Snow driving my new Prius

UH...what is that white stuff all over your car???

 

With the stock OEM tires the Prius doesn't do that well in the snow in my experience . FishHawk

 

A bit more snow in front and you'll have what can only be described as a "poor man's grill block".

 

That made me laugh out loud!

 

We tried it with the OEM tires , ever here of "sit & spin" I think it was a kids game you can play that in your prius with the stock tires in snow and ice.

We purchased Michelins Arctic somethings now we can get out of the driveway.

Remember to buy 4 winter tires not just the fronts!!!

if you don't believe that google it.

you will see the back end of your prius if you don't

 

we actually got out and back to work today after about a 7 inch snowfall yesterday. The Prius did very well even coming home. It was after dark and the powdery snow had started to re-freeze. Prius made it all the way to the top of our hill, well almost. I had to back into a neighbors driveway and get a running start, but we made it up, and home, without parking in the middle of the road and having to leave the car. I hate to do that because the snow plow man comes by sometimes around 9 or 9:30 pm and he wouldn't be expecting to see a car in the curve at the top of the hill.

So I too am very happy once again with our Prius. To the OP, yeah dude, you should really get a grill block!!

 

You mentioned liking the traction control... I don't get it!!! My wife and I have found this to cause huge problems when driving on snow... it applies the brakes and causes you to LOSE control, especially when driving up a road covered with snow. Our Prius is 2009 and still new tires, so I don't get this feature.... it makes us not want to drive in the snow. We have a older Honda Accord with traction control and it actually has a button to turn it off, which we do in snow, because it also causes us to not be able to go up a hill with snow... How can you go up a snow covered hill when the brakes are automatically being applied??????? WE HATE IT!... not the cars... the traction conrol!!!

 

Traction control on the Prius never applies the brakes. In fact the traction control is not connected to the brakes in any fashion, so it is a mechanical impossibility.

Tom

 

DLindberg49,

Welcome to PriusChat.

How the traction control works, what to expect it to do out in the snow, and
how to avoid it's most irksome features is one of the more frequent thread
topics during the winter months. To read what the many threads on this
topic, use the search function at the top of the page with "traction control."

Just to get you started, try this thread:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-technical-discussion/42846-traction-control-worked-i-think.html

Hope this helps.

BTW, it just strted snowing here in Ballamer, and could keep at it on and
off for the next two days. I'm no expert in snow, so I'll be very careful not
to put myself in situations were I'm not certain how the TC will work.

 

It's been snowing here since Christmas, actually it started about four weeks before Christmas. We did have one minor thaw, otherwise we would be out of room for the snow.

Tom

 

to DLindberg49.
It all depends on the tires.
Get good winter tires and keep them at an appropriate inflation, then you will discover a fine snow driving machine
It's all good overinflating tires in the summer time, but if you want traction, keep them as suggested by Toyota.
The picture of the snow-covered Prius is just a couple of miles from my home, funny seeing a picture from Norway(Gardermoen Airport) on this site

 

The key to winning the battle against snow is to be properly armed with winter tires. All-seasons, especially the crappy, stock tires, suck for snow driving. With my winters, I drive in the snow with utter impunity, and have a blast of a good time, too.

 

I got my Prius used. I put new tires on the front a few months back, before the snow hit this year, but did not replace the rears as they still had some tread left on them and the vehicle is front wheel drive. The rear tires were down to the tread wear indicator markers on the rears that fateful night. On the way home, I hit some ice in the toll lane or far left lane. It started to fishtail and I slid across three lanes of traffic without anybody hitting me. I ended up facing oncoming traffic off the road after whapping the rear end into the concrete wall which stopped the spin. $3,500 later, I am back on the road and have new tires on the rear. I am now a firm beliver that you need good tires all around.

Karl

 

My fellow Rural Mail Carrier and I are into our third Wisconsin winter with our 2005 Priis. We LOVE the way they perform! I got around OK the first winter with the factory tires, but now I get around GREAT with my Blizzaks. I like the Prius better, when driving on glare ice, than my wife's all-wheel drive Subaru Tribeca. (Don't have to fight the idling gas engine when braking)

 

want kind of after market wheels are on the US mail prius?

 

I really like the look of these wheels, but I'm sorry to say I can't tell you where to get them. I bought the set of four used snows & wheels from a guy who sold his Prius.

Sorry 'bout that

 

The traction control on the Prius is probably it's worst feature. It literally puts people's lives at risk. It doesn't apply the brakes, but it does bring the wheels to a full stop when it senses slippage. This might improve traction on flat surfaces. But if you're going up a slippery hill, it is an extremely dumb thing to do.

The key to making it up a slippery hill is don't stop. If you lose momentum, you often can't regain it. I learned about this life threatening feature on my Prius the hard way. I was driving up an icy dirt road next to a cliff with no guard rail in Vermont. In my old Camry, I would have made it up the hill easily. But as I was half way up, my car stopped. I didn't know what was happening. Then my car started sliding backwards out of control. It turned and lodged into a snow bank instead of going over the cliff.

I realized later that the TC almost killed me by stopping the tires while I was going up the hill. If you stop the tires, the car often will stop and not go again.

In a normal car, good drivers know how to control the slippage of the tires by feathering the gas pedal. In my old car, I would have gone up the hill by spinning the tires a little. But the Prius didn't give me this option.

Other cars like the FJ Cruiser have limited slip TC. This doesn't bring the tires to a full stop. This is what the Prius should have. I hope they put it on the Third Generation Prius.

After doing some research on PC, I found there is a way to override the traction control on the Prius. You put the car in a service mode. Warning lights come on. You have to be careful about not spinning the tires too much. Now when I see a slippery hill that I know the Prius can't handle, I override the TC before I start up it.

Owners shouldn't have to use this service option. There should be an override switch. Or the TC should be converted to limited slip.