but in all fairness, you probably still come out with better mpg than any other car.
I highly recommend practicing with the ABS response under controlled conditions. It seems to me the Prius ABS is slow to re-apply the brakes after they "let go" in a slip, resulting in thinking you are out of control. Thinking this, you may release the brake pedal, exacerbating the whole situation.
