Snow driving my new Prius

No, you can't disable traction control for normal driving, and no, it wouldn't have helped your situation. If you expect to drive in snow, you need tires designed for snow. The touring tires are not good snow tires.

Tom

 

This is not completely true. You can disable traction control by putting the car into a service mode. But it wouldn't be advisable to drive for long distances that way. I only disable TC if I have a tough hill to get up.

Also, saying the Washington DC driver was slowing down traffic due to tires rather than TC is not completely true. That implies that everyone on the street had good tires except for the Prius. TC improves traction in some cases and makes it worse in others. It's not a black and white issue. The system is flawed because it brings the wheels to a full stop, something other TC's don't do.

Some cars have the option to disable TC. If the Prius had this, experienced snow drivers would be able to do better in the snow. Experienced snow drivers know how to control the spin of the tires and maintain momentum. The Prius TC takes this ability away for the driver, and thus makes the car less controllable. Worse, it puts drivers in life threatening situations.

Someone living in Washington DC should not have to put snow tires on their car. For nearly 20 years, I've lived in New England or New York and had good all season tires on front wheel drive cars. I never had a problem in the snow until I got the Prius. That was due more to the flawed TC than to tires.

 

Please note that I said for normal driving. Service mode is not normal driving, nor is it intended to ever be used for normal driving.

Tom

 

How about a Cat D6 throwing a track after messing up muskaeg/permafrost rescued with tank retriever (US Army, Alaska)

 

That would be bad. We threw a track on a smaller bulldozer by obliquely crossing some old railroad tracks. Lacking a tank retriever, we had to replace the track on location.

Tom

 

How do you put it in "service" mode?

 

I would have used large amounts of explosive, like how the Oregon Highway Dept tried to blow up a dead whale

=

I can only imagine the tons of dead, STINKY whale blubber raining down on the spectators. Though I bet once those folks got home, their pet cats suddenly became a LOT friendlier!

 

I mounted four 195/60R-15 GENERAL ALTIMAX ARCTIC (no studs) snows from Tirerack.com. No local dealer could beat their price of $277.90 w/ UPS shipping. I am sure that the more expensive Nokians or Blizzaks are great tires, but I can't afford them right now.

I live on the MA/NH border and we have gotten about 60"+ of snow this winter. I find that these tires give me nice straight controlled "panic" stops. I have tried to get the traction control to leave me without power as I have heard some complain about but haven't been able to get it to react that way yet. Keep in mind one thing, you still only have four tiny patches of rubber between you and the road.

I just bought the Pri so my OEM tires are pretty new but I was very concerned about leaving them on in the snow as they would throw the traction control into a fit when accelerating on wet pavement, I can't imagine what they would have done in the snow!

The larger than OEM size also helps improve handling. I no longer get blown into the next lane when there is a cross wind. They are not that noisy nor does the ride seem to be that much rougher.

Gas mileage takes a hit, but it is cold out so it is going to take a hit anyway. Plus, I have still doubled my mileage compared to my Subaru OB wagon. With my limited experience thus far, I would say that the Pri with four snows handles about as good as the OB wagon did with all season GY Triple Treads. Of course, deep snow would be the limiting factor, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the tires.

This is the first FWD car I have put snows on and I would never drive a FWD car again without snows in the winter. And you definitely have to do all four.

Bottom line is you have to have four good aggressive snow tires.

 

It's actually called Inspection Mode. I haven't tried it, but I find two different procedures listed on PC:

Perform the following steps from (1) through (4) in 60 seconds.
(1) Turn the power switch ON (IG).
(2) Fully depress the accelerator pedal twice with the
transmission in the P position.
(3) Fully depress the accelerator pedal twice with the
transmission in the N position.
(4) Fully depress the accelerator pedal twice with the
transmission in the P position.

OR

1. Make sure the car is in Park and the parking brake is disengaged before you start the car.
2. Start the engine.
3. Engage the parking brake.
4. Fully depress the brake pedal and then release.
5. Fully depress the brake pedal and then release.
6. Disengage the parking brake.
7. Fully depress and hold down the brake pedal.
8. Engage the parking brake, then disengage it (while holding down the brake pedal).
9. Engage the parking brake, then disengage it (while holding down the brake pedal).
10. Release the brake pedal.
11. Engage the parking brake.
12. Fully depress the brake pedal and then release.
13. Fully depress the brake pedal and then release.

 

I do *not* recommend Inspection Mode. If you're not careful, you run the very real risk of grenading the Power Split Device

 

Get them studded and experience a much higher level of traction again

I'm pretty well done with studless snow tires. They work fine in snow, but on glare ice the *modern* studded winter tires offer clear advantages

Eg: my FJ runs Toyo Open Country G-02 Plus studless snow tires (Say that quickly 3 times, I dare you). My Prius runs studded Goodyear Nordic from Canadian Tire, the same as the Goodyear Ultra Grip 500 sold in the EU

On glare ice, my Prius has a clear traction advantage, especially braking and cornering. If I throw eight 70 lb sandbags in the rear of my FJ, I gain a lot of traction and braking, but make handling downright squirrelly on ice

I'm going to get factory studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 SUV for next winter.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 SUV

The factory square stud really caught my eye. A woman at the office has them on her 2008 Chrysler Town and Country minivan, and they have amazing ice and snow traction

 

That's why I said it wouldn't be advisable to drive in override for long distances. This issue has been discussed in many other posts. It won't hurt the car to put it in TC override to get up a slippery hill, provided you don't spin the wheels freely. I've done it several times and not had a problem. Toyota mechanics told me it would be OK, provided the wheels weren't spun freely for a long time.

I use the override to do a controlled, slow spin when necessary to maintain momentum and not get stuck on hills, the same as an experienced snow driver would do with a regular car.

Originally Posted by nyprius
This is not completely true. You can disable traction control by putting the car into a service mode. But it wouldn't be advisable to drive for long distances that way. I only disable TC if I have a tough hill to get up.

 

This post shows how to override TC:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-technical-discussion/21652-traction-control.html

It's easy to do. But you must be careful about not letting the wheels spin freely. Also, I wouldn't drive for a long time in TC override.

Toyota mechanics have told me it's OK to use the override for short periods, provided that you don't spin the wheels fast or excessively. I've used TC override many times and not had a problem.

Several times I tried to make it up icy, snowy or otherwise slippery hills, but got stuck when the TC caused the wheels to stop, which in turn caused the car to lose momentum and get stuck. I'd back down the hill, override TC, drive up with minimal slippage and controlled wheel spin when necessary, then turn off the override when I was at the top. Sometimes, if a hill looked tough, I'd turn on the override before going up the hill.

To turn override off, turn the car off, then restart. Everything is back to normal.

 

Ah, found the clip of how I would have handled your situation

Dozer parts raining down all over the place

 

Yeah, how odes that ATC/traction control work. There's no button or anything to turn it on/off with is there?

 

Are you talking about the traction control on the Prius? If you are, there is no disable button. The traction control is there to keep you from destroying the HSD. You can disable traction control by switching into diagnostic mode, but that was never meant for normal driving.

Tom

 

I wanted to bring this thread back to life since winter will be here before I can sing another carol.

I couldn't believe how well my 2009 Prius handled in ice and snow last winter. I'd like to think that it was the heavy battery in the back that allows you do typical speeds.

 

I had an experience last night driving in the snow. I was going uphill and the car kept getting slower and slower until it finally stopped. My foot was on the accelerator pedal--in fact had it to the floor. No wheels spinning...it just stopped.
I turned around and came home. Anyone else ever experienced this?

 

Welcome to the club. Prius plus snow plus hill - does not compute.

 

They do that. Snow tires are the only cure. Going up backwards also helps (more weight transfers to the back of the car, thus better traction).