Serious concern haunts me

[rjmiz]

After becoming "immobile" recently in just two inches of mud, there's not a day goes by here in upstate NY I
don't keep in touch with the weather man. What's the weather man have to do with MUD you ask...
....the answer is nothing. I'm waiting for him to tell me that snow is coming. Cause when it does, it's gonna be a
a jail sentence for me. I wont be able to leave home.

You see, after my little adventure where my front wheels were in 2"'s of mud, and I had to be towed out 5 feet (on flat ground),
I realize I will be a prisoner in my own house once it starts to snow. There I will remain until such time as the road crews completely clear the roads.

It appears I am not the only one who has experienced the "Prius immobility" nightmare. I have found a few others in some other Prius posts elsewhere.

Seems there is NO SOLUTION
No one can offer any workarounds, or solutions the the "immobility" issue. A Prius tech tells me it's a feature,
not a bug, to save you from damaging your transmission. He goes on to say that rocking a car forward and
backward does damage, and that I should be content that Toyota has taken precautions against me killing my own car.
(shut up and stop complaining)

My drive way is on a hill (incline) there's always snow in it even days after I have plowed. I'm waiting.
Waiting for the weather man that is to tell me when my jail sentence begins.

[TonyPSchaefer]

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances watch the "icy street" video.

(sleep tight) :P

[Rangerdavid]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jan 18 2007, 09:36 PM) [snapback]377546[/snapback]</div>

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances watch the "icy street" video.

(sleep tight) :P
[/b]

Yeah, definitely skip that one!! its tough to watch from any perspective. Just try to keep a positive attitude dude, i read your post about the mud incident. Featue or failure, it is what it is. i usually have to drive our 4WD truck when it snows here anyway. good luck!

[R32]

You live in upstate New York. Buy snow tires! Problem solved.

[MegansPrius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Miz @ Jan 18 2007, 10:29 PM) [snapback]377543[/snapback]</div>

After becoming "immobile" recently in just two inches of mud, there's not a day goes by here in upstate NY I
don't keep in touch with the weather man. What's the weather man have to do with MUD you ask...
....the answer is nothing. I'm waiting for him to tell me that snow is coming. Cause when it does, it's gonna be a
a jail sentence for me. I wont be able to leave home.

You see, after my little adventure where my front wheels were in 2"'s of mud, and I had to be towed out 5 feet (on flat ground),
I realize I will be a prisoner in my own house once it starts to snow. There I will remain until such time as the road crews completely clear the roads.

It appears I am not the only one who has experienced the "Prius immobility" nightmare. I have found a few others in some other Prius posts elsewhere.

Seems there is NO SOLUTION
No one can offer any workarounds, or solutions the the "immobility" issue. A Prius tech tells me it's a feature,
not a bug, to save you from damaging your transmission. He goes on to say that rocking a car forward and
backward does damage, and that I should be content that Toyota has taken precautions against me killing my own car.
(shut up and stop complaining)

My drive way is on a hill (incline) there's always snow in it even days after I have plowed. I'm waiting.
Waiting for the weather man that is to tell me when my jail sentence begins.
[/b]

Miz, there's plenty of threads on here with people discussing driving the Prius in the snow. Some with steep driveways. One even from Norway: http://priuschat.com/index.php?s=&show...st&p=374300

Just do a search on the word "snow" and you'll find plenty of suggestions.

If snow is a huge issue for you, you can always consider upgrading your tires. I'm little surprised your "tech" didn't suggest this.

[john1701a]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(R32 @ Jan 18 2007, 09:38 PM) [snapback]377570[/snapback]</div>

You live in upstate New York. Buy snow tires! Problem solved.
[/b]

Other old-school advice applies to hybrids as well, like carrying some sand or salt. And years ago, I kept a gripper in my trunk. It was a plastic device you place under a tire to climb up onto to pull yourself out of a rutt.

[qbee42]

I live in Northern Michigan, and drive my Prius on snow covered hills all the time. It does just fine, and in fact is one of the better winter cars I have owned, which includes a Jeep CJ-5, a Subaru, and a 4wd Ford Aerostar. The 4wds have a little better traction, and the Jeep had a lot better ground clearance, but none of them were as well mannered on slippery roads. The Prius just tracks down the road with no fuss or bother.

The first thing I did with our new Prius was to go out and buy some real tires. The stock ones are useless in snow. Second thing is to play with your new car and get a feel for how it works. The traction control is different, but workable once you understand it. In a low traction situation such as a snowy hill, you mash the gas pedal all the way to the floor and just hold it there. It's counter-intuitive when you are used to normal cars without traction control, but the Prius won't let the wheels over-spin. By pressing the pedal all the way to the floor, you are telling the computer to give it a little harder try. The Prius will spin the tires, but in a controlled fashion, much like low-low in a Jeep.

Tom

[ewhanley]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Miz @ Jan 18 2007, 07:29 PM) [snapback]377543[/snapback]</div>

After becoming "immobile" recently in just two inches of mud, there's not a day goes by here in upstate NY I
don't keep in touch with the weather man. What's the weather man have to do with MUD you ask...
....the answer is nothing. I'm waiting for him to tell me that snow is coming. Cause when it does, it's gonna be a
a jail sentence for me. I wont be able to leave home.

You see, after my little adventure where my front wheels were in 2"'s of mud, and I had to be towed out 5 feet (on flat ground),
I realize I will be a prisoner in my own house once it starts to snow. There I will remain until such time as the road crews completely clear the roads.

It appears I am not the only one who has experienced the "Prius immobility" nightmare. I have found a few others in some other Prius posts elsewhere.

Seems there is NO SOLUTION
No one can offer any workarounds, or solutions the the "immobility" issue. A Prius tech tells me it's a feature,
not a bug, to save you from damaging your transmission. He goes on to say that rocking a car forward and
backward does damage, and that I should be content that Toyota has taken precautions against me killing my own car.
(shut up and stop complaining)

My drive way is on a hill (incline) there's always snow in it even days after I have plowed. I'm waiting.
Waiting for the weather man that is to tell me when my jail sentence begins.
[/b]

I realize that you had a terrible experience with the prius in the mud, but I think you are worrying a bit too much. I live in a city (hah!) in the mountains in Montana. We get a fair amount of snow, but mostly alternating mild and bitter cold, which results in glare ice streets. It just so happens, that Butte (said "city") also has some extremely steep streets, many of which I must traverse daily on my way to school. I have been nothing but impressed with the prius in the snow. I still have the original tires, and I am yet to have a problem. I drive it every day, even in as much as 6"-10" of snow on top of ice. In addition, I have on a couple of occasions driven the prius up to Discovery Ski Area, and had nary a problem (aside from my driving too fast and crashing into a snow bank, but no harm done). If you are really concerned, which you seem to be, I would suggest putting a set of snow, perhaps even studded, tires on your car. They make a tremendous difference. Good luck.

[SW03ES]

When it snows (IF it snows this year lol) I actually prefer to drive the Prius. I find it an excellent snow car. My Lexus is FWD with VSC too, but the Prius is better. I had an Explorer beforehand, of course the Explorer was the best but I would comfortably drive the Prius on all season tires up to 5-6 inches of snow.

The issue you're facing comes from the fact that the TRAC on the Prius is a little bit oversensitive because wheel spinning is very dangerous for the CVT and the hybrid system. Thats what keeps the wheels from spinning when you get stuck.

Now, it is entirely possible that any car would have gotten stuck in that mud. Mud is MUCH more slick than snow and only gets gooier with heat. So it gets up in the tread of your tires and fills them in real quick.

[chogan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Jan 18 2007, 11:14 PM) [snapback]377581[/snapback]</div>

...The traction control is different, but workable once you understand it. In a low traction situation such as a snowy hill, you mash the gas pedal all the way to the floor and just hold it there. ...
[/b]

Thanks for the tip -- I would never have thought to do that. Not in a million years. If it ever snows again in Virginia I'm definitely going to try that out.