bad weather handling

Being one of those folks in a warmer state, I don't have too much experience with driving the Prius in the snow. But I did drive it in the snow for a full week when on a snowboarding trip to Mammoth Mountain, CA in early April of this year when they got about 7 feet of snow in a 3-day period. And I must say that the Prius handled like a pro on the snow and ice covered roads up there~not a single complaint and it only slipped briefly, on a very steep, shady and icy driveway when I was going ~3mph creeping down it. The traction control kicked in and the vehicle righted itself within a split second of the slippage. In CA you're required to carry tire chains in the vehicle when travelling in the mountains in winter, but I never had to put mine on.

Perhaps you'll get some more informative answers from other snowy-climate dwellers.

Oh, and congratulations on your new purchase!!

In the meantime, here are are a few other Prius + snow-related threads for you to check out (some positive, some negative to give you a good idea of others' experiences):

Go in snow?

Does your Prius get stupid on wet snow and ice?

Prius in snow?

Winter handling?

Driving in snow?

 

I lucked out last winter and really didn't have to drive in the really bad snow.

HOWEVER- I think you really have to look for better tires~

Welcome to the clan & enjoy!

 

Many people have posted complaints about the tires in adverse weather conditions... It may be worthwhile to get some better tires or even snow tires (depending on how much snow you really get and such up there)

 

I use Michelin Xice tires for winter. If I lived in VT I'd probably go with Nokian studded tires for sure.
Then your only problem should be the ground clearance that can be a problem if you have to drive through more than 3 or 4 inches of snow on the road, so you might have to wait for the plows.

 

Unfortunatly the Prius doesn't like cold bad weather for alot of reason's, lower mpg.s, OEM tires aren't the best for the snow, low ground clearance ect. From the weather we have here in the Pocono's my Prius does ok in the snow as long as you keep new tires or change to snow tires up front. We use my wife's Chevy Venture when it snows alot so i get by with keep the OEM's on our Prius(they seem ok in a little snow as long as the tread is almost new). If you have to go out in the snow alot I'd think about maybe some kind of beater vehicles for just those occasions. Like I said we use our Chevy Venture when the weather is really bad, I hate getting salt and mud on my Prius LOL)