Snow Crash driving in unexpected slushy ice

Many of us found our Prii delivered with the high factory inflation meant to prevent flat-spotting during their long Pacific ocean cruise. Dealers were supposed to lower it to match the door placard during PDI, but numerous of them did not.

Some of us even elected to not reduce it, for MPG reasons. But if you want it to ride the way Toyota intended it to, then it must be reduced.

 

i would leave them pumped up... what is tire assistant ?? how do you interface, via odb2 ? nice tool. i agree a full set of snows on steel rims is nice to have for the winters. i'm outside philly, not quite snowy enough here to justify, i almost wish i lived father north...almost

 

I drove past a couple feedlot operations in Eastern / Central Washington yesterday. The smaller one, with an older family style appearance, had a row of shelter sheds (roof and three walls) on the outside of a large barn, on the lee side from the normal winter wind. Though such shelters also tend to turn into mud wallows.

The other, vastly larger and clearly commercial, had a not-large-enough summer shade structure in just a single pen visible from the road. No wall for a wind break. The other visible pens had no weather protection whatsoever. A frontend loader was working out in the middle of one of them, but driving solo I couldn't look long enough to see what it was picking up. And wasn't so sure I wanted to know.

 

I like to imagine they have competitions at the factory to see how high they can inflate the tires before they explode. I think mine came at around 55 PSI, which is kind of scary. I suggest getting closer to the recommended pressure for better traction. At least stay below the maximum on the sidewall which is usually something like 40-45.

 

Not really. Normally they have plenty of burst margin.

Did you measure it in warm weather, after driving, at high elevation, or some combination thereof? Safety margins should cover those changes.

44 and 51 are the most common standard numbers. And remember that this is a cold morning pressure rating, before it gets warmed on the hot afternoon highway runs. Though the ride will be harsh at those pressures.

 

Ok, with a picture like that you're going to need to tell us more about that (tablet on a holder?) tire assistant setup.

 

When will what end...?

*...looks outside, oh I see, it's snowing, again...*

And yes, the 2014-2015 winter season was the turning point for me as well, after which I was decided that I would switch to winter tires for the winter. I have Nokian Hakka 9 studded (got mine from eBay). The studs major-big-time help. Plus, Nokian makes one of the much better brands of studded winter tire.