Ever stuck in winter?

I have never gotten completely stuck - but I have been close a couple of times. Once in snow, once in mud. You can kind of rock the car by patiently shifting back and forth from R to D. If you are conscientious and do not spin the tires you'll be okay. However, I did invest in one of those handy shovels that break down for storage!! IMHO the one fault of the Prius is the traction - icy hills are also a real problem. By the way I do have Nokian snow tires (not studded) on my Prius. Last trip 330 miles - 57.1 mpg...with the snow tires. Good Luck!!!

 

When I still had the "all season" tires on, I got stuck going up a snow-covered icy parking ramp. I made it about 2 car lengths before coming to a full stop. The standard Traction control refused to apply any more power to the wheels. I had to back down and park on level ground.

It really irked me that an old s*** box car had no problem going up the same ramp ahead of me. Though that old s*** box had studded tires too.

I also bogged down once on the side street to my condo underground parking entrance. I had to do a lot of D to R nonsense to eventually get there. This was with snow around 6 inches deep.

IMHO there was no difference in winter snow/ice traction between the OEM Goodyear Integrity and the Michelin Harmony I used to replace them with: they both royally suck when it comes to snow and especially ice traction.

My winter tires finally arrived towards the end of November: Dunlop Graspic DS-2 on their own steel rims. I wanted a tire that emphasized snow/ice traction over dry road performance, and the Graspic DS-2 is such a tire. Also the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50.

I ceased to worry about icy parking ramps. Drifted snow 12-16 inches deep was no problem. I went out to my hobby farm and tried to get stuck on purpose, as my friendly neighbor was ready with the tow strap to gently pull me out.

The car *will* finally bog down in hard 2ft drifted snow. Rocking R/D/R has little effect as the car is sitting on top of the snow and the tires are floating.

Otherwise, my Prius with genuine sticky winter tires will easily blow the doors off any pickup or SUV in winter conditions. The only thing you have to watch out for is stopping quickly on ice, as you can bet the 4x4 or SUV behind you sure can't.

Hope this helps. How much snow do you get? Does your winter last long enough to worry about snow tires?

 

Lora:

I've always used snow tires, usually studded, on every vehicle I have ever owned: car, SUV, and 4x4 pickup. I don't take chances.

With the Prius, some folks claim it will do fine on snow/ice with the Integrity. Others, like me, discovered that the standard Traction control is too sensitive and cannot be disabled.

So I don't monkey around and run 4 snow tires. No problems.

Jay

 

My turn Jayman,

All season tires don't cut it from my personal experiences here in NE. I've been stuck a couple of times and felt like I was a big disadvantage running around on snowy roads with all seasons.

Snows are the way to go. Next year, it'll be studded tires, as jayman suggests.

In Ohio, studded tires are allowed from Nov. 1 to April 15.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/winter/studtire/re...regulations.htm

Cheers,
-bob

 

Thanks for the link Bob! I notice Massachusetts allows studded tires over the same period as Ohio. I'm definitely considering snow/or winter tires for next year because I was stuck twice this winter.