Cold Weather Performance

I have been holding off putting the winter tires to do just that. Still hasn't snowed here yet but soon I am sure. I want to see how the car performs with the OEM tires on it so I have a comparable.
First time I am looking forward to the snow.

 

I live in a new apartment where the builder built the incline into the underground parkade *just* enough so that a heated driveway isn't needed. Had a few close calls with my old Camry with all-seasons, so I'm not risking it this year. And hopefully the TCS makes driving less tense amongst the insane Calgarians.

I also got the XIce tires installed this morning. Got to Costco at 7:30am, was sixth in line, and they only accepted seven cars today! The things people do to save money $40... The forecast also calls for 16C/61F next week, so no first-hand reports for snow tires from me yet...

 

There should have been some snow reports from the Colorado Front Range Sept. 21-22. I arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park after nearly all of it melted, but did see several inches of left-over snow in the shade, and some light flurries that didn't stick, during hikes over the next several days. There was no shortage of Gen III Priuses in the area, so somebody did get some winter practice.

My Prius' first accumulated snow was a week ago this morning, at Tahoe. Four inches. The ground was still warm, so it was turning to slush fast. The only 'winter tests' were a few hard braking applications to try the ABS before reaching the bare highway.



Based on tonight's evening news pictures, we ought to be getting a bunch more winter test results from the Rocky Mountain areas in the next couple days.

 

Thank you to everyone who put the tech talk into laymans terms for me. Much appreciated and thank you for the recommendations on all weathers. Sorry for the double post. I thought the first one didn't go through.

 

After the engine, transmission and tires warm-up, air drag becomes a significant performance driver especially above 45 mph / 72 kph and this is driven by density:

	Column 1	Column 2
0	F/C	% mileage hit
1	0/-18	-15%
2	20/-6	-11%
3	32/0	-8%
4	40/4	-6%
5	50/10	-4%
6	70/21	0%
7	90/32	+4%
8	100/38	+5%

.
Bob Wilson

 

Bob,

Your scale doesn't go down far enough.

We will spend much of the winter below freezing here (that is the highs will be below freezing), typically with a few periods in the -10F to -20F range. You know it's cold when you nudge something with your bumper and your bumper cracks.

 

With my '04 Prius and Michelin Harmony "all season" tires, the ramp to the upper deck parkade at Polo Park mall, I made it about halfway up and the car came to a complete stop. No tire spin, no nothing

The old rusted, used up s***box rear wheel drive car ahead of me, with studded tires, putted up with no drama whatsoever

Studless winter tires helped, but I had the biggest traction gain by going to Canadian Tire and getting their studded Goodyear Nordic winter tires. This is the same as the Goodyear Ultra Grip 500 sold in Europe

The Trac in my '04 was far too sensitive, and caused more problems than it helped. The 2009 I test drove had a far more sane Trac. The Trac on my FJ actually applies the brake to the spinning wheel, before it limits engine torque

Yes, I run studded tires on my FJ too. Factory studded Nokian's





Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 SUV

Now that we have snow and ice on the roads again, am very satisfied with them. Although you can readily hear the studs on dry pavement, on snow and ice they are very quiet. I never shift into 4H on public roads

As far as the debate over winter tires and safety, this informational site sponsored by the Automobile Protection Association, Rubber Association of Canada, Government of Canada,

Be Tire Smart – Play Your P.A.R.T. - Videos

covers all the scenarios

 

When I lived in Colorado, hearing the first set of studded snow tires go down the road signalled the beginning of winter. I know they're hard on roads, but I miss being able to use studded snows. There's just something so "winter warrior" about them.

 

I can't find a thread on this. Has it been confirmed yet that 5/20 is OK and you don't really need 0/20? I have a case of Castrol 5/20 left from the 02 Civic HX I traded in and I'd love to use it.

 

The manual says you can use it if 0/20 is not available. However you must use 0/20 the next time. So I would say your OK to use it.

 

Depends on your country. This is according to the manuals:

US: You should use 0W20. It is OK to use 5W20 but the next oil change should be 0W20.

Canada: You can use either 0W20 or 5W20.

 

Why the difference I wonder? Climate?
Maybe it's only a problem in hottest parts of the US?

 

If climate was the issue, 0/20 would be better up North. But apparently that is not the case (as other noted) and has to do with CARB.
[edit] I meant [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy"]CAFE [/ame](CAFE) not CARB. Thanks tumbleweed.

 

The Scandinavian designed factory studded tires, like the Nokians I'm running this winter

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 SUV

have made road wear a non-issue. Dumping salt on roads also causes wear, especially on concrete surfaces with rebar inside

I have a sealed/coated garage floor. I was leery of running at first my Prius, now my FJ, on that floor with studded tires. No evidence whatsoever of damage

Agreed. I wonder if they'll refill with 0W-20 or 5W-20 in the EU?

 

No unfortunately it has nothing to do with the weather or the engine itself. 0W20 is required in the US because Toyota might have gotten a couple of extra tenths of a MPG on their EPA fuel mileage estimate that way, and those tenths add up if you do enough different stuff to get enough tenths. It helps with the CAFE and in the case of the Prius it helped get them the coveted 50 MPG rating to advertise.

The car will do just fine on 5W20, after all it's warmer here than in Canada. In fact I would think it might do just fine on 5W30 just as the Gen2 did. I don't want to put words in his mouth but if I remember correctly Jayman posted that he ran his Gen2 on 15W40 for a while with no problems.

 

The EPA is actually a lot more convoluted than that. There is a formula that allows you to apply a multiplier to those tenths of a MPG, it really adds up

The first summer I had my '04, I had just serviced the HD equipment at my hobby farm. I had around 3.5 litres of Esso XD-3 15W-40 left over. Since that oil not only carries the usual HD diesel equipment standards, but also SL, I figured it wouldn't hurt to run it in summer when the temps were hot

With lows in the 50's and highs in the upper 90's, I ran the oil 4 months and put on around 11,000 km. Can't recall if I ever posted a UOA on that oil on this forum.

Overall, the oil gave very good results, with an ending TBN of 8. In a hot climate, say Florida, Arizona, Nevada, California, etc, it would be appropriate year round

My fuel economy was either unchanged compared to a 5W-30 or 0W-20, or perhaps it declined 2 MPG. All depends on the driving.

Frequent city driving in temps in the 50's to 60's, perhaps 2 mpg less than a 5W-30 or 0W-20. On the highway, no difference

Of course, a 15W-40 should never be used in winter, it's unsuitable in temps <-29 C. Page 3 of this document

http://www.esso.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENCVLESEsso_Xd-3_extra.pdf

states the low temp cutoff for safe winter performance, of the various XD-3 multigrade oils. Really a shame why Mobil 1 can't publish these specs, what are they, top secret??