Hello! and a few questions...

The ride is a little tighter, read harsher, on the Touring Model, but not markedly so. If you are not an aggressive driver, I would not see the point.

The Prius, esp. with Vehicle Stability Control handles very well in ice and snow, esp. if you have real snow tires.

There are two areas where you might have problems:
1) Very steep hills or driveways, where the traction control shuts the power down from the wheels to keep them from spinning. The car will simply not move if it cannot get decent traction. And 2) Very deep snow, because the Prius is low to the ground. 8-12" would not be recommended.

I think there are plenty of Prius owners around Portland who could tell you about driving locally.

 

What Doc Willie said, and ...

Welcome to PriusChat. If you hang around here for any time you'll see that what you are contemplating is not just a new vehicle, but quite possibly a change in lifestyle.

The two questions that you've asked, the difference between the Touring and non-touring models, and the Prius' capabilities in snow and ice have been the subject of many threads and many, many comments. And if I might presume, the answers can be highly subjective. Ultimately, you'll just have to weigh the comments and decide for yourself.

You would do well to spend some time, be prepared to spend a lot of time actually, using the Search and Google search functions in the blue bar at the top of every page to see what has already been said.

One note of caution. the Prius has been steadily and sometimes subtilely changed and upgraded over time. In considering what posters have to say on these topics it would do well to try to figure out what year car they have --- check in the "My Car" line to the left. Comments relating to the 2006, 2007, and 2008 will be most relevant.

 

I've only had the Prius a week, but MN has had a bunch o'snowstorms since then.

I went from an AWD SUV to FWD. I've had no trouble (and I was worried once the snow hit - the day after I got the Prius). And I've got a 90' driveway that has an upward slope, so it's also not user-friendly (and my very old car had trouble with it when I first moved here). I realize that's not as valuable as a season's worth of experience, but hopefully you find the information helpful.

Mary

 

Tires are the key, in my opinion.
On the standard model, the OEM tires are not winter-worthy. Put decent tires on it, and it handles fine.

 

Ummmm...I went from the Lexus RX300 (AWD) to the Prius. Does that count??? Mary

 

No, you'll be totally hooked. Seriously. Trying to beat your old mileage becomes an addiction.

I haven't had a problem with snow and ice, and I've deliberately tested in on hilly roads in snowy conditions. The wheels slip and grip, slip and grip, never come to a complete standstill like some people say they do. I'm not sure what the difference is, I run the original tires and never have a problem. Other people have had to go to snow tires and then it worked much better, so I doubt you'd ever be stranded if you did that. (But snow tires reduce your mpg slightly).

 

Hi canesfan, welcome to PriusChat! Come by the Better Living Show at the Portland Expo Center on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and visit Toyota's Highway to the Future exhibit. You can test-drive a Prius, HSD Camry, and HSD Highlander. When you're done there, walk over to the booth next to it, The Portland Area HSD Meetup Group, and say hi. I'll be there and will try to answer any questions.

Lots of great things going on at the show of an earth-friendly, sustainable nature, including some great local food.