Any quick tips on driving on ice?

Ice is bad in any car, so stay off the roads if you can. Other than that, the Prius does well. Good tires help a lot. Do you have VSC on your Prius; that makes a big difference on ice and snow.

Tom

 

Avoid it if you can.

Get good snow tires.

Don't use cruise control.

 

VSC is Vehicle Stability Control, and it apparently makes a big difference in slippery conditions. What kind of tires do you have?

 

Drive Slow, brake early, and always take every turn with extreme caution. I like switching to B mode if the roads are in extremely poor conditions.

Dont over worry about the weather, this morning I drove to work with 6 to 8 inches of snow still on the road for about 10 of my 20 miles to work with the other half being cleared of snow but slippery with no problems whatsoever.

 

These are two of my favorites. Snow is one thing, but ice can make it impossible...literally.

 

Thanks for sharing the Cars on Ice videos. I live near Portland Oregon, and I remeber seeing the first on one the local news the day it happened, but it was a much shorter edited version. It was great seeing the whole thing.

I think if you have some good snow tires like Nokian WR or studded, the VSC, and if the road is flat, you go slow and there aren't any other drivers out and about, you might be OK.

 

be very careful when going downhill on ice:

 

Oh Man!!! I drove home yesterday in a combination of ice-snow-slush-and-rain. These videos make me feel glad to be alive with car in one uncrumpled piece! Sorry, but the laughter helps, too.

 

Holy s***, where some of those vehicles on bald summer tires? With my studded Goodyear Nordic winter tires, my Prius has no trouble even if the surface is quite literally too icy to walk on

 

The top video, at least, was from this big snow/ice storm that hit the Pacific Northwest. Combine a municipality that is unprepared to remove with snow and ice with a populace that is unprepared to drive on snow and ice with cars that almost never have winter tires and that's what you get. I was actually in Seattle for that storm (at a conference), and I couldn't believe how much a little snow paralyzed the city.

 

Try to brake only when going straight, avoid turning and braking at the same time. Don't come to a dead stop in a position that will be hard to get out of, like facing uphill. Take the time to clear your windows well.

 

The biggest thing those who don't drive often on ice forget is if you start to slip DO NOT apply the brakes. That just makes it worse. I've noticed with Pearl the anti-lock brakes don't work very much at low speeds, so that makes it even more imperative - you can't steer then.

Tucson Arizona, ice on interstate overpasses (east-west interstate - I8?). Those who had no experience applied brakes as soon as they got on the overpasses! Bumper car heaven!

 

I'm so thankful Kansas is flat!

We get ice, but once you stop there is no further gravitational propulsion.

 

Gotcha. Here, when temps can range -30 to -40 C for weeks, with strong winds causing drifting, icy spots tend to stay icy for a long time. Road salt isn't very effective much below -30 C

Now that it's warmed up, the studded Goodyear Nordic's are driving me bonkers. But on snow and especially ice, you'd have to pry them from my cold, dead fingers

 

I'm curious as to the benefit provided by driving in the "B" mode. I recongnize that the ICE will remain on, and it will provide some braking assistance, but will it also keep the wheels rotating, even if they are slipping?
I ask, because earlier this week, I was driving up a steep, icy hill. I got about half way up, then lost traction. I needed to climb a bit further in order to turn around, but the power repeatedly disengaged when the wheels would start to slip. Very, very aggrevating, but I eventually inched my way up, turned around, and went back downhill (no problem there!), and found another way to the top of the hill.
After I got home, I started to wonder whether using 'B' might have kept the wheels engaged. Will it?

 

1. If you have the stock Integrity tires, forget driving on ice or snow. Make sure you have matching snow tires on ALL FOUR WHEELS.
2. Ice is just plain bad so leave PLENTY of space between you and the vehicle in front, drive defensively, meaning have an exit plan if people in front of you start to lose it.
3. If you are having trouble getting started after a stop, do NOT push harder on the accelerator. Just take your foot off the brake and let the tires start rolling at 'idle' then GRADUALLY add power. Otherwise, you'll go nowhere.
4. Don't make any sudden moves on the accelerator, brake pedal or steering wheel. Any can throw the car off the current track.
5. ABS doesn't work at slow speeds. Good thing too or you wouldn't be able to stop in dry conditions either. "Well, you see officer, I ran the stop sign because the ABS wouldn't let the wheels stop turning."
6. VSC, if you have it, applies the brakes independently such that the rear of the car should not try to pass the front. If you watched the video, it is clear the pick-up truck didn't have it. You might also have noticed an idiot driving WAY too fast into an obvious accident and only added his/her vehicle to the pile up by not trying to stop earlier. Wanna bet there was a cell phone in the ear?
7. If you have VSC, you can test is in an empty snowy/icy parking lot. Try to get into a skid by quickly turning the wheel one way while accelerating, then quickly hit the brakes to throw the tail around. If (when?) the VSC engages, you will hear a repeated chime in addition to the seeing the traction control icon (car on wiggly lines) on the dash. The car should curve the direction you are steering and slow down. To someone outside watching, it will look like you are totally in control. It is pretty cool, I've not tried it in traffic and I don't plan to! Of course if it is glare ice and/or your tires are poor, you can only do so much with no traction.
8. When turning, take it slow and easy. Brake to a safe turning speed BEFORE the turn, then foot OFF the brake. It can help to start straightening the wheel a little early after you are part way around the turn, basically an early correction for a skid since the rear wheels don't follow the front wheels. If they start to lose traction during the turn, the tail can start coming around faster. It can also help to give it a LITTLE 'fuel', probably electric at these speeds, to pull the front end forward a bit. If the tail isn't losing traction, this early straightening won't be a problem, you just turn the wheel back into the turn a little more.
9. And stay home if you know it is going to be bad. Whatever you 'need' to do probably isn't THAT important.

 

No. You can not defeat the traction control. 'B' mode is used when going down hill to slow the car with engine compression when you have to ride the brake pedal too much to maintain speed. You might use it in addition to the standard "electric generator" braking with the brake pedal if the hill is steep. If you need to touch the accelerator to maintain speed, you don't need to be in 'B' mode.

As far as it helping on ice, I don't know why it would. Maybe additional braking power through 'foot off the accelerator engine compression braking' but it won't do what ABS/VSC do - apply braking only to the wheels that need it. It will be front wheel slowing only, if the back end starts to slide out, I don't think 'B' will do anything positive.

 

Last year was sitting on ice on the flat and the wind blew so hard it moved me and Prius across the road. Be careful as the car is so light wind will make a differance.

Haven't used studded since 74. Found out then great to get going not always the best for stopping.