Tires with Cables Just Spun On BlackTop

Thanks for returning the favor! That was pretty good. Look at that tiny exhaust and it's plume of smog.

 

No, they DON'T have a lower gear than your PIP. Your 'transmission' covers all gear ratios from zero to infinity. Their's don't even come close.

 

I wonder if the OP has ever considered using studded-tyres? 2 years ago (very bad winter) I was visiting friends who lived at the top of a long, steep hill, and the only way I was able to get to their house was to turn around and reverse the whole way to the top. My tyres at the time were Michelin Energy-Savers, about 60% worn. The next year I bought a set of steel-rims, shod with Blizzak WS-80s and there have been no problems for the past two winters. I'd thought about studs, but had them on my VW Rabbit, and they were v.noisy!!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I am not having a bad day. There is no magic way of driving in snow. There is a right way and there is a wrong way. I am talking about it being easier to blame the car or the equipment for malfunction rather than baming either the user or the conditions. I apologize for my sophomorish childish banter. If you wish, please feel free to click ignore on my name.

My point has been made and I'm glad you finally received it. I was wondering why you hadn't acknowledged it, yet. Unfortunately, there's no way to receive this kind of critique, positively, as far as I know. Hopefully, when enough people give you the same critique, you might accept it as a possibility instead of as silly or mean spirited. Good luck, sir!

 

You might want to go to regular chains instead of cable chains. They have better traction.

 

I don't usually have snow at home, but in younger days did LOTS of cross-country skiing, lots of downhill and some snowboarding. I have driven with chains on so much that it is second nature. Even now, I usually chain-up three or four times each winter when I hit the high mountain passes of the State of Washington's Cascade Mountains.

I suspect, as was mentioned, it is the cheapie cables. If you are just using the "ladder-style," then can do just as you said. I had the same thing happen about 2003 or so with ladder cables (the $20 a pair-type). I was driving on a snow-covered gravel road and then had to make a sharp right turn to transition to a paved, black-top, snow-covered road. I was traveling uphill on the gravel and the transition to pavement continued the uphill climb, albeit at a steep pitch.

Spun the tires quite a bit, but finally managed to grab traction in spits and spurts and get moving again.

Don't know if you want to stay with cables, you could try the Z-Cables, they have a bit better traction and are more robust all around.

Super Z

But I really would recommend trying the European hoop-style diamond back chains, they have the BEST traction, better than ladder chains and they are dead simple to install.

DIAMOND STYLE TIRE CHAINS

Watch this video for a cheeky summary.

 

I grew up in SoCal and know Baldy and Big Bear quite well. Spent most of my summers hiking the more remote trails to places such as Iron Mountain, Bear Creek, etc.

I can put the diamondbacks on both my tires in just about five minutes (if they aren't tangled, which they usually are NOT).

Taking them off is slightly fussy as you have to make sure the barrel connector is at the top of the tire. If you have a helper, great. If not, you have to drive back and forth, getting out of the car several times before you have them lined up.

Also, sometimes the barrel connector is frozen, which means you have to yank, flex and curse to break it loose, but still not that bad.

For those of you from back in the snowbelt, the high mountain passes of the American West are often restricted to vehicles with chains. When the roads are getting several feet of snow per day, the road crews often don't keep up with the frigid conditions. Try it without chains and you are literally risking your life -- as well as a moving violation on your driving record.

 

Hello... long-time Priuschatter here who's moved on to a Ford Energi but just peeked in to see what's up...

I had German Rud snow chains on every one of my three Priuses as well as on my pre-Prius BMW. I learned about Rud chains while stationed in Germany as an Army guy back in the1990s.

WIth tbe Ruds on, my Priuses went through Washington DC' Snowmageddon in 2009 and then the more recent Snowzilla in 2016, along with a few lesser East Coast blizzards, absolutely without a problem. BLUF: there is no comparison between snow cables (bleeech), the older style ladder-type snow chains and the diamond-back types like the Ruds.

Every one of my three Prii was fine in heavy snow, on hills, and on ice until/unless the snow got so deep that the car's underbody high-hung up on a high packed snow ridge, so the tires were in up the air. The Prius's plastic underbody cover can cause that, especially when cars and trucks make deep tire channels on an unplowed street, and the centerline snow ridge hardens and packs down into semi-ice. Then, only a folding shovel helps unless someone pulls you off the centerllne snow ridge with a Jeep or similar light truck + tow strap.

I found the Prius transmissions as good at snow driving or maybe even better than my old 1990 manual shift BMW 318i, when chained-up.

BTW - the Ruds come with several hooking / mounting solutions. One set I had did have the aforementioned barrel connector, but it's not my favorite. A much better way is the Rud "red + yellow chain" system to cinch everything down. See the instructions on their website for details.

FYI - unless you happen to travel through Europe and pick up a set in an auto store, you have to order the Ruds through their U.S. distributor in Nebraska, with a lead time of several weeks. However, if anyone like the O.P. plans to keep visiting the mountains every Winter, that is a reasonable investment of $$$ and tjme.

My current Rud favorites are the Rudmatic StarTrack models. I had the Rudmatic Classics and the Rudmatic Compact Grips before. All these Ruds can easily live without bother in the trunk all year long, until they're needed.

I hope this is helpful.

 

i miss fawlty towers.

 

Yes. Less packable space, but overall a much more solid car.

 

A low gear doesn't increase grip, it increases torque to the wheels - that is to say, it actually increases the ability to spin the tires.

In a conventional transmission, it can also improve smoothness of applying power to the wheels, but that's unnecessary in the Prius - it's far smoother than any conventional transmission in that regard. So, if you can spin the tires, you don't need a lower gear.