First time in the snow....Prius found lacking. :(

I have had no problems this "winter" at all with my persona with stock tires.

Further.

I used to own a 2013 prius liftback 3 and it had no issues with the stock tires during that winter. Even my wife thought that car was good in the snow..

Mind you I also made it through last winter (a couple bigger storms) driving my Dodge Charger RT (rwd), with the 20" rims and stock tires. Never got stuck... I don't recommend this though. Lol.


I can't speak for other parts of the country but around here roads are plowed as the snow falls and continuously plowed and salted, almost to the point of obsessive compulsive. We are never really stuck at the house unable to leave due to the roads not getting plowed. Worst case wait an hr and roads will probably be fine.

I'm not saying don't get snow tires , far from it, but for the few hyped up "snow storms" around here I don't see the need taking above into account.

Now if you live where there is perma snow on the roadways for months on end or like forestbeekeeper miles and miles from civilization then that's a different story and a prius will work if set up appropriately but is probably not the best pick for the job.... Subaru's, 4x4 truck with snow tires, studs....


Oh and learning and knowing you cars handling abilities and limits as well as you learning how to drive in the snow with proper techniques is pretty important too.


Some of my fondest memories are "rallying" my cars in the winter way out in the country up in Quebec.... Yeah we used to put the snow tires on every season....

If you get freaked out by your car getting a little sideways then you prob should hit up an abandoned parking lot after a snow covering and see what your car can and can't do when braking, turning, etc. Granted our prius's have pretty intrusive stability control so getting sideways is not easy, which is good.

 

That is always good advice, but driving after fresh snow is easy; slick ice can be a problem.

Along with appropriate tyres, the best advice I rarely see given is to SLOW DOWN, ANTICIPATE, and GIVE YOURSELF A LOT OF LEEWAY. Do not drive in inclement weather the way you drive on a nice day.

People who come here whining that the car did not get out of the way in time to avoid oncoming traffic during a left hand turn do not have my sympathy.

 

Got four winters out of the Michelin xice tires, they were ok, put on some studded nokians and winters were a pleasure, excellent grip anywhere, stopping especially.

 

You hit the nail on the head!

Although the "driving in fresh snow being easy" part seems to be a major issue with some on this fourm as we are seeing some folks that for unknown reasons are getting stuck in 1" of snow on flat surfaces. I don't get it.

If people just used common sense in bad weather which any sane person would realize is to drive for the current conditions then the world would be a safer place.

Yes sheer black ice is extremely dangerous and often hard to see, but there again if you put two and two together and realize that it's at or near freezing, it's humid out or there was water on the roadway earlier and there could be ice present, common sense would mean drive for the conditions. But of course we all know that's not how it is, as we all see the loony toons blowing our doors off even when conditions say SLOW DOWN!

 

While I am on a roll, one more piece of advice for all the city slickers:

DO NOT spin your tyres around corners and at intersections. They are dangerous enough without being turned in skating rinks.

 

We have had a Prius for 6 Winters here in "snowy" Minnesota. We have had no issues with the windshield as you have had. I would suggest changing your wiper blades to good ones and either using the "front defrost" mode or the "floor/defrost" mode to get rid of any fogging. I would turn the fan speed on a low setting immediately upon starting the car and increasing it as the ICE warms up.

 

just put rain-X windshield fluid in sprayer and direct all heat on windshield.

Gen3 long shallow angle windshield isn't ideal, but when we had problem with windshield we saw many other cars stop to shake ice off wipers and pour warm water to defreeze it. Now the headlights all froze up, there weren't much light to see things

 

I drove a Chevy S-10 pickup for 10 years. While stationed at Ft Campbell I woujd put huge logs in the back for weight.

I'm wondering if something similar should be done for the Prius. Maybe load down the front of the vehicle to add traction to the front tires ?

 

In a rear wheel drive pick-up most of the weight is on the front axle but power goes to rear axle. So adding weight on to back axle makes a big difference.

In a front wheel drive vehicle most of the weight is already on the front axle so adding weight doesn’t make that big of the difference.

 

So would weight in the back help? Esp. Since the Prius is so light weight?

 

Better tires. If can't justify winter tires get something like nokian WGR3

 

Prius is a front wheel drive vehicle so adding weight to front will help but not a lot since most of the cars weight is in the front to begin with. It helps so little that there’s no point doing it. And where would you put the weight anyway. Winter tires are way better option. They are mandatory here.

 

I'm curious as to where you live. I'm In Pennsylvania and although this winter is extremely cold, most years the temperature hovers around 32 degrees F and have never had winter tires.

 

You describe the road conditions in Massachusetts perfectly. The only "bad roads" I have to contend with are the private road I live on and our long uphill driveway. I only have the factory original all season tires, but am very impressed with the traction. It's much better than the Mazda3 it replaced, and on par with our front wheel drive Escape (though not as much ground clearance).

If the snow is so bad that the main roads are covered, I send an e-mail to the office telling them I'm not coming in. My experience with 4x4 trucks is that if a typical front drive sedan can't handle the conditions, some idiot is going to crash into a pole and bring down the power lines and now the road is closed for everybody and having great winter tires and 4wd doesn't matter.

 

I had the PIP through two NY winters- I also found the front defroster to be lacking.
The only way to combat it was to really clean it off well from the outside before driving and keep the heat on full defrost at 80f.
As soon as you turn that heat down a few deg... the ice/snow starts accumulating again.
The Prius has a huge sloping windshield with only a small vent area to try to cover the whole glass area- sometimes it just can't keep up.

 

Mid-Vermont, very different climate than Pennsylvania. Average Snowfall by USA State - Current Results

4 months of real winter, snow and ice on the ground that whole time. This winter, has been particularly bad, we've had a solid month of below freezing temps. It feels downright balmy when we break above 20 degrees. It's currently 15 degrees but at least the sun is out, I'm actually going to wash the car today and I bet there's a huge like at the car wash because today, in context, is "warm."

If you don't get a lot of snow or long stretches of deep cold, and you are comfortable on all-season, that's excellent. Up here in New England? In my opinion, you are seriously compromising your own safety, and the safety of others, by not running dedicated winter tires.

 

Snow tires are not a big extra expense, at least not in the long run. There is the expense of extra rims (assuming you go the smart route, not endlessly remounting tires), and more'n'likely extra lug nuts. But that's it. The snow tires cost, but on the flip side they extend the life of your all seasons. They also protect your nice OEM rims from salt and sand, and give you an opportunity to detail and/or repair your tires, off the car.

The main downside is storage and hassle of swapping, but the latter at least is no more onerous than doing tire rotations.