2010 in the snow?

17" rims have low profile tires, so the overall diameter is about the same. I agree with the post above that the narrower tires would be better and tires for them cheaper. There would be a greater choice of snow tires for that size as well.

Roy

 

I live in Colorado and park my Prius in the garage when snowing.

 

I got this from a tire selling site, Talon tire.com: "If your car comes equipped with low-profile summer tires, try to reduce the width slightly for winter tires. Reduced tread width increases winter traction as there's that much less snow to push. But make sure the replacement tire is the same height as the original."

Also, from consumer search.com: "Narrow tires are better for driving in ice and snow. Although wider tires with correspondingly larger wheels are a popular look these days, reviews say narrower tires are best for cutting a path through snow and slush."

The tires on the 15" rims are narrower than those on the 17" rims.

Roy

 

One of the reasons we didn't buy a Prius before, was that we felt we needed all-wheel drive. But our Honda CRV makes a distinctive sound when it goes into 4WD, and I realized that it has been several years since I have heard that sound. So possibly we don't really need AWD after all. I think I'm not going to worry about it. As the other posters said, narrow tires are better, and if you have problems you can always switch to winter tires. I suppose if you drive in a manner that gets the best economy out of the Prius, you'll also be driving in a manner that is safest in winter weather, i.e. gentle starts and stops.

 

My 2010 is going to replace a '97 CRV. I had AWD kick in twice, for no more than a few seconds each, in 12 years! My sister up in Omaha has been driving an Outback and now a Forester during that same 12 years, and doesn't even know if the AWD ever kicked in. But it does give one some security in that neck of the woods.

 

I drove my Prius last year in the snow (we live in Oregon). We had ALOT of snow last year. It sits close to the ground so sometimes hard to get out but I went to Les Schwab Tires and got the best all weather tires and it did ok. There are chains also if you so dare. Worse case scenario, have both vehicles, one a prius and one a 4 runner

 

My Honda Fit has very narrow tires P185/55R16 they cut through the snow like nothing else. That size is only on the Fit normally that's a size for 14" tires.
The Prius has that aggressive traction control. I will be buying Nokian snow tires for the Prius. Yes you spend more to get Nokian but in snow they are hard to beat. Nokian WRG2's are great for most snow conditions and the tire is rated for 50,000 miles! I have them on my Civic Si. I'm not certain how aggressive a snow tire I will want for the Prius, maybe studded? Mileage would suffer but we have a lot of hills and they don't plow often on my road. The 15's are the way to go for size. I'm hoping the WRG2's would work because they are a great tire. I'm not certain how much they would cut into the mileage during the warmer months but they were great on my Civic and in 17" tires I don't see a better tire for sale in the US. Once you use Nokian tires you won't want anything else.

 

The Subaru AWD never turns off (excluding a special mode in automatic transmissions where it can be forced off), and the fuel economy shows it.

I won't be giving up my Subaru yet, a Prius will be replacing a different car.

 

Thanks, I had no idea. I just assumed it was like my Honda. I suppose that gives it better road handling, wet or not, but yeah she's not getting very good MPG out of the Forrester, especially in cold weather.

 

Are you sure you hear it in "going into" AWD? or possibly you are hearing the traction control? If you drove in snow with your CRV and it was AWD you may be surprised. Then again most people that want AWD or 4WD probably don't really need it.

 

In my '97, it was just a matter of feeling the rear wheels start working.

 

Having plowed snow for a few years we found the trucks with the narrower tires much better fro traction than the trucks with the big wide tires. Since we quit plowing snow about 10 years ago we have had vans. Never had a need in the Chicago Winters for a four wheel drive vehicle except when we were plowing. Also had two taurus in that period and they never had trouble in the winter with a narrow tire.

Even in trucks with four wheel drive we had to be careful when starting and also when stopping. Four wheel high clearance does not mean you will not slide when stopping. Just look at all the four wheel SUVs in the ditch after a new snow fall.

 

I should add that my Subaru AWD is manual transmission, with a normal front/rear thrust split that is near 50/50 when nothing is slipping. Automatics use a completely different system with a normal split of 90/10 or 80/20, so they may feel different when slippage causes the split to change. But I have never heard any Subaru owners comment about a noise change when slipping.

The other reply suggesting that this noise might be traction control kicking in seems more plausible. I don't have traction control, but ABS uses the same hardware and does make some different sounds.

AWD hurts fuel economy year round. The reduced economy in cold weather is due to less energetic fuel blends, and the cold itself, not the AWD.

While I like AWD in all foul weather, better tires would keep most of that advantage at lower cost. I'm ready to try transitioning most (not all) winter driving to a Prius with traction control, but DW is not.
Fortunately, it isn't the Subaru that will get traded in / retired.

 

Use cables instead of chains. The chains can really dent up your wheel wells if they are loose.
I was thinking about getting these and using a mild snow tire and these for when it got really bad.

Spikes-Spider: Easier, Better than Tire Chains

 

I'm living in Quebec and I'm more concern about the cold weather than the snow.

In the Canadian Reveal video, it is been said that Toyota did intensive test drive in Timmins in Ontario. So, I guess if the car has been "approved" for Cannucks, it will be OK for our friends from Maine !

The Canadian Reveal @ Prius News