Cold Weather Performance

Wow, where exactly are you at anyway? Have you covered your grills at all? If so what did you do?
Its been down to the upper 20sF here but only in the mornings (clear days). The ICE does run longer I have noticed. I have dropped off by 2 to 3 mpg since it got cold/wet. Of course I also added mud guards and removed the hub caps.
Keep us posted on the FE.

Peter

 

Are the tires all-weather or do you really have to change to snow tires for winter?

 

I live north of Chicagoland and I will be installing snowtires for the winter. No amount of alphabet-soup nursemaids can create traction where there is none. And, four snow tires are typically less than an insurance deductible.

 

Not this cold yet here in Montreal.

In my experience, when the engine is running, the instant FE indicator is at zero only when the car is not moving; as soon as you move, it appears back up; as soon as you stop it disappears.

I'm still enjoying the fact that I can start and stop the engine with the heater on/off buttons!


My FE hasn’t changed either (still 4.3L/100km displayed; I have yet to enter my gas receipts in a DB ), but two factors may affect this:

• I did my first oil change last week and went with Mobil 1 5W20 (5L@41$ at Walmard unable to find 0W20 in Montreal yet). I tend to think this has improved my FE compared to Toyota semi-synthetic 0W20 from Tsutsumi…
• My daily commute begins with a 2 km distance of “stop and go†with the ICE running and then slow crawling traffic for 4-5 km with the ICE mostly off; the rest is city driving (50km/h limit). I do prevent the ICE from running when not needed by turning the heater off during the slow traffic part (at outside temp of 5-10°C, the ICE heating period is sufficient to warm the inside air for comfort).

I’ll see how this evolves in the next weeks.

The block heater will also be used as soon as the timer is removed from the pool water pump! I’ll probably do some tests w/ w/o the block heater to compare.

 

Enjoy guys. Looks like Toyota Canada won't replace the GII coolant transfer pump that squeals. I put my grill blocks in two days ago, so Tideland, looks like the snow was my fault!

Maybe I SHOULD get a GIII just to get rid of the useless (here anyway) thermos.

I use Nokian WR tires year round and they work VERY well. Tideland knows that, but he's too cheap to throw away the stock tires on his GIII.

 

Mileage hits - sooner or later - are a given. No news there. What about traction, with or w/o snows? That is the great unknown, thus far.

 

Heck, that's an easy one.

Traction in snow with snow tires > Traction in snow without snowtires

As far as I'm concerned, all-season tires are ok at everything and good at nothing.

All-Season vs. Winter / Snow Tires

 

Snowy and windy the last few days in Calgary, AB. My mileage dropped .4L/100km for the single trip so far, although I'm not hitting anything near the advertised mileage to begin with (calculated 4.7L/100km is typical city for me). My engine only shuts off after 10 minutes of continuous driving. I also crank the heat up to HI and only lower it when it becomes super toasty.

Did you know that if its really cold when you start your car, and your fan is set to "auto", it won't actually start circulating air in the cabin until warm air is actually coming out? Interesting, to say the least.

I'm not a fan of the Ecopia tires that came with the Prius. Just picked up some X-Ice Tires from Costco for just under $600 CAD.

Going to Edmonton this weekend, will fill up and do an oil change too (sidenote: apparently Gateway put the 5W-20 when they prepped my car, and an synthetic 0W-20 oil change is typically $80 CAD!). We'll see how well the car handles on the highway with my Ecopia tires with a bit of snow.

 

Let us know how the x-ice tires do. The tire guy @ our Costco actually talked me out of them for my Prius. He said they do OK on lighter cars but much better on the heavier ones. So I am sticking with studs.

 

Considering I live in sw New Jersey (5 miles from Delaware Memorial Bridge) and may see only 3 inches snow each year, all-season tires will do just fine.

 

Take a look at ConsumerSearch.com. They do literature reviews (reviews of reviews). For winter tires, then amalgamate info from US, Canada and Sweden.

The tire dealer warned me that it won't have the same capacity as the Nokian to evacuate snow.

The Xi2 also provides low rolling resistance similar to the Nokian Hakkapelitta R (which suffers from hydroplaning and poor braking on wet roads, and costs more).

I went with the Xi2. CAN$830 (tires, steel wheels, nuts, balancing and taxes). I'll be able to report about its durability in a few winters!

 

Hi Everyone, I am a bit confused by all the snow tire and engine heater talk. Can someone explain to me? I live in NY. We get some snow, some years are worse than others. I never got snow tires for my old Sentra. Do we need the engine heater- or is it only for milage purposes. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

Hello,
I am very confused by all the cold weather talk. I live in NY and we get snow but some years are worse than others. We have never gotten snow tires for our old car. I am worried about space. I don't have a garage to put 4 extra tires. Also is the engine heater necessary or is it for milage purposes? Thanks for any help you can give.

 

The "cold weather" talk is just those of us that seek simple ways of improving performance, not necessary... but nice if you live in a hostile environment.

In my case, with my Iconic model (2004), I upgraded to high-traction all-season tires and blocked the grille. Both were very easy to do and neither was needed. I drove without for years. But being so easy to do, why not?

The tires lastest far longer and improved grip all year long under all driving conditions. The blocking provided additional heat for those dead-cold days in January and better MPG in certain conditions.

For my 2010, all I'm doing is blocking the lower-grille. 20 minutes effort and $2 for the foam insulation goes a heck of a long way.
.

 

With the new Traction Control System (TCS) in the 2010, we will likely not need special tires in many cases. But I have always had studded snows for my other vehicles even my F150 4x4. I like the extra traction when I need it. If you gotten away without them, you will likely not need them with the Prius.
The block heater is more for mileage purposes. Although if you park outside in the cold I would highly recommend one. Not so much if garaged. I plan to order one soon because I want to reduce warmup time for better mileage.
Just my 2 cents,
Peter

 

Sorry. I was speaking not of tires, about which any of us in northern climes should know plenty, but of the traction control system, with which nobody, to my knowledge, has yet reported real-world experience. (Correct me if I've missed something.) I'd have thought the first thing anybody would want to do once some white stuff was in evidence, is to find a safe open space and play spin the tires. What about it, Tideland?