Dealing with the Prius in serious snow and ice...

It was my first Fuelly report and the car itself was reporting 99.2 mpg...(believe me, I just about died - a ten mile trip home from the gas station and when I pulled in the garage I had to look twice). The Fuelly was reflecting something similar from the car's report...?!

I think with my next visit to the gas station it will more accurately reflect the 48-57 city I get... highway was 62-67 mpg. No PiP this go around for me - she's a 2012 4 and I am so enjoying her and the whole Prius Chat experience - it is my new vice reading and learning about these cars.

My snow vehicle for upstate NY (where I lived before moving to CT) is my Ford F-250 Super Duty diesel truck - gotta have her for hauling horses and hay...4 wheel drive does not mean one can go racing down a snowy or icy road - I have been passed by many a driver who "thought" he could go fast and I later passed him and his truck straddling a ditch...

Thanks for the input on tires - I am learning about cars as I go as I no longer have a significant other who handled car care so it is all me and anything I can cram into my brain.

 

Four absolutely, unless you like to watch the back end of the car swing around out of control at times. There's more to winter tires than traction accelerating, you need to think about cornering, braking, etc.

 

Certain all-weather tires are respectable in snow/ice as well. The Michelin MXV4 is rated favorably in the the snow per the tirerack.com surveys. The MXV4 does not provide the best fuel mileage, but winter tires can be especially poor in this regard as well. My own experience is that the original Yokohama S33D tires were very poor in snow. I now have ContiPro Eco Plus on my Prius which should be better.

 

I got better MPG's with my winter tires then the stock tires.

 

And the next question - where does everyone take their Prii to have them outfitted for the snow? I know if I buy snow tires I will NEVER see a snowflake here, ever.

I am new to my area in New England and my ex was the one who handled changing to snows for his car and I think he took it to the dealer... my 4 wheel drive truck has all season tires on her and always has.

 

LOL, yes winter tires are like weather insurance - buy them and it often doesn't snow.

We have two large tire store chains here - Belle Tire and Discount Tire that provide great prices and service. I mainly use Belle tire because I've had very good experiences with them being completely honest about whether work needs to be done or not. Belle tire also has a valet tire swap and storage service that eliminates the need for me to haul my wheels / tires to the basement for storage. When swapping winter tires / wheels, they clean the removed wheels / tires, shrink wrap them onto a pallet, and store them at their climate-controlled warehouse. They bring them back to the store to reinstall when I give them a call. (Cost is $80 for storage, etc.)

I use two daily drivers and when the seasons change, I put tires for the coming season on one vehicle and hold off on the other. The Ridgeline will get its winter shoes next week and the Prius will get them in December when the weather is reliably cold.

 

I like the idea of the storage...the ex was always carting his changed tires in his Subaru before and after the change over until he had time to move them to the garage. Storage in my small garage is going to be tough.

I will have to do some searching around here tomorrow to get prices. Never thought I would be drooling over pictures of snow tires... what the hell is in that Kool Aid?!

 

I've driven old-time VW Beetles and front-wheel drive Civics, a Dodge Colt, and a minivan or two, all except the Beetle with front wheel drive.

The Prius is the first car I've driven with full-bore VSC and antilock brakes. About three weeks after buying it in November 2010 I took it out onto a parking lot with four inches of good, slick, fresh snow and had at it.

Found it impossible to spin the car. Could make it go at a 30-degree angle to forward motion by gassing it and swinging the wheel back and forth, but the moment the steering wheel was let go the car would straighten up and fly right.

I've now driven it through two winters (2010 and 2011), and had fun with it this past weekend with four inches or so of Nor'Easter white stuff. Result: It goes where it's pointed and really tries hard to not swap ends. Better than the '71 VW, which was considered a pretty good snow car back in the day. (Rear wheel drive, rear engine, oversteer and all. Demerit: It would get hung up in a foot of snow on the floor pan. Advantage: four people could carry it out of a drift.)

Gen II Priuses are apparently notorious for getting stuck on slick surfaces. I haven't had those problems with the Gen III. Priuses in general are supposed to be liable for getting stuck in drifts. I do not know, I've been able to rock out of a couple of near-traps, but I don't go spelunking around in a foot of snow these days, either, being the old fart that I am.

There's a video or two out there that shows a Gen III climbing an ice-covered steep driveway; it's cool to watch since, if a front wheel starts spinning, the VSC slows the wheel until it gets traction again, then starts trying to move the car. The start-stop action is exactly what you'd want if you were trying to move on ice, so, not bad.

I can report that this scheme does work in real life. Snow covered road, gas it all you like: The driven wheels won't skiz like crazy, but the car picks up and moves at the max acceleration that can be supported. I suppose that beats trying to start a car in 2nd gear and saves the idiots amongst us from people pointing at the spinning wheels, saying, "Look at that nut! Doesn't he know how to drive in snow?"

All that is fine. But there's other cars out there that have VSC, I suppose, and similar new-fangled schemes to prevent skidding. How the Prius compares to those I don't know.

Finally: Any time you talk about snow, you're eventually going to run into people who state that a proper snow car can make it through a foot of the heavy stuff. For that, you're going to need high road clearance, likely four-wheel drive, and (if you're smart) somebody who knows how to drive in snow. (Comments about technique being better at getting through times of no strength than strength getting though times of no technique.) The Prius isn't four-wheel drive and the ground clearance isn't all that much, but the same could be said about a load of passenger cars. And, given the traction control, I'd take a Prius out in a snowstorm over a '71 Beetle any day.

KBeck

 

Look: If you drive in serious snow-covered territory (Colorado in the mountains, Maine up near Bangor, Minnisota nearly everywhere, upstate NY in the country, etc.) where you expect to run into serious piled-up snow, then, yeah, snow tires are for you. And, if you're from that kind of territory, you probably use chains on a regular basis. If, on the other hand, you have problems in snow storms because you're too busy dodging snow plows, then all-season radials will better fit your lifestyle and budget.

I've seen (and watched) studies. If you are going for snows, all four wheels it is. Two on the front is worse than four regular.

Now, I haven't driven a pickup, ever, but I get the distinct impression with those guys that the weight distribution is heavy on the front, light on the rears (the better for extra cargo, later). 4x4 or not, Priuses and other passenger cars have more equal weight distribution and puts the drive wheels under the engine. That makes them better snow cars. Of course, the ground clearance is an issue, but only if you're trying to plow through 6" or more of heavy snow. And, if you've got plows in the neigborhood, you won't be chugging through that stuff.

KBeck

 

Looking at the clearance of my Prius versus the truck, the truck will do the dirty work for me when we are talking the deep stuff - there was a post on PC regarding those folks who lower their Prii/Priuses (but how low can you go?!) and a poster remarked if the lowered cars hit a speed bump right they might be teetering with all four tires off the ground. There's a visual I don't want to see....

I am not a strong snow driver despite 23+ years in the snow belt of upstate NY... I could get places safely but not as fast as some drivers. I could not do what my oldest son could do with his 1994 Corolla in the snow... driving from Alfred State back home through the Bristol Hills... he had the gift! That Corolla is still going strong!

My thought of horror was being at work - if the morning was nice out I would take the Prius instead of the truck. With my luck a surprise storm with slushy, slippery roads to drive home in would hit... hence, if I buy the snows for the baby, it will never snow again here, EVER.

 

We'll help ya!

 

If you've been mucking about in the snow for 23 years or, so, you are a snow-driving expert. (I spent a couple of years in Virginia Beach back in the day. Watching people drive around in 4" of snow in slick-equipped muscle cars is a real eye-opener.) The fact that you can't win the snow-bound 40-mile Grand Prix probably just means that you're a safe driver; you'll pass all those Grand Prix types in the end, since they'll be the ones in the ditches.

Upstate NY has got serious snow-plowing chops. (Greece NY's snow truck's printed motto: Greece always gets ploughed in St. Paddy's Day!)

Don't sweat the slush if you get caught at work. The Prius will get you home through slush. 10" of thick, heavy snow: Maybe not. But that stuff stops everybody else, too, so you'll have company.

KBeck

 

Thanks for the encouragement... I lived in the Bristol Hills of upstate NY prior to my move this past July - was southeast of Rochester in farm country and the starting snow line was just north of my farm...

I preferred to be safe and in control of my truck... the first day my youngest son drove to school in a snowstorm in his 2000 Hyundai Elantra, he witnessed an impatient lady go airborne in a Honda Accord and land in a ditch like a dart. He stayed to offer help but she did not want it - it was going to take a powerful winch to pull her back up 30 yards to the road in the snow she landed in. A teacher I worked with witnessed the Honda getting winched out of her predicament but did not see my son, as he was already safe at school.

Back to the thread topic, I am researching tires in earnest. I never, ever thought I would be doing this... I seem to think I should be responding like Tim Allen on "Home Improvement" when I see something I like related to home improvements and car stuff... squealing with joy over tires just might not cut it.

 

Upstate NY - no chains needed, used all seasons on my truck and had a hellacious driveway - my oldest could probably get my Prius up it but not sure I have the skills - yet. Truck was heavy in front, light behind unless loaded with grain and hay but if anything hit me, I was going to be safe and in 4 wheel drive she can plow through most anything.

 

I was reasonably happy with my Continental ExtremeWinter Contacts over the last three seasons. However, when the snow got deeper, they didn't seem to bite as well, so I'm switching to my old standby: Yokohama Guardex IG20s. I have had these on many cars and used to pull on 4wds from a stoplight in my Crown Vic when it was snowing, so they couldn't be all that bad...

 

Always, get four full snows. Always. No exceptions.

Problem with only getting two is that you have "unbalanced" the car. In other words, the traction between front and back is different, which can create more problems than the meager savings will pay for.

 

Not to say that vehicle stability control will not work properly with different grip on every tire. I definietly agree and the very first corner will proove that it is impossible to drive safe with two different types of tires.

 

I live in Buffalo............ enough said on the snow end of this topic.
the OEM tires on my Gen II sucked in snow. I switched to some wal-mart tires, yes I said wal-mart and I drove through two winters with them getting around better than most cars on the road.
The tires on my Gen III are not the same as the Gen II so we shall see............

 

Just got back from skiing on Sunday where we had about 6-8 inches of fresh snow. Chain laws are in effect and trucks were chaining up and down I-70 after the Eisenhower Tunnel. No problem in the Prius.

Snow driving in the Prius is down to style. If you have it, the Prius is no trouble at all in the snow or ice.

 

I got stuck several time in the Prius because of the traction control going uphill even though I had snow tires. We are going with a set of all season this time. My RXh fwd has snow tires and so does my 370z, they are not great but they work just fine