We just had a major rain and wind storm here in Seattle. We were out in it and driving 50 miles in the dark in the blinding rain on the freeway. I must say, I was totally impressed with the handling and road traction. My hubby who had reservations about buying a Prius is now a convert. We have had our car less than a month. Bought a 2013 Prius 4 with solar roof and I am totally in love with this machine. Looking forward to seeing how she handles in the snow we get occassionally.
LOL! Yeah, The Northwest has been pounded the last couple of days. I'm in Oregon, Portland area. Saturday was on the freeway when even by Northwest standards was caught in a deluge. Not just rain...solid water. Gusts of high wind. Yes, I will admit The Prius handled fantastically. I had no problem. And that was about as extreme a down pour as I think anyone would experience in a "non evacuation" type of scenario.
I was concerned about what tires would come on my PiP and was pleased to find Ecopias. Back in 2004 it seemed that only Badyear Integrity tires were used. After one scary trip they got swapped out with only 5K miles on them for HydroEdge.
Lol...I was also experiencing the Prius during insane rain and wind, and minor flooding too. The car is extremely stable, even going 55-60mph on the freeway. At first I was worried about the AVID S33s not doing well since they are traction B tires, but I guess they are fine after all. When the rain got very intense, then I slow to about 45 along with the rest of traffic, and there was no feeling of slippage, etc. One thing I did is I applied Rain-X which really seems to help alot. I've also noticed that by washing my car once a week, that my car still looks clean, even after driving on the wet roadways. I did notice that my MPGs dropped about 2-3 mpgs on the wet roadways, but I guess thats because of all the drag from the water. Overall, my Prius has been such a fantastic car!
LOL, you know very well they shut down Seattle when it snows. You won't even be allowed to drive a Hummer if you wanted to
Seattle roads get shut down not by any authorities, but by the drivers. You are allowed to attempt to drive anything you wish. But that Hummer will be hemmed in by the congestion caused by stuck vehicles with worn summer tread, jackknifed articulated Metro buses, 4-locked-wheel SUVs sliding down through intersections, and plenty of general slippery mayhem. When I arrived several decades ago, 4" would shut down most business. Then the SUV era arrived, and 3" would shut it down. Since that era plateaued, 1-2" has shut it down. And once, the mere fear snow, of which 0" arrived, was sufficient to shut down most activity.
As vehicles have become more sophisticated at taking control during handling extremes, they have also become safer. However, the reliability of these systems have detached the drivers from the feel of the vehicle, and as a result, they have a reduced sense of the driving dynamics and capabilities. Further, it gives drivers an inflated perception of the capabilities of the vehicle, and they tend to exceed them. Instead of chaining up when conditions call for it, they convince themselves that since they have all-wheel drive, they will be fine. Yet all-wheel drive does nothing to improve cornering traction or braking. I don't believe your observation about snow in Seattle over the years has as much to do with the capability of the vehicles as much as the capability of the drivers, and the increased congestion.
The OEM Goodyears were awful in the rain. The Conti Pure Contacts are a vast improvement in rainy conditions. However, the Contis appear to be costing me 2-3 MPG. Now I added a rear sway bar and I'll see how that helps in windy conditions.
One of my worst mileage trips, Mobile to Tampa during tropical storm Debby last summer. Mileage was only around 37 mph. Plowed water and was trying to figure out where the road was most of the way. Never gone that far in such a heavy rain and don't want to do it again. It was all about having good tread. Sitting low isn't an advantage in heavy rain.
I got caught in last Saturday's NW deluge. I was thinking if the water got much deeper I might hydroplane on the undercarriage panel. Half of the seats were vacant at the Oregon Ducks football game and that just doesn't happen. Prius was just fine on 16" 422 Ecopias. The worst rain I ever experienced was in August in South Carolina. Huge fat drops.
