Prius winter performance

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lotto @ Apr 13 2007, 07:25 AM) [snapback]422437[/snapback]</div>

Hi - there's Abramelin from Stuttgart-Area, Germany. We lately had a mild winter (and I expect more of them...); we hat snow for a few days and when that snow was wet an heavy and driven over a few times, may be 5 - 7 inches high, I had a problem with my Prius (bought in September last year). I had winter tyres but it wouldn't work, whereas other drivers around had no problem. I was in some side-road off the mains. I suspect (as you do), that Pirus there has some weaknesses. I had no more problems with the weather situations - none with rain (I think however rainy weather and driving relates more to your tyres than to Prius itself). Surely the Prius in no off-road thing - its more a limousine... Good Luck, C. alias Abramelin

 

They key to getting the Prius to behave well in the snow are "Snow Tires".
This Winter I put on all four Mitchelen X-ice. I swear I was driving a 4 wheel drive vehicle! These tires are
the best rated tires for snow bar none!

Thats the bottom line...."Winter tires" NOT ALL SEASON!

 

I have actually cut my gas bill in 1/2. Seriously, less than 1/2, as I pay for all my gas on a gas card, and since I got the Prius last July, I have paid less than 1/2 as much for gas, and actually driven over 1100 miles more.

My Prius does well in the snow up here in the appalachian mountains. Looks like you're in Chicago. There are many, many Prii in that area. THere's even a local Prius group. PM FireEngineer, he lives up there and could probably give you some very good advice.

Good luck!!

 

I drive a Prius in Northern lower Michigan. We have a long (maybe 1/8 mile) driveway (2-track) with a hill that is just short of formidable. When I snow-blow, lots of snow remains in the tracks. We have not had any trouble getting out (with stock tires). This includes times that I haven't taken the trouble to blow off 3 or 4 " of snow. The prius performs far better than our little light cars of the past did (Geo Metro and Ford Festiva).

That said, others have reported lots of trouble in snow.

If in doubt, snow tires seem to be a consistent recommendation.

If you are *only* after mileage, some of the higher mileage little cars might be more economical given a lower purchase price. The Prius is often unfavorably compared to the Corolla, unfair because the Prius is *way* more car. If you want a nicer ride, go for the Prius!
Jim

 

Lotto.

Minnesota here. Dump the Buick, get a Prius with Bluetooth so you can chat on your cell while commuting and saving money. Don't know how old your Buick is, but my guess is that you'd also be getting a lot of new safety features that will become more important to you with that much time on the road: stability control, traction control, maybe side airbags and ABS too.

The Prius performs like a typical lighter, fwd car in the winter, which means pretty well. However, I would HIGHLY recommend you purchase a set of dedicated snow/ice tires like Blizzaks, X-Ice, etc. on dedicated wheels. Tirerack.com has tests and good pricing. It really only costs you the price of the wheels, because you're resting your regular tires when you're using your snows, right?

If you price a set on Tirerack (they have some pretty nice alloy wheels, sport edition is the brand, that are much lighter, nicer looking, and not much more expensive than steel wheels) and print it out and take it to your local tire store, you should be able to get one to match the price AND swap them on and off for you twice a year for free.

rob m.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lotto @ Apr 13 2007, 03:25 AM) [snapback]422437[/snapback]</div>

To answer this question in particular, no, the Prius' fuel economy does not make it worthwhile to get rid of a free car. Warning: I'm just "thinking out loud" below... feel free to check my math.

Just think about it in rough terms: I calculate about 22,000 commuting miles per year for you. That's about 1,100 gallons of gas, times $3 per gallon = $3,300 per year. Let's say you would cut that payment by more than half with a Prius, and thus it's costing you $2,000 per year in fuel costs to keep your car instead of switching.

Now, with a new Prius costing $20k-$25k, you can see it would take 10 years or more before you made up just the cost of the car. Then you have to figure in the cost of the gas each year for the Prius, about $1,300 sticking with my example. And the interest you're paying on the car loan. So even after 10 years, you can see you are still nowhere near break even.

That said, I love my Prius so much I can't imagine driving anything else... even a free car! But if money is your only consideration, it doesn't make any sense to switch.

 

We had a decent snowfall the other day here, 6" of the wet nasty stuff. I was really impressed driving it for the first time in snow, it handled extremely well, didnt slip, slide, or skeedaddle at all, even while passing others, and going through the slush ruts. I dont know what it will do on the icy hardpack though, the TC seems to be quite sensitive. A good set of tires should solve any of those problems though. If the car is comfortable enough for you and you can live with it not beeing a rocket, then go for it, you will enjoy it and the savings at the pump.