AWD paid for itself today

I was actually trying to figure out how you got AWD on a 2008 Prius... I guess that's your favorite Prius right and that new one is just a friend's car right? I mean you aren't betraying our Gen2 family are you?

 

I’ve been pretty impressed with mine as well so far this winter—it’s surprisingly grippy, even on the all-seasons. Although, I haven't put mine through quite as big of a trial as you did. Glad it got you through safely!

 

After a slushy snowstorm last week, I couldn’t even make it up my friend’s slightly inclined driveway, despite there being only about 5-10 cm of the stuff on the ground. This was on my 2012 Plug-in FWD with Continental WinterContact SI snow tires installed.

So even though the pricing of the Prius Prime XSE Premium FWD is the same in Canada as the Prius Limited AWD, I’m leaning toward the AWD.

 

I got myself in a similar jam about 10 years ago. Different navigation product. Also escaped without an incident.

I made stronger rules for myself for travel in unfamiliar areas and haven't had a problem since.

Glad you made it!

 

I bet I would have had a very similar driving experience in my FWD LE. The traction control AI is superb. I was on factory tires, inflated high for MPG's, and caught in very heavy, accumulating snow. The snow trucks couldn't keep up. I drove for an hour around the city in 5 inches+. Felt perfectly confident.

 

I was impressed first time out, Minnesota winter 2 to 4, was good have my tires at 37 PSI felt sure footed at lower speeds! Also previous GEN 2 and 3 owner. I have to agree. This is the best by far! no wonder they’re selling every one off the truck!!!!!

 

Modern traction control and vehicle stability control make a big difference over older cars, no matter which wheels do the driving. Worked great with the Sonic in heavy snow. VW cited that has reason why they were okay going to RWD with their BEVs.

 

Call me skeptical about VW’s claims. While not VW, in snowstorms I see all sorts of recent RWD cars fail miserably on our roads, esp. when going up a hill.

My 12 year FWD Prius Plug-In does way better than those… but still nowhere near as good as my wife’s 8 year-old RAV4 Hybrid AWD.

 

And I've seen recent AWD models that have failed. Having better equipment doesn't keep people from exceeding the equipment's capabilities.

The RWD cars in trouble on snow and ice I spot are usually sports cars that likely have summer performance tires from the factory.

 

True but usually around here when I see AWD vehicles having problems, it more like them going too fast and unable to brake. However, I’m talking about stuff like just trying to go slowly up a hill. (I live on a hill.)

My wife’s AWD just goes up the hill. My FWD slips but also goes up the hill. However the RWD cars fishtail, despite the slow speeds.

 

Nice to hear! I'm surprised you didn't get stuck from the snow pushing up on the car not giving the wheels any traction. That's my big concern will all the covers we have down there, no where for the snow to go so it pushes up on the car.

The winter after I got my AWD we had a very bad ice storm so I took her to the steepest hill in town....many cars slide off the road or can't make it up in the ice. The AWD kicked right in and I was able to go straight up, no problem! (I'll, still, drive the 4x4 Tundra to work if it's snowing hard, though, of course.)

 

To my surprise, the higher end trims of the Prius have 6" of ground clearance, which is more than the clearance of a Crown, despite the fact the Crown is called a crossover by some.

 

We raise psi to 42. That way when we go from the garage heated 60° to outside temps of minus fahrenheit's - tires don't drop to any lower than 38psi.

 

I can’t wait to get the awd Prius and put some blizzaks on it

 

Sure would be nice if corporations weren't allowed to have competitive maps and were required to share their data with each each other so dangerous situtations like this would be less likely to happen.

 

Regarding RWd on BEVs, VW also stated that the equal weight distribution was another reason for it being alright to use.

That's just from the difference in tire sizes. Many crossovers only have the ground clearance of a sedan. I don't think the real Crown sedan is lower than a Prius.

I think the info about the roads being closed is public info.