Prius Prime in winter

Couldn't agree more.

 

Nope, they only have a treadwear rating of 300. My wife's Bridgestone tires are 600.

Very different tires came with our Primes.

 

After this winter season I'll go with the Bridgestone or Michelins with better tread rating. I only drive 10k miles/year so I may be one of the few who could possibly use these Toyo's longer vs swapping them out right away.

 

Michelin Energy Savers worked great on my Prius PHV. That's what I'll end up replacing the current ones with later.

 

Definitely worth it.

 

There's definitely an inverse relation, between the need and the adoption of snow tires. Similar situation with block heaters I guess. @john1701a will not be budged, lol.

 

While I recognize that much of the State of Minnesota gets significantly less snow than some sections of the Buffalo Metro area that are prone to lake effect snow bands from Lake Erie, and that you can get by without the snow tires, I’d still recommend winter tires for increased safety. Thanks for the links to the snowfall amounts. That was useful and interesting.

 

A few years back, we were preparing for a drive up to Toronto Canada in January. We shopped for snow tires for our Corolla but local dealers said they could only special order them. We get some snow here, but nobody uses snow tires.

 

Sounds like more research is definitely warranted.

 

For snow? Any all-season's rubber will be at a disadvantage, below 7C (45F); winter tires have rubber that stays pliable/grippy in the cold. First winter will be the best though, with near-new tires.

 

Actually I'm wrong. I have Dunlop Enasave 01A/S. How are those?

I keep reading about that so what happens after the first winter.

 

After the first winter:
The edges of the tread get rounded, and the surface rubber gets worn off (it can be a different compound and softer), and the tires then become skis.

I didn't want to switch tires twice a year, having to store a set -somewhere-, and having to deal with the useless* TPMS. So I got Nokian WR G3 tires. First time was on a Nissan Pathfinder. Then Pearl, now Pearl S. They work quite well in winter and are fine in summer, with the bonus that they resist hydro-planing better than summer tires. Winter tires -are- better, but not -really- better, but they wear fast on dry warm roads and require changing twice a year.

There are several things that make winter tires work, not just softer rubber. Sipes for example. True winter tires are full of them. Liquid water is what makes snow and ice -really- slippery, and the sipes wick that water off the ice. When it is really cold (close to 0F or -18C) and the snow squeaks when compressed you actually have decent traction because there is no liquid water. Even ice is "less slippery". Hey, it's still ice and snow, you still have to slow down to stay away from objects when stopping and turning, but it's not quite as bad.

"useless TPMS" = a system that doesn't tell you -which- tire is down or what the tire pressures actually -are-!

 

Never having lived in an area that gets that much snow I'm curious how people handle the twice a year snow tire switchover. I'm not really trying to take a poll I'm more interested in what do you see most people doing, i.e. what is common practice in those areas. First question is where do people store their winter tires, hang them on the wall in the garage, overhead storage in the garage, fill up a closet, sitting on the floor in the basement? I'm guessing for someone who lives in an apartment it's even more of a challenge. Or is it an option to rent snow tires during the winter and they will store your summer tires for you?

As for the switchover, I guess you pack your winter tires into your cargo area and drive down to the tire shop and have them swapped, then you bring your summer tires back home with you and store them. Then repeat in spring. Fine for Prius but what about non-hatchback cars, I guess they can toss a couple of tires in the trunk and set the other two on the rear seats.

I think if I had to do this I would probably buy some low cost used rims and have the snow tires mounted on them, that way I could change them myself as needed. The car wouldn't look as nice during the winter, but the convenience might be worth it, saving the time spent at a tire shop even if they do it for free. Also you could better time when to put them on and take them off in order to reduce wear on the snow tires, as I assume that driving them on dry pavement wears them down faster and also wears out the grippiness. So if doing it DIY you could take off the snow tires when you think you have had the last snow of the season, then if you get an unexpected late snow you can alway put them back on, whereas someone who has this done at a tire shop will more likely keep their snow tires on for another month until there is virtually no more chance of snow. Is it fairly common to to own a second set of rims for the snow tires or do only a few people do that?

 

1) off-season tires are stored in a shed out back. They are just stacked on the floor at the moment but I do intend to build a shelf for better use of the shed space. I've told my wife she doesn't need to remind me every six months, building the shelf is on my todo list.
2) I typically deflate the tires to 25psi during storage.
3) At switchover time, I use a floor jack and a cordless impact driver. Loosen the lugs before jacking, jack-up the tire, pop the lug nuts off with the impact driver, swap tires and reassemble. Per-tire, the process takes less than 5 minutes.
4) I use chalk to mark which location each tire came from so I know next swap. That said, I use a tire depth gauge and always put the most tread on the front.
5) With each new car, I look for suitable winter rims on craigslist. So far I have always found nice alloy wheels and have not needed to resort to ugly steel rims. With the Prime, I'm reusing the rims I had on my old Gen2 Prius.
6) I have recently started putting TPMS sensors in the snow tires and purchased the ATEQ tool. Add another 5 minutes to load the proper codes into the tool, then into the car.
7) Re-inflate the tires to 38-40psi.
8) The process is much faster/easier with two people...I usually ask my son to help

 

I have my snow tires mounted on steel rims. Saves wear and tear from mounting and dismounting and I can dictate when to install or remove. I keep my inactive tires in the garage. Same deal with my sons cars. I bought all snow tires already mounted on rims used on Craigslist. To cover the steelies, bought cheap wheel covers.

 

Sorry for my ignorance, is there a way to turn off the TPMS indicator light (not the black tape method) when using plain wheels?

Bob Wilson

 

I hope those temperatures are not Celsius as used in Canada!

 

I guess you could remove the warning light.