vehicle traction control danger on prius?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sea-horsea @ Aug 15 2007, 01:05 AM) [snapback]495975[/snapback]</div>

The stock tires from Toyota on Prius are simply bad in term of traction.
However, living in northern CA, I have had no problem driving my Prius in heavy rain.
No sure about snow 'cause I have never brought my Prius up to Lake Tahoe in winter yet.
With proper new tires, the traction will be as good as any FWD sedans.

 

Asked and answered many times here on PriusChat . . .
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=snow+tra...amp;safe=images

To do a search of PriusChat, go to Google, type in your search parameters, then siteriuschat.com
There is a wealth of information here on PriusChat, and a Google search can help you find it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sea-horsea @ Aug 14 2007, 11:05 PM) [snapback]495975[/snapback]</div>

3 1/2 years and 55,000 miles on stock tires through ice, snow and rain and have not experienced the problem.

 

I will second the comment about the OEM tires. We use good LRR all season tires and have had no trouble in the winter. The Prius is a car, not a truck. It does as well or better than any front-wheel-drive car that I have driven, but not as well as our Jeep C-J5 or our Subaru.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sea-horsea @ Aug 15 2007, 02:05 AM) [snapback]495975[/snapback]</div>

No snow or rain problems here, but others may say differently. I'd say it handles like any other small car in the snow. Be aware that pre-mid-1995 models appear to have had an actual correctable problem with traction control that was fixed (in at least one reported instance here) by a software change.

You must be careful if you are trying to dart into oncoming traffic from a surface with loose gravel or sand. If the wheels spin, you can lose power momentarily, and that can be scary with traffic bearing down on you. "Don't do that" is the fix -- just realize that's how the car handles, and drive accordingly. Bothered me when I first got the car, but I learned, and now it's not an issue for me.

 

No problem in rain, have not driven in snow yet, may be dissappointed since we had a jeep.

Now gravel roads going uphill sucks. big time

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sea-horsea @ Aug 15 2007, 01:05 AM) [snapback]495975[/snapback]</div>

24,000 miles and 1 winter season in Nebraska with no problems my Prius. More ice here than snow.

I normally am an agressive driver pushing my limits. In the past 2 winters, I had a Kia Optima without Traction control or Vehicle stability (or ABS). Needless to say my previous record on ICE was not good, I gently hit the median from my sliding through a T intersection (TWICE, but not in the same day), almost rear ended a mini van (that is when I decided to buy a new car), went sideways multiple times (sometimes on purpose).

With my PRIUS, I would have been had similar experiences, but the VSC will kick in and save me. Yes, there will be a slight loss of control but that is not because of the VSC or traction control, that is you (or I) who went too fast on snow and lost control. When VSC regains you the control, it might seem that VSC caused the slip.

VSC and traction control were one of the main reasons I got my PRIUS. Never will buy a car without it.

 

Still summer here (for about another month) so can't comment on snow or ice. However, I've been getting momentary "shutdowns", both accel and decel from bumps on the road around intersections. Didn't happen when the car was new to me, but lately I must be driving a little more aggressively and I'm triggering the traction control and anti-lock. Not a problem, but noticeable.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sea-horsea @ Aug 15 2007, 02:05 AM) [snapback]495975[/snapback]</div>

I can't help but wonder why it might be assumed that Toyota would design and sell a car with inherently dangerous characteristics that were so widely known that they would inevitably be hit by multitudinous law suits from those suffering damage or injury as a result.

The answer is that it doesn't. There have been problems, which were corrected, and there are drivers who simply have no clue about driving in difficult conditions, and who might happily post their experiences of lost control while strangely omitting some facts, such as that they were speeding, braking heavily, pulling out in front of traffic, not paying attention to the road or traffic conditions.... all those 'don't do this in snow or ice' type things. But all in all, there is no reason to believe the Prius is any less drivable in snow or the average winter weather. Given the nature of Toyota's lawyers and the extremes they go to to protect the corporate backside in every other issue, there would be warnings, disclaimers and notices galore if winter conditions were, of themselves, unsafe.

As to the stock tires - they are certainly far from the best on the market, but they are adequate for the majority of conditions and the majority of driving techniques. Better tires would certainly improve grip, but more importantly, confidence. However, if you have sufficient and realistic confidence in your driving skills, and thus drive mindfully, the Prius with stock tires will do just fine.

 

The first time the traction control kicked in and left me with basically no power in the face of oncoming traffic, it scared the heck out of me (and I'm usually pretty game for most things that cars throw at us)

How someone using the car for family transpo would react to such...well, I still honestly can't believe that the Toyota engineers felt the traction control operate as it does and said to themselves, "well, yeah, that's fine, let's leave it like that." But I guess that's indeed what they did.

On good days, it's a fun challenge to have to feather the throttle when you'd think it'd be best to press harder...on bad days, it's still kind of a pain.

The worst is when the car is thrown into a corner and it's asking for power to balance the understeer...and the throttle is pressed...and it sets up nicely...and then the inside front tire loses a bit of traction and the traction control kicks in...and suddenly the car is unbalanced again...but, wait, the power's back and we're setting up again...oooops, there it goes...

And so forth, a few times per second.

The little skidding car icon flashing rhythmically as the car scrabbles her way around the curve, the VSC chime dinging sometimes if I'm really right on the edge, and the smell of melting rubber afterwards...don't try this on public roads!!


I've kept the stock tires on her...they roll just fine, and it doesn't make me feel as bad to shred them occasionally.

I do think the traction control in my '06 will allow a bit of wheel slip, but it's so hard to figure out where "how much" is and not exceed it, that attempting to balance *this* just isn't possible, at least for me.

I actually think it's allowing *more* slip than when I first got the car, but I'm probably just being hopeful.

But, like the throttle lag, it's usually a good day...so it's usually a challenge.

 

I absolutely HATE my traction control.
I had it on the beach this weekend and it would not go in the semi-loose sand. the problem was NOT the sand it was the brakes coming on the moment it felt slip and slowing the car down.
In winter driving I could not climb a slight incline on snow as the car would brake when it spun and keep braking until it came to a complete stop. I finally had to back up the hill.
I wish they would put a momentary switch that one could activate to disengage the traction control.
The car overall brakes too much for my taste.
Otherwise love the car.
Yakiprius

 

No problems last winter in ice/snow here in Wisconsin with my '07 Touring (which has different tires from the base model) - but I am not an aggressive driver and I was careful to not try to go up my snow-covered sloping driveway too slowly.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(yakiprius @ Nov 4 2007, 08:35 PM) [snapback]534762[/snapback]</div>

The Prius doesn't apply the brakes when the Traction Control kicks in, it just limits the power. With my 2004, that means it all but kills the power.

With the VSC, it will apply one of the front brakes if it senses the car veering, like in a slide

 

I've got a base model 2005 so don't have the traction control. But I did have it on my old 1996 Saturn SC2 coupe. Only that car had a manual override, which I was instructed to use if I was every driving in snow with chains. Which I did have to do once.

It's a shame the Prius doesn't also have a manual override button.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Nov 4 2007, 07:48 PM) [snapback]534802[/snapback]</div>

All current generation (04-08) Prius models have traction control. It is VSC, the electronic stability control, that your car lacks. Take a look at the Vehicle Stability Control thread.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZA_Andy @ Aug 15 2007, 12:09 PM) [snapback]496223[/snapback]</div>

I agree with the whole post, there are many things here that seem to be repeated many times without any real objective scrutiny. People seem to want to change their tires from OEM, or have a beef about the traction control, but I don't see any objective analysis of the issues. I think it's fine if people want to use other components, but saying that the Prius needs to have its OEM parts replaced because of safety issues is a big stretch.

 

I can squeal the tyres through a bend and most times the traction control doesn't engage. Sometimes if I accelerate hard over a round man hole cover the cover spins and the traction control kills power but it is very momentary and feels worse than it really is.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 5 2007, 06:06 AM) [snapback]534864[/snapback]</div>

Now imagine it's -25 C or colder, and you're at a red light. The intersection is glare ice after a blizzard and road salt stops working around -25 C. The light turns green, you press the accelerator pedal, and ... nothing.

You put the pedal right to the mat and ... the wheel barely turns. Cars behind you start honking their horns. The light turns yellow, then red, and you're barely halfway across the intersection, wheels barely turning. You wonder if oncoming traffic will be able to stop on the icy roads before they hit you.

The studded tires make a huge difference in icy traction. As a general rule, I only run dedicated winter tires - on separate steel wheels - in winter conditions. However, that first winter the tires were backordered until December, and we had early heavy snow. Or if there is an early snow and you get caught by surprise.

It seems there are some Prius cars out there that can easily charge through 3 feet of snow on bald summer tires. Mine sure isn't one of them