First time out in the snow

I live in Wisconsin where we get a lot of snow. This is my second winter with the 2010 Prius, and I can say it works great in the snow! Of course, I haven't tried it when the snow is deeper than 4-5 inches, due to the low clearance of the car.
I have the original tires, Yokohama.
The yellow slippage indicator will come on if I try to pull too hard in ice or snow, but I just back off the gas a little. I can beat most other cars starting off at a green light (not a 4wd). So far I've not gotten stuck at all. I've been very happy with the car.

 

I never even bothered with the OE tires, only good for summer imo. Bought my new Prius about a month ago and had it delivered with snow tires already on it.

It's as good, or better, then any of my previous front wheel drive cars with snow tires. Only time I get the TC light is if I'm driving way too hard for conditions.

I've said in other threads that I think the Prius' bad rep in the snow is 99% related to the tires, which are most definitely not snow-ready imo.

 

Has anyone tried Nokia WRS2 's in the snow. I had them on my 06 Prius and it was a great tire. FishHawk

 

Blizzaks is the way to go. I made the mistake of buying the Hankook I-pikes, they are good, but not great

 

I have the Hankook iPikes and am very happy with them.

fwiw, I've run Michelin Arctic Alpins, Cooper Weathermasters (twice), Firestone Winterforce, Gislaved, and Nokian Haka2's. Each had very minor pros and cons but honestly I didn't find much of a real difference between any of them including the Hakka's which cost twice what the others costs. The more aggressive treaded ones (winterforce and weathermaster) were louder on dry roads but better in deep snow. The smoother treaded ones (Alpins and Hakka's) were quieter on dry roads but spun more in deep snow.

These were on a variety of front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars.

I had my dealer put snow tires on my new Prius before I took delivery. I chose Hankook iPikes this time. Nice deep tread, lots of siping.

We've had a ton of snow since I got my car, and in almost 2000 miles on them I've been very pleased.

 

20 feet is a lot for us.

Tom

 

All these positive comments from people living and driving their cars in the snowbelt areas do a lot to ease my mind regarding the Prius and winter driving.

We run General Altimax Artics on our Honda Odyssey and that thing is great in the snow! I would probably get them for the Prius too. I also know that I'll take a hit in the MPG department running them but it's worth the peace of mind. If we get a good snow I can always take my truck.

I'm glad I can still be excited about getting my Prius. I was hoping to not drive around all winter with the eyebolt installed in the front and a tow strap on the back floor!

 

I just drove my prius in snow for 30 miles on a highway, a freeway and on a local road for about an hour and I feel like it did better than my 4x4 Suzuki did when it snowed last time. And of course the prius is much better and safer on snowy roads than my previous car which was Mazda 3 that couldn't make more than 5mph on an inch snow and scared the heck out of me twice on a snowy freeway! So I would definitely recommend Prius for snow! Oh, my prius still has its 2 year/ 25000 mile factory bridgestone turanza tires, not special snow or ice tires!

iPhone ?

 

Anyone with any reviews on the OEM Bridgestone tires in the snow? I took it out for the first time today and wasn't that impressed. Will probably go pick up a set of winter tires this week.

 

My prius got stuck in the snow today There was less than 3" on the ground. I started to go into work but turned around because all the roads were bad. When I came back up the steep hill (first time driving any car on this hill in the snow), I got stuck! Called for a tow but managed to free the car with some shoveling and help from a snow plow. The car was struggling to get up with the traction. I will take the advice of trying ECO mode next time. Not crazy about purchasing snow tires -- grew up in MA and never had to put them on any of my cars. I also never got stuck in the snow before.

 

I think that helps. I suggested to my PWR-driving wife to try ECO in difficult conditions.

 

We've had 3 major snowstorms here in VT since we got our Prius in December and the car, with 4 snow tires, ahs gone extremely well no matter how bad it is out there.

The current stormed dumped 8" of snow and covered it with an inche of freezing rain. I've seen teh TC light a lot more the last few days then past storms, but I've gone everywhere I need to go, uphill, downhill, long and short distances on plowed and unplowed roads... it's been very good.

 

I just had a set of snow tires delivered yesterday. I'm not messing around.

 

Assuming you mean Bridgestone Ecopia EP20:

Our 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid came with Bridgestone Insignia SE200_02. If you look at these two tires on the tirerack the tread appears to be identical. Our experience with Insignias:

We got the car in December, and got some snow soon thereafter. They were "ok" then, bringing you to a controlled and uneventful stop. I'd say middling.

But a couple of years later, with the tread down to maybe 6/32" remaining, all the lateral tread notches and siping was more-or-less gone. The only tread remaining was longitudinal grooves. In that state they were terrible, could barely get out of our driveway and up to a plowed road, on my way to a tire store to get some snows.