First time driving Prius in snow

To add to the experience, we were hit with an ice storm yesterday morning and it got quite bad for most of the morning. Alot of streets covered in ice and then snow. First chance in taking my Prius out to test it against the elements. And since I have the TE edition, it has the Bridgestone tires on them. And I have to say that the car held its own during my longer commute to work yesterday morning. Not once did I see the VSC light come on during the whole day. I did see some SUV's and a few trucks in the ditches tho that morning (guess the 4-wheel drive didn't do much for them).

Course I took it easy on the speeds and went much slower, and though it took me 15 minutes longer to get to work, the car did well and encountered no fishtailing of any kind. When it comes to this kind of weather, I can care less about the MPG because safety has priority in these conditions.

 

TRAC nd ABS helped me a lot during this snow storm. I dont claim it ws slip free but i guess trac made sure i was able to steer the vehicle. i ride on stock tires and dont have VSC. It ws funny to see my prius easily riding over slab of ice near my work while a 4x4 of collegue slipping and struggling.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hopeful Future Prius Owner @ Dec 2 2006, 02:15 PM) [snapback]356763[/snapback]</div>

I believe 4WD is more useful for getting through deep snow and travelling over rough terrain than it is for handling in slippery conditions. While it might provide some improvement on ice, compared to the same vehicle with rear-wheel drive, on ice the electronic controls of the Prius do far more good than 4WD.

Even my '89 Civic got stuck far less than my '74 Jeep CJ-5, because when you have 4WD you think you can go anywhere, and you think you have more control than you really do, so you take more chances and wind up getting stuck. 4WD has real advantages in some kinds of conditions, but most of us don't need it and are better off with VSC.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Dec 3 2006, 01:42 PM) [snapback]357021[/snapback]</div>

Idiots come in all sizes, shapes, skin color, and gross non-adjusted income level.

One of my coworkers is Chinese and absolutely dreads snow and ice driving. This spring he purchased a 2006 Range Rover HSE. He also had imported from Europe a *very* expensive set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5, which I was surprised they made in that size. They are factory studded.

My Chinese coworker is a VERY conservative driver on snow and especially ice. Unfortunately on the return from my hobby farm this afternoon, we still managed to pop a deer. The bugger jumped right in front of us from behind some trees, and I estimate impact at around 55 km/h

No visible body damage, but the driver side HID headlamp went out. Since that version of Range Rover has adaptive HID headlamps, I'm willing to bet the repair will be stratospheric.

 

For driving in snow and other slippery conditions, I'd take FWD and traction and stability control over 4WD and no traction control or stability control. The 4WD is only good for getting you out when you're stuck. I have a co-worker who sneaks through the chain controls all the time in his 2WD Lexus RX330 (he nods when they hold up four fingers for 4WD) and for the type of conditions encountered on I-80 through the Sierras, FWD plus traction and stability control and all-weather tires are as good as 4WD.

I have a Jeep with full-time 4WD and no traction or stability control, as well as an Acura with AWD and traction and stability control, so I'm speaking from direct experience.

 

I too replaced my new OEM tires with with much better all-season tires; in my case Michelin MXV4+ in the stock size - first time I ever replaced new tires!

I've been amazed by how well the Prius tracks on crusty, partially ice and snow covered roads. I have owned a variety of automobiles, including a rear wheel drive performance car, a couple of front wheel drive Hondas, a Jeep CJ-5, a Subaru turbo four wheel drive, and a Ford Aerostar van with electronic four wheel drive. The four wheel drive vehicles are great for uphill traction and deep snow, but none of my other vehicles has tracked as truly as the Prius. It glides down the road crunching over the ice and snow with no tendency to pull, even when half the road is bare. The traction control light flips on and off, but so far I haven't succeeded in getting VSC to fire, even when I've tried. I'm having to remind myself that the laws of physics are immutable and that no amount of computer control will keep me on the road without friction. I can just see myself driving off an ice covered corner, VSC chiming away - at least I'd go straight off the corner.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Dec 3 2006, 08:58 PM) [snapback]357172[/snapback]</div>

The drivers I fear most are those with 4x4 pickups ... *empty* 4x4 pickups. In some situations they may be able to accelerate faster than I can - except on glare ice - and can drive through deep snow, but otherwise they are a giant PITA and a danger to every other driver on the road. They're always sliding through red lights, spinning out in front of me, etc.

A close second for drivers I fear most are those arrogant SUV ones, but see above for their dangers.

My Chinese coworker is a very conservative driver and has a lot of respect for snow and ice. He even invested in some very expensive factory studded Nokian winter tires. Hands down though his 2006 Range Rover is a better vehicle on snow/ice than my Prius.

His Ranger Rover HSE has standard traction control, stability control, and a very intelligent 4x4 system. Unlike our Prius "traction control" the Rover traction control will actually apply a brake to a spinning wheel. In the hands of a careful, attentive, intelligent driver, it's a nice machine.

Your friend who is engaging diff locks, try to suggest this to him: in a parking lot with bare pavement, have him engage the diff locks then at around 10-15 km/h do some figure-8's with the steering wheel lock-to-lock. Either a driveshaft will break or a u-joint will break.

Should be good for a chuckle.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Dec 4 2006, 10:46 AM) [snapback]357370[/snapback]</div>

My Prius had downright scary tracking upon delivery. After a few trips to the dealer, and a lot of complaining, they've straightened most of it out. It's not as bad as some Prius cars out there, I believe 200volts had a real handful of a Prius.

Still, compared to my dad's 2003 Buick LeSabre Limited, it had awful highway tracking. That big boat of a car always feels like it's on rails.

My first time on snow/ice, it felt like the back end was trying to steer the car. At least now I can go with traffic flow and feel confident.