Looking to buy a Prius

Hi Shelley,

You're going to hear from a bunch of folks here that the Prius is great in the snow.

I'm a little disappointed myself. I think it all based on your frame of reference: I had a Toyota pickup (four wheel drive) then a Subaru with All Wheel Drive) and the Prius is my next car in this succession. So, I'm used to a lot more traction. I travelled with a lot of trepidation this past winter and did get stuck twice. Because the car has low ground clearance, I've found that it just doesn't go in deep snow... One time, the front wheels just rolled into a small dip in the road. I also feel quite uncomfortable with how long it takes the car to stop in the snow (No, I don't drive fast). I've felt pretty iffy. I have all season radials (Hydroedges, based on recommendations here)but next year, for piece of mind, it's gonna be aggressive snow tires with studs...

Others here tho, who I think are used to driving front wheel drive cars, state that the car is great in the snow and some have mentioned of driving in unbroken snow 8-10" deep, which is contrary to my experiences.

Since you've had a jeep, you may have the same frame of mind that I'm in...

Also, do a search 'traction control' and read what experiences people have had in winter with this feature.

Cheers,
-bob

 

Shelley,

I have to agree with Bob. I posted to that affect on this site too. I live in Boston and we've had alot of snow this season. This is my first winter with the Pruis and I was alittle disappointed with its performance in the snow. I am considering winter tires for next year, although I'm not looking forward to having to change my tires back and forth with the seasons. I've never had to do that with any other car.

I do _love_ my Prius though and I'm hoping that some clever person on this site is going to recommend a better solution for me ;-)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lcdJunky\";p=\"76397)</div>

Buy a set of flashy chrome rims off of eBay, mount the summer tires on them, keep the winter tires on the standard rims. Put them on and off yourself, do your own torque values checking on the lug nuts.

That is exactly what I would do if I lived in an area that had annual snow accumulation.

 

Hi Shelley,

I have had my prius only 3 weeks tomorrow. The night I picked it up we had sleet followed by snow. I had to work the next afternoon. Btw, I traded in a Subaru Forester and have driven only Subarus or a 4wd truck for many years. I too was concerned about the winter driving. The sleet put a layer of ice on the roads and the snow had been plowed. I have traction control and stability control on my Prius. Of course I wasn't even used to the car at all and driving on icy roads. I was surprised how well the car did. It is not 4 wheel or AWD by any means. I did bottom out in the parking lot where there was some unplowed spots. The rear end did get squirrely on the ice at anything above 40. I figure I will get studded snows next year and do the best I can. I have seen people from Canada on this site so hopefully they can give you more definitive info. Toyota will have the Highlander out later this year with 4wd available. Bigger bucks though.

Good Luck,

jh90206

 

One guy from Canada, on this site, did suggest a brand of winter tires to use, though I don't have his post handy. I have heard that snow tires and studded tires might be illegal. Has anyone else heard anything like that?

 

In Maine, studded tires are allowed during certain months. I like you feel much better with 4wd. I decided to take my chances because I only have one more winter I have to get to work. If I could afford it I would have a winter 4wd and the Prius. I just love the car for many reasons. I originally was going to wait for the Highlander for the 4wd benefit but have no patience for one. I am happy with the Prius because I don't really need the room of an SUV and the mileage isn't as good as the car, not to mention the initial higher cost. Hope this helps you decide.

jh90206

 

Hi Shelley:

Welcome!

I'm not sure where you live, but check if you live in an area that allows studded tires in winter.

From your post it sort of implies you work in Emergency services, as you have to be there no matter rain or shine.

Here in Winnipeg, we get "real" winter conditions. I have always used dedicated studded snow tires on their own steel rims, on every vehicle I've owned. I refuse to put my life in danger to drive on "all season" tires or "3 season" tires.

I put them on cheap steel rims as aluminum rims can become pitted and discolored from winter road salt. It also makes changing over very quick: just jack up one wheel at a time, take the wheel off, and slap on the winter wheel combination. I can do my car in 20 mins.

The Prius standard Traction control is very aggressive and too sensitive in my opinion. On glare polished ice at intersections, I couldn't leave any faster than a slow shuffle pace, which is a great way to get rear ended.

It did this with the standard Goodyear Integrity and also with the Michelin Harmony I used to replace with. Some folks have commented on their Prius having great winter traction with Integrity tires, IMHO that isn't possible. Check Tire Rack for the customer comments on Integrity and winter traction.

I once tried driving up a snow-covered and somewhat icy parking ramp at a local mall. Other cars, even an old s*** box, made it no problem. I made it about 2 car lengths up and the car just stopped on me. No tire spin and no nothing, it just stops. I had to back down and park on level ground.

I've done some parking lot tests and the Trac works in Reverse too, so if you do get stuck you're *stuck* forget about rocking.

The Province of Quebec made it mandatory this winter to run snow tires. I delayed getting mine and suddenly they were all gone, so I had to get them South of the border.

I had to put on studless winter tires as the condo I live in doesn't allow studs in the underground parking garage. The cement floor is sealed and they're worried studs might damage that seal coat.

I'm running Dunlop Graspic DS-2 studless tires on their own steel rims. I finally put them on in December after our most recent blizzard and went for a drive.

They ride softer than the all season tire. The cornering is sloppy. On the highway I lost 4 MPG, no difference in city driving.

But they stick like glue to the road. The car will happily push snow with the front bumper. Glare ice is no longer white-knuckle. Like any car, ground clearance issues mean it won't go through deeper than 2 ft before hanging up.

Hope this helps. I absolutely recommend good snow tires if you have to drive in "real" winter conditions. The Dunlop Graspic DS-2 is good, I've used the Bridgestone Blizzak and they're great but $$$. For a studded tire, the Cooper WeatherMaster is very good, the Nokian tires are best but $$$.

Jay

 

Thanks for finding us jayman!

 

Guilty as charged!

Seriously: Dunlop Graspic DS-2 and Bridgestone Blizzak. If you can use studs, Cooper WeatherMaster ST/2 and especially the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 (Factory studded with special rubber cushions under the studs for enhanced winter traction and quiet operation, also dramatically reduces road wear).

Whatever winter tire you look at, make sure it has the RMA (Rubber Manufacturers Association) "snowflake" symbol on the sidewall. This indicates the tire at least meets their performance criteria for severe winter use.

Some are better than others: a "snowflake" rated tire that emphasizes ice traction won't perform on dry pavement like a "snowflake" tire that emphasizes dry road performance. Of course, the tire that emphasizes dry road performance won't have anywhere near the ice traction either.

I kid you not: when there is snow/ice on the city streets here, I can easily blow the doors off any 4x4 pickup and SUV. When they eventually catch up to me at the next red light, the look on their face is "what the f*** is THAT thing?!?"

Many places have restrictions on when you can mount studded tires. Here in Manitoba, you can run them from October 1st to the following April 30th. In the Province of Saskatchewan, all year round.

In Ontario, they're illegal but several lawsuits from crash victims, and written requests by the Ontario Provincial Police, may allow studded tires - in the North West region only.

Regular winter tires aren't banned by any jurisdiction, so far as I know. Their soft squishy tread compound simply won't damage a road surface. That soft squishy tread is designed to provide good snow/ice traction even at -40.

However, that soft squishy tread surface will wear like crazy in warm temps, and can fly apart in hot temps. You really should not run a "studless" RMA-certified snow tire in temps over +50 F.

 

That's all covered in the Owner Manual. Lug nuts are the things that hold the wheel to the car. Prius have 5 lug nuts per wheel. You properly tighten them in a criss-cross pattern to avoid distorting the flange or rotor.

A torque wrench is used to properly tighten the lug nut: not too loose (Can allow the wheel to come off) and not too tight (Can snap off the bolt and then you're SOL the dealer will charge you to fix it and say TFB).

The Prius has a rather low torque rating for the lug nuts: 76 ft lbs.

 

Wow jayman! - after reading your posts we ladies are going to be like "Mona Lisa Vito"s (Marisa Tomei) in My Cousin Vinny!

 

Well, shucks ma'am ...

 

Shelley:

If you mean wet driving with my Dunlop Graspic DS-2 snow tires ... outstanding.

When the road is wet, you can look in the rearview and see two dry tracks left by your tires. The tire is heavily siped and the tread is very flexible, so it actually makes an outstanding tire for wet roads in cool temps.

We had a brief warm spell of +8 C around a month ago right after a blizzard. Since the ground was/is still frozen, most of the street drains also froze, there was water everywhere.

I was driving on the Bishop Grandin expressway at the posted 80 km/h and right near the bottom at the Pembina/University of Manitoba exit hit what looked like 5cm of water pooled at the low point of the road. It was a bit of a scare, water gushed up in two sheets from the front wheels. But the car never felt light or like it wanted to hydroplane.

A couple of cars behind me *did* hydroplane and spin out. They closed that part of Bishop until the city crews could use a steam truck to thaw out the drains.

There is nothing more dangerous than standing water on a cold road surface. You might as well spray oil or grease on the road.

Jay

 

No problem, that's what we're here for. Any more questions, give a shout.

 

Hi Shelley,

We get a wee bit of snow here too.  We get both Nor'easters and lake effect (although it was a little light this year with less than 350cm of snow).  I drove my car starting in Nov. just before Thanksgiving and I have to agree that the OEM (Goodyear Integrity) tires are slippery, very slippery.  I'm thinking of getting snows for next season.  Although the car was by far better than my '93 2WD T100 as far as traction was concerned from a standing start, the Prius slid more when stopping.  Not much more but noticeable.  Unlike the truck when the ABS kicks in you notice the peddle fluctuations, there is no notice of its use on the Prius except for a little symbol on the dash.  For comparison's purpose, on my 2003 Avalon XLS with both traction control and Vehicle Stability Control I was still scared crapless about driving the car with Michelin Energy MXV4 P205/60R16 (big and wide) tires.  The Avalon performed flawlessly in the worst weather, so I decided I'll get better tires for next season on the Prius.  Once I got the hang of driving the Prius in snow, it didn't do too bad and in fact turned out to be a lot of fun.  My only wish was that it had fog lights like on the Avalon.