Prius Prime in winter

We are from Minnesota too...and felt comfortable having our daughter drive our 2010 in winter. And we survived high school with no accidents! Now that is an accomplishment!

Believe it or not, our Prius is our best snow vehicle ( we also have a 2004 Mazda MPV, a 2012 Hyundai Sonata, and a 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT ). It has everything to do with the tire quality...and very little to do with clearance. You see, the Hyundai vehicles still have crappy ( and I mean incredibly crappy) factory tires on. The Prius has Michelin Defenders on and does exceptionally well in the snow.

Hope that helps!

 

I just turn off my awareness of it.

I've got a two car garage, well except one bay is more-or-less clogged with one of our son's furniture for the forseable future, but anyways: it's fairly wide and in the centre space I've got a couple snow tires stacks-of-four (one for our Prius, one for another son's Civic); it's either the snows or the all seasons, depending on time of year. I got nice zippered covers from Princess Auto, keeps them clean and sheltered from UV light.

I DIY the tire swaps, raise the whole car and settle on safety stands, with the wheels a half inch or so off the slab. Whenever wheels come off, I check the tread, pry out the rocks in the process, very occasionally will discover a nail or something, need to plug repair. I wash them, dry them off with a leaf blower, put a bit of masking tape on the inside of rim id'ing which corner they came off, let them completely dry for a day or two, then roll them into our "family" room, and wax the wheels.

I'm leary of tire racks, this stack method has worked for me. I don't have any air tools, just decent long handle ratchets and breaker bars, torque wrenches, sockets. Not having air tools, you always want to half-loosen the lug nuts before raising the car, and do final torque when the car's back on the ground.

For our Prius, the snow tires are mounted on Corolla rims, 100% compatible, correct hub opening. I've got some PIP rims waiting in the wings, if/when I need new snow tires, I may switch to them, looks a lot classier.

 

We had our first snow storm yesterday -- about 6-inches total -- and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Prime handled on semi-plowed urban roads.

Power consumption went up considerably, even with the climate system off most of the time. We pulled out our garage with 100% charge and went out to meet a friend for dinner. We traveled a total of about 20 miles and ended up having to run in HV mode for the last couple of miles home. The temperature was in the range of about 30F to 35F.

The front windshield defogger requires the use of the climate system. By setting the system to blow air onto the windshield and into the cabin, we could avoid the use of the ICE (which comes on when you turn on the front defogger button), but it sure seems to eat up battery power.

One question came to mind: the LED headlamps. In my last car, the headlamps were HID and generated sufficient heat to keep them clear of snow and ice. I did not notice the Prime's headlamps icing over, but wondered if there is a heater or other mechanism to keep them clear. Does anyone know?

 

With the all seasons?

 

Yes. That dictated button specifically informs the system that you are requesting maximum clearing (dedicated blowing with engine great)

For just ordinary clearing (electric-only from the split-venting, use that heating option instead.

 

Should I attempt to get through the WI winter with the stock Dunlop Enasave 01 A/S or sketch them out for the Michelin Premier A/S?

Regarding tpms sensors can they just be switched over to the new tire and rim if I upgrade the rim? Same thing if go the winter tire route?

 

I just took my hand held infrared thermometer out to the car in the garage. It's 58° and the car is the same. I turned on the headlights and waited 2 minutes. There was no appreciable change in temp, nor were they warm to the touch.

 

3rd gen with LED head lights have washer jets, just in case of freeze up I believe. Ours came thus; I've never needed to use it, but we've got relatively mild winters here.

 

Maybe they found there wasn't much call for it? Not sure.

 

Here in the UK the regulations meant that cars with Xenon lights had to have washers. No the rules have changed so that they are not required.


iPhone ?

 

No headlamp washers on my 2012 (Pearl S). It's never been a problem, though snow can cover the headlamps and must be brushed off (wet sticky type only - dry snow is no problem). They are halogens on Pearl S btw.

As for tires, think how much it will cost if you slide into someone/something. AT LEAST $1000. Maybe someones life. Tires and wheels for winter are less. Or just change the tires to Nokian WRG3 and leave them on all year. Almost as good as dedicated winter/ice tires without the hassle of changing them. And they work better than summer tires in heavy rain.

As far as using the original TPMS sensors on some other wheel, they may or may not fit. They are part of the valve stem and it's not the "standard" rubber pull in type. They are inserted from inside the wheel and a nut is installed on the outside to hold them in place (and they use a rubber seal as well). You would need a wheel with the same diameter hole that is about the same length, and has about the same shape inside for the TPMS sensor body to clear.

 

By the same logic, 4WD is better than 2WD, bigger is safer, etc., which may explain why everybody wants a 3 ton 4x4 SUV in case it snows.

 

Well I went through a short-lived squall on the highway, and the snow just seemed to drift past the rear window. But man... whatever grit was on the road got all over the sides and back of my car, and the back camera. We'll see how I make it with today's storm in town traffic.


Also posting my winter highway fuel economy figures:
At 60 mph: 50mpg
At 70 mph: 42mpg

 

We're getting closer to that cold threshold for the heater, just 2 degrees shy now...

 

Not nice... lots of ice. So, it snowed a lot, then warmed up overnight to freezing rain, then cooled off after sunrise and stayed cloudy. As for the rear window, heck with it, still thin ice around it and I don't want to use a scraper on it. Had the car ask me to clean one of the sensors. Wind chills are supposed to howl down to something like -10F later. Looks as if some of the sensors will stay frozen in ice for a long time. My gosh there is so much sand/grit all over my car. Glad that I had a fresh car wash coat (as thin/cheap as they are) put on the week prior.

Edit: Sunshine! Quick or you'll miss it!

Edit 2: You snooze you lose...

 

I TOTALLY disagree. I'm in SE WI where it could snow an inch or 12 inches at once. If your driving and someone in front of you slams on their brakes ..... Good luck stopping in time with all seasons. You simply don't have enough control of the vehicle since it doesn't grip the street like winter tires do. What your referring to is correct for NORMAL everyday driving, but NOT for emergency situations.

 

There's nothing to disagree with. If you want more grip, you use better tires.