Snow tips please...

WOW, If this is true, and I do not doubt your word, it sounds like your VSC and possibly your ABS are NOT working. I have deliberately tried to slip and slide with my 05 many times, and could not. Go see the dealer first. "Immediately"

 

I agree with your first inclination.

Check the tread depth on your currently installed tires. 6/32" is minimum safe depth in snow, if you have snow tires. If you have Goodyear Integrity tires, they are not safe in the snow even when new.

 

They're not safe on dry pavement. :nono:

Absolutely, get good snow tires as soon as possible. Then start researching summer tires as well, because you'll need some come spring. There are a zillion tread threads here, and both Consumer Reports and Tire Rack are good sources for ratings.

 

Chicago? I know some are going to disagree, but
YES, BUY SNOW TIRES !!
I live in Detroit, and our weather is similar (tho not identical).

I have a 2009, going into its first winter. One morning, I went to the back of our church parking lot with ~ 1 inch of snow, and tested the oem tires, which have just over 5,000 miles on them -- almost new. Fast starts. Panic Stops. Regular stops. Turning at somewhat high speeds. etc. ABS, Traction Control & who knows what else constantly coming on without helping noticeably ... making the car feel like it was lurching at times, not stopping well, not holding its line in turns, etc. Very uncomfortable feeling.

Then I had my snows mounted and went back to the same parking lot and did the same things. Absolutely a night and day difference.

It went, it stopped, it turned -- most any way I wanted ... and without (far as I could tell) ABS or Traction Control ever coming on.

I also think the purchase of snow tires can be justified in terms of $. The OEM tires will last X number of miles. If they are all you drive on, they will be gone when your odometer shows X number of miles.

Now, put snows into the equation ... and now, some of your tire wear is on the snow tires, meaning the oem tires lifetime is stretched out [yes, I know some members won't view longer use of the OEM's even in summer as a blessing). This is simplistic as an example, but if you OEM tires would have worn out at 40,000 and so would snows, you'll have tires for 80,000 miles if you run both.

There is the initial cost ... you'll likely want to get dedicated wheels for the snows, and prices are all over the map for them. I'd watch eBay and eBay stores daily. Private sales on this board. Any local stores who do big business in replacing wheels -- many who get new cars (tho I can't say for the Prius) buy new, flashier wheels, and the shop may take the old ones in trade. I paid $275 for a set of 4 15" oem wheels on eBay, plus $89 shipping.

There are a lot of threads as to what tire to use -- you can browse or do a search to find them. Whatever I chose, it'd be a dedicated snow tire, not an all season. I chose Michelin X-Ice and love 'em. But others love other brands' tires too. You can't go too far wrong if you look through this board and buy a set of one which is well supported by the Board's members. I also used Tire Rack reviews & data, and Consumer Reports, to narrow down my choices. With Tire Rack prices in hand, I went to my local Discount Tire store and negotiated a price for the tires.

Good luck, and let us know what you do.

 

HIGH-TRACTION all-season tires are what I recommended for the 5 winters I drove my Iconic model (2004) in Minnesota. SNOW-TIRES would have been overkill for my driving.

As for our new owner here (welcome), I'd bet good money that those tires are worn too low already for decent traction. The original factory set are nothing to write home about even when new.
.

 

I had a 2001 Toyota Highlander that had the same problem. The ABS was always on, I could feel the brakes pulsating while coming to a stop sign. It was absolutely scary to drive, the worst was in 2-3 inches of wet snow. The dealer said everything was fine. I finally sold the car because of this problem. I haven't driven my Prius in snow yet but I was expecting Toyota to have solved this by now.

 

While I will confirm that carefully-selected all-season tires will get you by, a good set of snow tires will completely transform the vehicle. There's no substitute for cold-weather tread compound to help the tire generate grip in snowy and icy conditions. (I speak from experience...SC is not my native land.)

 

Did you have snow tires on? If you drive like normal during inclement weather, your going to have problems.

I might add that even snow tires will have a tough time on certain conditions. Three tons of metal are gliding on the surface area of basically two 8.5x11 sheets of paper.

 

I agree with John's statements. As a fellow Chicagoan (to the OP), I don't know why your Prius would feel dangerous. I drove two winters on the OEM Goodyear Integrity tires. The first winter (about 7 months into ownership) was pretty good on those tires. I was amazed by how steady the Prius was in the snow and I loved having traction control for acceleration on ice/snow. The Prius was the best car I had ever driven in the snow thanks to the traction control and ABS.

The second season was not so great on the Integrities. I had problems accelerating up inclines from a stop, making the traction control work real hard. For my third winter (this winter) with the Prius, I decided to dump the Integrities after about 33k miles and went with the Michelin Primacy MXV4. Once again, my Prius is giving me excellent performance in the snow. I actually have to try or do something stupid to get my car to slide.

 

Pat, I aways respect your opinion, but this time, on a new Prius, still under warranty shouldn't the dealer be allowed to make the determination if these traction systems are working and the tire tread is sufficient. Everytime I go to the Sierra Nevada I try to get the Prius to spin. No posible! It is not possible to get the Prius to slip,, skid or spin out. I think the poster has a serious problem. Now snow in Chi town is more humid.............

 

There could be one other factor which makes a big difference, and that's the driver's inborn & acquired skill in driving in general and on snow in particular. While I've always lived in a snowy climate, I sometimes ran all-season tires year 'round. In fact, after careful testing, I did so with the 2000 Taurus I traded in on the Prius. The Taurus had an extremely effective traction control + ABS + some other advantages they advertised as having been built in. But after testing the Prius, I want dedicated snows, even though some may not need them.

The differences among drivers was driven [no pun intended] home to me when I was at Ford's Dearborn MI test track for a day. One exercise was for us to take a vehicle with ABS and Traction Control disabled through a dry path marked by cones ... some straight, some curves, some switchbaks, etc. Then, we drive a similar path which was wet --- this time with ABS and Traction Control on. All runs were clocked, and cones hit counted. It was to show us the virtues of those options.

And, some of us were lucky enough to ride shotgun (wearing a true NASCAR qualified crash helmet) with professional race drivers who did those two runs under the same conditions. Their results vs all of our layperson's results was stunning. They even took the wet course with Traction Control & ABS disabled, and still came out outstanding.

The results showed a vast range of ability among the laypersons. The professionals' results were very closely grouped, and were far better than even the highest layperson's results.

I guess that's an extreme, but it shows that any of us may be in a different place on the ability scale than are others. I'm not too proud to get dedicated snows for my Prius. Given its starting point on ice and snow, I want as much more help as I can get.

And, I'll feel a lot safer about it if someone needed to borrow the Prius, which has already happened a twice. They'll be completely unschooled about how to get and keep a Prius going on ice and snow ... the snow tires will lessen the difficulty.

But, as always, YMMV.

 

ICE is treacherous. Nice Video.

 

Foodmongrel, This is my first winter with my Prius and my first winter in about 20 years without a 4X4 SUV. I bought steel wheels with Hankook i-Pike (407's I think), including studs. If I drive a bunch of short trips in town with the winter tires my mileage drops to between 45 to 47 MPG. If I have a lot of freeway time, my mileage is 50.X. We have had four or five snowfalls this season, including snow on the ground since before Christmas with some long stretches when temperatures haven't risen above freezing.

Overall, I am very happy with this configuration. On the few times I the tires loose their grip and the trac indicator lights, the time without traction is short and the skids are easy to control. Good luck --TK

 

Two words,,, again,, Nokian WRg2s!

'Nuff said, makes any car a tank.