Considering Prius - lots of questions - Cold Climate Owners please chime in

I do not make recommendations. Do your research, and make your own decision.

But I will share my experiences. My wife and I live in the mountain west. It is cold for many months. My G3 is parked inside the garage. We drive it daily, except immediately following a snow. (I own a AWD CRV for snowy days). The Prius warms quickly, and is very comfortable. On cold days, run the heater on high and the ICE tends to run at stop lights. Mileage will take a hit in cold weather. (instead of 52 plus mpg, it will fall to 48 plus). I am 6'-3" tall and find the car very comfortable. Last year my wife and I drove across the country twice. Averaged 52 plus mpg for 6000 miles each trip. Long days (500 -700 miles) and we arrived rested. I drive 72-73 mph (cruise control) listen to books on CD and stop only to eat and potty (refueling when we eat). 500 miles before needing fuel is great ... enables you to look for the best price. For example, we know where the best price is in our area, but we do not get by there except few weeks. With 500 mile range, we can wait until the next time we routinely pass that station.

We have absolutely no problem maintaining 73 mph on the interstate and climbing mountains. It will run as fast as you want ... but the mileage falls off above 72-75 mph.

The Prius does have limitations: It is not suitable as a towing vehicle; it is too low to be useful on gravel roads or in deep snow; and it is not good to wade through deep water. ... otherwise, we drive it daily and love filling the tank for 1/2 the cost of filling the CRV. If you live where you can drive a steady 35-45 mph for periods of time ... it will easily deliver fuel efficiency in the high 50's and low 60's.

Good luck finding one.

 

When you say cold do you mean Yellowknife or Toronto?
I live in Green Bay, WI, about 200 miles south of Thunder Bay or Sault St. Marie. We haven't had a -20 below winter in a couple of years but plenty of 0 F. My mileage can dip to 45 mpg then and I block my lower grill. In the summer it can get into the 90s F and I often approach 70MPG for a full tank of city driving. I know that you use the Imperial Gallon so you'll have to convert. No problems with starting or snow (except deep snow, the front lower air intake makes a terribly efficient snowplow) or ice. I keep mine in ECO mode which helps at stop signs on slippery roads. I minimize use of Heat and A/C.
Hope this helps. I garage mine at night too.
Good luck

 

3 winters driving a Classic in Minnesota. 6 with an Iconic model. 2 with a 2010.

Gen-III handles the cold & snow the best.

This morning commute photo speaks for itself...



.

 

brrrrrrr!!!

 

Did you mean to post Gen3 MID picture?

 

I live in Chicago. Rough winter (had snow on Monday)...

Have a 2009 Corolla (my wifes car) and I replaced a 2002 Mercury Sable with a 2010 Prius (III) with solar roof option (in states this comes with Nav system). Only one winter but I think the car handles good in Winter (stock tires). But I live in a suburb of Chicago and dont drive other than weekends and some weekends. I drove my car to and from train station so my mileage was severe since car never warmed up. I got 40MPG as my worst tank. I am now back up to 49MPG.

I like to tell people that the Hatchback is great. I used it to pickup fence material (city boy) which included 6 foot pickets and 8 foot fence posts as well as the material to make the posts (as well as concrete for posts) . Also used the Prius for hauling some of the old fence material to local dump area in our village. I am 6 feet and my 2002 Sable I sat with car seat all the way back. In the prius (manual seat) I have more than enough leg and head room.

Good luck in making your decision...

 

Hey eh?
I am very happy with our GenIII. It handles as well or better than our ol' 97 Camry (both with studded snow tires) and still getting pretty close to the EPA fuel economy.

With that said, I probably wouldn't recommend one in cold climates where the owner didn't have a garage. Sitting outside during the day is OK but all night... It can handle it but I suspect hard on it. It also helps to have a commute of > 5 miles as you start to recoup fuel economy after your initial warm up. Probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who has steep hills or back roads (with little or no snow removal) to navigate.

Warms up just as fast as any other car I have had. Helps to block the grills and or block heater. Since nearly the two years we have had it, it has seen temps near -20F. Not terribly cold... but it has never complained about starting up.

Hope that helps.

 

I'm 6'2 and have more than enough head and leg room. In fact I can stretch out my legs while driving which I like. I have tons of cargo capacity without having to folddown the rear seats. The cool thing about the rear seat foldown is that the headrests flipdown to allow either seat to lay almost flat, but I seldom have to do that.

Best wishes as you continue your research.

 

Unfortunately, temperature isn't part of the display for Gen3. It's on the climate-control panel instead. And I've only seen temps in the negative teens with that.

The beauty of hybrid system in the cold is how little electricity is needed from the 12-volt battery... just enough to fire up the computer and switch relays. The engine turning comes from the battery-pack, which has far more kick in the extreme cold than any traditional vehicle. So, startup is effortless... even after sitting outside all day while at work.
.

 

Can't speak for the cold climate but I can tell you that in my opinion the Prius is 10 times the car a Honda Civic is. Much quieter, more room and many more features. Matter of fact I traded an 09 Civic Coupe for my Prius.

 

I traded my 2007 Civic in for my 2011 Prius . Can't complain. 49MPG. Nice ride. Leather. Heated seats. Comfortable.

 

I live in Vermont, and since I bought my Gen III in February I missed most of the winter, but in my experience:

1. Yes, I have experienced the ICE idling to warm things up, especially if you have the heater running. Some people on here recommend setting the heater to max power on "hi" temperature (80+) until it gets comfortable and then shutting it off to save gas.

2. I found the car warms up faster than my old 2003 Subaru Outback.

3. It does, however, fog up something fierce when there is more than one occupant in the car. That's probably my biggest gripe with the car so far -- crank that defroster if you're driving around together!

4. I've noticed fuel economy get better since the temps have climbed a bit. Granted, I live in a very hilly town and the majority of my driving is small trips where the battery can't warm up properly, but I've averaged around 45 MPG, which is nearly triple what I was getting with the Outback.

5. The Prius handles comparably to all the other FWD cars I've owned (1988 Honda Accord and 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier) -- definitely no worse, anyway. I do work at home, so I just don't go out when the roads are really nasty, but a set of good snow tires and I don't see why it wouldn't handle at least as well as the Civic. That said, if you're on back roads, I might think twice. It's mud season here and I have basically had to avoid dirt roads entirely -- not really a surprise, but the low clearance makes bottoming out a definite danger. (I bottomed out on a mud patch this weekend -- it was only the front bumper, and nothing was damaged, but it was definitely disconcerting!)

Other thoughts:

6. I'm 6'6" and the Prius actually fits me incredibly well. In every other car I've owned I've had to have the seat all the way back, but with the Prius the most comfortable position is a notch or two forward from the rearmost setting. It doesn't look like it at first glance, but I think it's an excellent car for tall people.

All in all, I love the car, though, so much so that I nearly convinced my brother to get one (he's poor and went for a Corolla instead ).

 

You were 20 Below on Tuesday! Holy ..... Batman

 

I owned a 99 Honda Civic EX for about 10 years. Even when new, the traction in snow was bad. Those cars back then did not have traction control either. The Prius Gen 3 is still a rather light car (although 400-500 lbs heavier than my 2500 lbs Civic), but even still it does rather well in snow with the stock tires & traction control. My Civic on the other hand - the stock tires I instantly swapped for snow tires the first snow season I hit. I live in Chicago btw, snow comes in big batches here.

The Prius you may not have to swap the tires out for snows - just try and see. If you really live on a slope, then I think you will need snow tires - all-seasons can only do so much. If it weren't for that the Prius would be fine, at least for Chicago. Also I agree with the previous poster who talked about clearances - if you expect big chunks of ice or snow to be on your road, the Prius might not be a good idea.

 

Comments from the other side of the pond. And as others said - "I do not make recommendations. Do your research, and make your own decision."
I just hope my experiences can help you.

In Munich, Germany - winters can be quite cold - we probably don't beat Canada, but we have had snow in April and in September...
In Winter I have winter tires - and would never do otherwise, even with another car. It has to do with improved braking distances, better grip and overall improved driveability when temps go below 7C/44F.
My Prius 3 sits outside all night - no (heated) garage. The lowest I got in the past 2 years was -10C/14F in 2010/11 and -16C/3F in 2009/10. Clearly these are spring temperatures for you there...
I own the car since Sep. 2009.

As mentioned in another post - the Prius fires up the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) in a totally different way than other cars. The smaller generator/motor (MG1), after the computers have been turned on via the 12V battery (that sits in the trunk, not in the engine bay), gets the current from the High Voltage battery (HV), spins up to at least 1000rpm the ICE and *then* the ICE is given fuel and it's fired up. I have not once noticed different noises, or roughness in turning the ICE on. I think this is the smoothest way an ICE could be turned on. So I would not think this is a concern. If the car sits in the night inside a heated garage at 48F, no issue at all then. Another thing that you could get an engine block heater installed and as others do, block the front grill. I haven't done both.

Fuel consumption? after keeping it at freezing temperatures and driving a 10mi/17km commute in *city traffic* (some sections up to a speed of 40mph/65kmh) I can tell you that my average fuel consumption (from Oct till March) is 5.6L/100km-42mph (calculated - not displayed - that will be on average 6% generous). In summer, same roads with summer tires, I get 5L/100km-47mpg (I have only data from 2010, April till Sep.). The *key* is to use ECO mode, so that the heater will not be as aggressive and it will not turn on as often when stopping at traffic lights just to keep you warm. I never drove the car at -20C/-4F or less, so I don't know how the Prius would behave.
It would probably fog up faster in ECO in winter, but setting the defog takes care of it quickly (but it will likely fire up the ICE just for that - once finished and you turn the defog off, the ICE will shut down if battery charge and engine are warm enough).

So - for city driving, I find the fuel consumption excellent (considering also that Munich is a somewhat hilly town). I would probably have better Fuel Efficiency (FE) if it sat all night in a garage - but I am stuck with "outside" (and a lot of snow scratching...).
If I had to drive on suburban roads with no traffic lights and higher speeds on a longer commute it will most probably even be better. My best tank in city drive only I have done so far in winter months (Oct. - Mar.) is 4.65L/100km-50.6mpg. All details here.

For floor clearance... the Prius is low. I had it "touch" a couple of times where I would not expect it. But did not experience that on snow as they tend to clean up here in Munich relatively often and it does snow, but not *that* much as I hear elsewhere in Canada/US or other northern regions in EU. So - take that into serious consideration when/if buying it. I would measure the clearance on your current car and compared that to the Prius and see if the difference is of concern for you.

As for traction, I have had no issues so far, but again - I never had to drive it up sloping driveways with snow on it.... I am usually *very* careful with when and where I drive in winter: I don't trust the roads, myself or the ESP/ESC (Electronic Stability Program/Control) computer either...
Do note that the ESP *cannot* be switched off on the Prius (this is something that all VWs, for example, sold in Germany do have - ESP will likely be compulsory in EU starting from 2012) - but I never had the feeling I had to turn it off otherwise I would not move - I know the Gen2 got people stuck - not heard that on the Gen3 so far - please, do a thorough search here on PC and try to understand how and where they might have got stuck with the Gen3.
I drove once mine in 20-30 cm of fresh snow (slowly!) and it didn't "feel weird"...

Regarding expectations on FE, you can read this - to get a rough idea - in winter it can go further down, sure, but you will still be better than anything with a gasoline engine out there today.
Regarding how to save fuel for the "normal" driver - read this.
Regarding a general overview of the Prius itself - you can start here and then dig further here in PC.
Regarding how in general the Prius compares to other cars (including diesels) you can have a look at this as well (yes, an European view... ).

Sorry for the long post - hope this helps for get a better idea on things and not confuse any further!

 

That confused me too, but when he says "this morning commute" I think he meant "this picture of a morning commute". That's a Gen II screen, and he drives a Gen III now.

Did you have it on the ECO or PWR setting? That will affect your acceleration.

I'm expecting Jayman to chime in on this thread. There are other Canadians that frequent this forum too, but he lives in Winnipeg, where it gets super-hero cold, not this namby-pamby stuff we deal with here. He's had traction-control problems in the snow/ice with his 2005 or 2006, but my 2006 has been as good as any other FWD car in the snow, and I kept the OEM tires for the first 4 winters. (I purposefully tested it on some local hills too). From the reports, it appears Toyota improved the traction control system sometime around 2006.

I grew up in northern Minnesota, but live now in the NW suburbs of Chicago, where it only got down to about -20'C (-4'F) this winter, and -26'C (-15'F) three winters ago. My garage gets down to freezing on the cold days, and I have a short commute so the engine doesn't spend a lot of time fully warmed up, I might only see 38-42 mpg in the dead of winter (52 mpg in the summer).

You might want to invest in an engine block heater (EBH). That will improve your mileage and help you heat up your car sooner (leave the temperature control on automatic, then it won't blow cold air around on startup, but as the car engine warms up, then the fan will ramp up to heat the interior). You won't have any problem starting your car with or without the EBH. With a warmer garage and possibly a longer commute, that may not be such a big issue for you.