Prius SUCKS in the snow...

Right on Jayman This southern neighbour of your's sees the same thing!
DW and I play SUV bingo on snow days, it works like this one point for each different SUV model you see in the ditch, two points if it's on its side, three if upside down. Five points for an Escalade, and 10 for a Hummer.
No Expedition, I don't automatically think every SUV has a bad driver in it. When I see one that you can tell has done some (or doing some) work usually have a competant driver. How do I know if they do the work they are intended for? Well pulling a Bobcat is a dead giveaway, annother, they'll not be "dolled up" like some kind of show car, spinner is a dead giveaway, a vanity mobile.

I've finally had a chance to test the Prius in the snow. After a total woss out of a winter, we had a foot of snow a week ago. The Prius drive through it like a dream, no slipping, sliding, no problems at all, and I have the OEM tires! Was an hour late for work due to slow traffic, but then three SUV drivers didn't make it at all (and they have half my driving distance).

 

True! Now... how do we get people to stop commuting (solo driver on dry pavement) in their SUVs, and instead use the proper vehicle for THAT job?

 

Umm, why is there a Pro-SUV person here??? Is this an early April fools joke or something??? (or is it a FOX-not-news channel spy?)

 

It's the same in SoCal rain. The big SUV/Trucks think that they have all this extra traction and just forget about being top heavy (roll-over) and just plain heavy (way harder to stop). The only functional advantage in an SUV/Truck is based on road clearance. It is easy to "bottom out" with a lower clearance vehicle, harder to roll over.

Good shot Darelldd!!

 

I'm SO glad I decided to order in at the office instead of leaving for the hour.

My "dinky" Prius. Of course you're the Big Man in his Big Ford Expedition.

I forgot to mention my neighbor at my hobby farm has a Ford Focus. He's constantly amazed at what I can drive through. Of course, the proper winter tires help a lot. He claims his Focus is helpless with more than 3 inches of snow on the ground.

I used to have a 2000 GMC Sierra SLT, which had an AutoTrac 4x4 system. With studded Nokian LT winter tires, it would easily push snow with the front bumper before getting buried. Big deal, that sort of situation only happens 2-3 times a winter even around here.

In hindsight, I'm glad I decided to not purchase an SUV as a second vehicle. I'll just do the sensible thing and stay home. The RCMP closed the highway right behind me, so if I had driven on that road, somehow wrecked my Prius (Or SUV for that matter) my insurance would have been null and void anyway.

My mistake and my humble apology. You're right, not everybody who drives a Ford Expedition is a bad driver. It just seems - around here anyway - around 95% of them are donkey drivers who cause a lot of fender benders.

Because they think they're too tough bad-nice person SUV drivers, the laws of physics are somehow repealed for them. The best example was the woman who earlier this winter slid off the Trans Canada and rolled down an off ramp bank. Apparently she thought her Ford Expedition could handle glare ice at highway speeds. Not.

 

I know a contractor here who has one of those giant Ford Excursion diesel models. He pulls a 20ft flatbed and it usually has a bobcat or backhoe on in. He does a lot of work in rural sites and even then will sometimes manage to bury it. The neat trick is he can then use the bobcat or backhoe to yank the Excursion out.

Yeah, I somehow doubt he'd get very far with a Prius.

Well, as some of us have reported, in some Prius models the Traction control is so sensitive it's actually a hindrance. With proper snow tires - something I would have purchased anyway - it really isn't a big deal and the only time I notice glare ice is when I take off at a green light and all the pickups, SUV's, and cars are still way behind me helplessly spinning their tires.

And let's be honest, I was a bit ticked off getting stuck. True, I should have known better, should have just turned around and drove back to the city. And I will guarantee that *no* car would have made it with drifts across the road like I buried in.

For as often as I would "need" an SUV, say 2-3 times a year, I can just rent the damn thing. Far cheaper than putting money into a high depreciation outfit like a Ford Expedition. Problem is, if I rent one, it will have useless skimpy "all season" tires on it, so I really won't be any safer, will I??

 

Well, maybe I should play Devil's Advocate here. Currently, the U.S. must import around 63% of its energy needs. Apparently Canada is poised to become the single largest fraction of that energy need.

In a way, the more nuts like Expedition who drive all manly and hairy-chested in their POS Ford, the better off Canada is. So perhaps I should *encourage* more folks in the U.S. to buy pickups and SUV's.

The downside of that: more soldiers die. That would really suck, so the more folks who wean themselves off the Oil Addiction, the better.

 

I've seen SUVs stuck in the snow, they are on their roof! SUVs Don't roll easier?! Please put down your crack pipe. Have you ever driven one and made a quick lane change on the highway? I am not commenting on pickups rather SUVs.

 

Yet, rollovers account for such a large portion of severe (read= injury) accidents.

The weather is severe here in Boulder today. I took the Trooper to the Gym but took the Prius to work. The Prius has many more safety features, including a lower rollover risk. On the highway, today was the first time I ever felt the VSC. (Yaw sensor activated, not ABS). Very cool.

Nate

 

I used to have a Jeep Liberty, a JGC and and an RX300. The Jeeps without VSC SUCKED big time in the snow. The Prius with winter tires and VSC is awesome. Better than some 9mpg piggish FORD SUV.

 

I live in a Great Lakes snowbelt area. School/government office closings due to snow and ice are common from November through February. I've had a VW Rabbit and two Hondas. I never missed work because of the weather. Ever. Nor have I ever had a weather-related accident.

Since I just got my Prius a little over a month ago, and because we've had a bizarrely mild winter this year, I can't speak for the Prius...but having an SUV/truck/4WD/AWD vehicle is certainly NOT necessary in areas that get a lot of snow/ice.

 

Well, since you appear to accept everything your government tells you, especially about the Iraq war, take a peek at the NHTSA facts:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/2002annual_as...t/rollovers.htm

Scroll down to Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatality Rate. This is a rate per 100,000 registered vehicles. Notice the SUV is around 10-12 over the years covered, and passenger cars around 4.

In other words SUV's have 3 times the RATE.

Now scroll a little further: "Passenger Vehicle Occupants Killed and Injured,
by Percent Rollover and Type of Vehicle"

Note that a rollover accounts for around 23% of passenger car fatalities, but for 61% of SUV fatalities.

Of course, the NHTSA could be part of a vast Commie conspiracy to put the SUV in a bad light. Maybe Al Quaida is involved.

Oh hell, I see 4x4 pickups and SUV's stuck around here all the time. Some fool thinks just because they have a pickup with 4x4, they can drive through anything.

First of all, most 4x4's have open differentials: the wheel with the least traction spins, and the wheel with the most traction remains stationary.

Limited slip is useless on a 4x4: a clutch plate differential with a bias preload spring responds to input torque, not difference - delta - in wheel speed. When you're about to get stuck or start spinning, the limited slip is completely useless in that condition. It responds to input torque, so the same differential in a pony car when you power brake it, both wheels receive equal torque.

Only if the 4x4 has locking differentials - front and back - will it have serious off roading capability. My 1984 Ford F-150 - which I ordered new - came from the factory with a Dana 44 front differential and a Ford 8.8 rear differential, both open. Completely useless once you started to bog down, also useless for snowplowing.

I put a Detroit Locker in the front differential, and a PowerTrax LockRite in the rear. The front was a week-long project for me, an incredible pain in my nice person what with needing to remove the front independent axle, put it on a bench, spread the case, etc. The rear took me 30 mins.

I doubt most folks would want to drive my Ford in city traffic, I know I won't. Due to the design of the Detroit Locker and the rear LockRite, they remain locked ALL the time. The only time they disengage is when you turn a sharp corner, and the teeth in the locker over-run each other.

Want to know what that sounds like? Listen carefully: CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK you'd swear you broke the axle. A real jerky catch-slip motion too. But I can put my Ford up to the door seam before it bogs down, and it will easily plow my driveway at the hobby farm.

What kind of tires do most SUV owners run? The regular "all season" tires. On slushy snow and especially ice, they're useless. I had studded Nokian LT's on my 2000 GMC truck for winter driving, those worked.

So overall, what I find is that the average SUV / pickup driver has a very smug sense of security until they hit ice, then they end upside down.

 

diff

 

No, you are right, they don't all rollover but they still get over confident and when they have to stop, I've been rearended by a car that was rear ended bya 4 wheel drive in a snowstorm. If all 4 tires are on a slipperly surface you can't drive faster.

 

Kind of apropos timing here. Noon news today. Snowy conditions, slippery road, and a major pile-up on I-80 going over the Sierra east of Sacramento. In the video is a Prius, a Big Rig, and some SUVs.
Take a guess which vehicles rolled onto their sides.
Watch for the white Prius rear bumper laying in the road.
http://www.kcra.com/video/8148987/index.html