I don't own a Prius yet, but in the Chicago region, I use Bridgestone Blizzaks for my Infiniti G37 Sport Coupe. They certainly improved traction up to the point where I could drive in a few inches of snow easily. They are 245/40R-19s in the rear and 224/45-R19s in the front. Expensive tires, but worth the money. Saved me from getting into a few accidents!
I thought about getting those when I got my '04 just in case I had trouble in snow but the price was too high for me. Luckily, I've never needed chains or cables. Goodyear TripleTreds and Hakkappellita RSi have both proven to be good winter tires for me. Goodyear Integrity? NO WAY!
The weather here isn't bad enough for chains of any type. But many people run studded snow tires in the winter. You can hear the tires crunching as they drive by. I'm a big Nokian fan. I used to have Hakka Q's (now the RSi) but they were very squirmy on dry pavement and didn't stop very well in the rain. I had a set of Nokian WRG2's which were great but no idea how well they would work on a Prius with it's super aggressive traction control. I think Studded snow tires would be better. What do you think?
