snow and and high wind

Simply change the tires to something better. The factory tires are pretty poor for travel in bad weather. I've personally never had a problem with them in snow or rain but I've only had to drive in heavy snow twice in this car.

A great all weather tire that most people seem to agree works well for good MPG and bad weather is the Nokian WR series. The tire was designed in Finland and they know bad weather.

Do a search for Prius AND Wind and see what you come up with. I've never found a great solution for this but then I don't really care to much as it doesn't bother me much anymore.

This is assuming your tires are aired up properly. Low tires will affect traction and stability so keep them aired up.

 

Ditto on the tires. At the very least, get rid of the Goodyear Integrity tires and put on good all season tires. With your weather and terrain, I would opt for real snow tires.

Traction control was vastly improved for the 2006 and later models. Supposedly the 2010 will be even better, but that remains to be seen.

Tom

 

For snow/ice you do NOT want "bigger" rims. I solved most of my '04 Prius traction control complaints by running a very aggressive studded snow tire

Goodyear Eur-Winter Tire-UltraGrip 500

We can get this tire at Canadian Tire here, it's called the Goodyear Nordic in Canada but is otherwise the same as the Ultra Grip 500. Due to the tread design, a very noisy tire on dry roads (Hums at 34-45 mph), but you can't beat it on snow and especially ice

Living in a mountain area, I would absolutely run studded tires in winter, with chains in reserve in case conditions really went downhill. I briefly lived in Park City, Utah, and ran studded tires on everything, even my 1990 4Runner

The Prius can be like a sail when you encounter strong side gusts, which are common in mountain driving. I learned to compensate for it, slow down, etc. Under the same conditions, an FJ Cruiser leans over at a crazy angle, and you have to be careful to keep it in its lane

 

I'll vouch for that. I took a new 2008 for a test drive, when there was still a bit of snow left around. The TC behavior was light years better than the '04 I used to have

 

Hi Libros,

Steering ergonomics under high side-load conditions, such as gusting winds, greatly improved with a chasis stiffening plate. For mountain and great-plains driving, I think its a must.

 

It's not the larger rims, it's the tires. Jayman's advice is spot on. Run studded winter tires if you can. The stock rims are fine, and will work as well or better than larger rims.

Tom

 

I commute daily from Aurora to Colorado Springs. I have fairly cheap Bridgestone all season tires and find my Prius no worse in the snow than any other FWD on all season tires. One thing I do like is the instant torque at zero MPH. Most cars you have to get reved up a bit to get moving on snow. The Prius, being partially electric produces maximum torque at zero RPM. You can gently and carefully walk the Prius forward with exceptional speed control if you have a sensitive right foot and don't floor it like in a "conventional" FWD. Avoiding spin is the key to winter traction, and the Prius is so controllable you can really reduce spin. For even better winter traction, consider a modern winter tire like the Bridgestone Blizzak or the Hankook Ice Bear (which I run on the wife's Impala).

As for wind sensitivity, even over Monument Pass I see little more wind sensitivity than with many other cars I've owned. Most FWD cars are sensitive to front wheel alignment - I plan to have my alignment checked this weekend just to see if that might improve steering input sensitivity at 75.

The Prius works well here on the Front Range!

 

Keep in mind that it has low clearance, so even good snow tires will not turn the thing into a snow plow. Neither can it be rocked if stuck.

 

I can rock my 2006, and have done so on many occasions. All it takes is a quick hand on the shifter.

Tom

 

Well, OK, you gurus can do it, but not us ordinary mortals.

 

Not so much a guru, but simply necessity from living too far north.

Tom

 

Yeah, that was one thing about the '04 I used to have: once bogged down, it would NOT rock. Just refused to turn the front wheels, TC light flashing

Too bad the snow wasn't deeper when I test drove that '08. I could have tried purposely burying it, then determined if it could be rocked

 

I'd say they are idiots.

Larger diameter rims DO NOT raise the gound clearance of the car unless you fail to "plus size" your new tires accordingly. I.E. when you go to a larger diameter wheel you have to run a lower profile tire to ensure you keep the overall rolling diameter (tire/wheel combo) the same as OEM. So it doesn't matter if wether you run a 185/65/15 or a 215/45/17, the overall diameter stays the same and thus your vehicle height will stay the same.

If they are telling your to run a larger diamter wheel and NOT plus size your tire/wheel combo then I would avoid their advice altogether unless they also told you about recalibrating your speedmeter and other issues that may result from running a larger than stock diameter wheel/tire combo.

From Les Schwab Tire Center

 

Don't you mean too far East? I live norther than you, and don't have nearly so much snow trouble.

 

I have an '04 Prius. Orig. tires (Goodyear Infinity) were great on rainy roads and on ice. Ground clearance sucks - I read that the Gen III gr. clrnce is to be 5.5" -- better than the Gen II's 4.9". By the way, can anyone tell me how the driver's room is (head, leg & shoulder) in the Gen III? I'm 6'4", and my '04 is fine. But that Gen III console scares me. Has anyone logged much drive time in the 2010? Thanks.

 

A fantastic non-studded snow tire is Nokian WR G2. They are traction rated with the sSnowflake Ebmlem on the side wall. Can be run all year round, and have 50,000 mile tread wear warrantee.

Search for "Nokian WR" on this site and find many other endorsements.

Old version was Nokian WR and new improved version is Nokian WR G2 (generation 2)

Anybody know when Nokian will deliver the G3 for G III prius?

I also added the BT Tech Stiffening Plate for no mor trouble in cross wind and BT Tech Stud Tower Brace for more improvement.