How does it do in the snow?

YES ! Get snow tires. You and your cars' safety are more important than 3-5 MPG. You'll drop MPG in the winter anyway, snow tires or not.

I drove my old 4000 lb Stealth w/ AWD on all seasons for 12 years and it wasn't too bad, but I would have gone for snows if it wasn't for the price and the fancy 17" wheels I had to deel with.

Anyway I'm definitely getting good snows for the winter, on winter rims. Perhaps the Blizzaks.

 

Our Prius is the best mannered winter car that I have ever driven. The OEM Goodyear Integrity tires are very poor for winter driving, so replace those. We run Micheline MXV4+ Energy tires, which are all season LRR tires - no drop in mileage. Snow tires are even better for real winter traction, but the all season tires work fine for our snowy weather. Many people like Nokian tires.

Getting back to winter driving with the Prius, we have VSC. With that the Prius tracks straight though almost any driving conditions. The downsides are it's not a truck, so you can't wade through deep snow; it's not four wheel drive, but it does very well for a front wheel drive; and finally, the traction control is a bit touchy - it can take some time to get used to it.

I don't have any problem recommending the Prius for winter driving in any conditions where a car is accetable.

Tom

 

What specifically do you notice about the traction control as being touchy?
I have no experience with a traction control vehicle.

ZC1

 

I second that.

ZC1

 

The traction control/anti-slip system means that you can't rock a Prius out of a rut, and you can't floor it to dig your way out. The moment either drive wheel starts to slip the system cuts power to both, to prevent damage to the drive system.

If the driver remembers that a Prius is not a snow plow they should be OK. Lots of people drive them in Canada and the northern US without problems.

 

I've been through 2 MA winters with the stock tires and have no complaints. I don't push it too hard in the snow though, and I generally stay home when the snow is really terrible. I've been out on some bad days though and as long as you're careful and drive slowly it's not too tricky. No worse than other FWD cars I've driven in snow, and better than some.

With any car you should consider finding a safe open place to try out some hard braking and turns in snow to get a feel for how the car will handle. Knowing the limits really helps keep you safe. Too many people think 4WD will somehow stop their car from skidding if they're driving too fast for the conditions.

 

What size do you use? I'm looking to replace my stock Integrities before the winter.

 

Stock size (non-touring). I believe Micheline has changed the name of these tires to MXV4+ Primacy, but they are essentially the same tire as the Energy with some improvements. A lot of drivers also like the Nokian WR-G tires, but I haven't tried them.

As for traction control and anti-slip, the traction control is the anti-slip system. As previously described, the traction control system cuts power if the drive wheels slip. When this happens in the snow, you have to add more power to keep the wheels turning, which is counter-intuitive to someone accustomed to winter driving in an older car. In extreme conditions, I have crawled up hills in my Prius with the accelerator floored, wheels barely turning, and the drive system going "woomp, wooomp, woomp" as it adds and cuts power.

Tom

 

I am awaiting my car to arrive this week from the factory.
It is a touring model and as you know has slightly wider tires.
One of the reasons i bought this model was the hope it would
handle better overall and do better in winter conditions due to
more tire meeting the road.

Has anyone driven the stock touring tires in snow and how did they
perform?

I am used to driving every type of car in the winter and do just fine.
The last car I used during the winter was a small KIA with fwd... and
I manage along on the worst days NH can throw at me. Very similair
to MI snow wise.

thanks for any input on the touring model, stock, in winter.

 

I just got my car in March - but in April we got a HUGE dump of snow! (at least 2 ft!) .. I found the car had absolutley no problem with traction in the snow (it didn't like the black ice though .. although the traction control did do what it was suppsed to do)

Even in parking lots where everyone was getting stuck - the Prius had no problems! (I have a 2008 Canadian Prius .. which is a Touring Version)

I do still plan on getting winter tires - but thats only because I had them on my Mazda 3 last year and I felt WAY more comfortable driving with winter tires vs all-season tires.

 

I find the Prius to handle snowpacked and icy roads as well as any vehicle.....provided, that is, you are not required to negotiate a steep upgrade that is icy such as a driveway. If the anti-slip (or VSC) kicks in while you are climbing at low speed, you are instantly 'dead in the water' and not going anywhere but backward.

I also had an experience where I had to diagonal park on a slight downgrade made up of a mild down-slope and the crown of the road, in 3-4" of slightly wet/heavy snow. When I went to back out the anti-slip wouldn't let me and I had to enlist a couple of people to push me away from the curb. A 4wd would have no problems with either situation, nor would a more 'standard' FWD vehicle. So you will need to learn and understand the Prius' limits, because there are some although the car handles most winter-driving chores very well.

 

I just bought Wheels and Tires (SNOWS) at discounttire.com and I am very happy with the entire package - $564 complete (free shipping/ free mount/balance too) - I went with 15" alloy rims ($67 each!!! amazing) and General Altimax Artic snow tires ($66 each) which received great overall user reviews (much to my surprise) - also - I went with a 195 65R15 instead of 185 65R15 - I know they will fit just fine but the Prius' wheel sensors might not like them - so I won't really know how these tires perform until the next Vermont (brutal) winter - Either way - I am very pleased with my on-line purchase.

 

My Prius is less than a week old, and I was thinking of doing a swap at my local Goodyear dealer for a wider and better tire, the Assurance Comfort Tread. Goodyear won't put a wider tire on 15" wheels because it isn't in the Toyota specs for the car. They will upgrade the tire at the same size, but the Goodyear manager said don't bother unless you drive a lot of miles (I don't). He said the Integrity is a good medium wearing tire, OE on a lot of cars. Not worth an extra 25 bucks a tire plus install for the longer wearing Comforts. Though there is a $40 rebate right now.

I also spoke to my Toyota salesman who has had a Prius for two years and driven 45000 miles on the OE tires. He says the Integritys are fine in all sorts of weather. My impression is Toyota likes them because they are cheap, quiet and have low rolling resistance (high gas mileage). They just don't wear as well as some of their more expensive tires. I'm OK with them so far, so I guess I'll keep them.

The dealer, by the way, set my tire pressures at 37/35 psi, and I'm averaging 48 mpg the first 150 miles in mixed driving.

 

My nephew has had a Prius in Minnesota for a few years, and drives everyday in the winter with stock tires. He says the Vehicle Stability Control option is important in the snow.

 

As some said, the Goodyear Integrity tires are awful in snow. I got steel rims and put Michelin X-ice tires for winter and Michelin HydroEdges for the rest of the year. No mileage penalty noted. The benefit is that switching wheels in May and November is done at no charge, because they rotate them free and this is considerd a rotation. Narrow tires give better traction in snow, so I would advise against wider winter tires. (Indy tires are wide!)

 

It will handle a bit better thanX to the wider tires on the touring version. However, the wider (and lower profile) tires will do worse in Winter driving (snow/ice) than the stock 15" tires.

... Brad

 

Correct. Wider is the wrong direction for winter driving. Skinny tires are better for winter driving.

Tom

 

so ...er....what sort of performance change will I notice with my 195 65R 15 Snow tires? Should I expect the tire sensor to illuminate on the dash? And how bad will the wider tire be in Vermont snow? What about the speedometer - how far off will it be? Any feedback folks?