Snow Chains on Prius??

1st off welcome to the forum.

If ur Prius isn't lowered, I don't really see a problem as long as u get a good set.......wouldn't want a broken link.

 

As requested I wont mention that I have had great success on three occasions with cable chains. One time was over 240 miles.

 

I bought Thule K-Summit chains last spring, but haven't used them other than to fit them on the car. I'm hopeful that they'll be much better than cable chains in terms of traction, durability, and ease of installation and removal. Unfortunately, they're expensive - but I got them cheap from Amazon, I think when somebody else returned them.

 

I used RUD-matic German snow chains for decades, on my BMW and all three sequential Prii. I highly recommend the RUD-matic Classic model. With some practice, the passenger car RUD-matics are all mountable/dismountable in less than one minute, in snow and for both wheels - I won bets with my disbelieving older brothers on this.

During the Washington DC mongo snowstorm of February 2003, the one in December 2009 and of course the Snowmageddon of February 2010, I was almost the only car on the roads, except for the state troopers and snowplows. The 2010 Snowmageddon one eventually defeated me because of ice ruts on all the streets that after two days started high-centering my Prius Gen II's low chassis on the center ridge - no snow chain will defeat that amount of persistent street-packed snow.

Here's the link: RUD - Passenger cars / SUV's / vans

Word of warning: IMHO the best place for snow chains is in the vehicle, all the time. Reason: when they live in the garage or basement they are guaranteed to be either forgotten or unlocatable when the snow arrives, as a chagrined friend found out. That's another reason I like RUD-matics - they have their own protective packages and they are very light and unobtrusive enough to permanently store in the trunk.

 

You can buy the RUD's here.

Rud Easy To Go

 

macman - wow those are pricey thuleys

dadohedgehog - thanks for the info

 

Rud Easy To Go

From the video in the above link, they look like the easiest chains to put on. I plan on getting Michelin Xi3 snow tires but I'm still concerned about the Prius so I might buy a pair of the RUD's to keep in the trunk.[/quote]

 

Wow - new-style permanent tensioners. I guess annual product model updates also apply to snow chains

With the RUD Classics on, my Gen II Prius was known @ work and among friends as "the Snow Prius". Plenty of clearance in the wheel wells, to address Doug Brender's concern above. Ran curves around some 4-wheel SUVs driven by non-Northern-raised drivers, ha haaa. With snow as with any complex driving environment, it's much more up to the driver than to the vehicle's fancy features like 4-wheel drive to assure success.

With our current Gen III PiP, I am more worried about tearing off all the plastic shields and airflow panels on the underside than I had been with previous Prii, for example the minimalist wheel "splash guards" directly behind each wheel.

Word of advice after 20+ years of occasional snow chain driving, for those of us who are new to this: watch yer speed! The car will feel much more "grippy" with chains on, but above about 30 MPH the beast will slide out from under you with the barest provocation. Slow and steady progress is the way to go.

 

An alternate universe word of advice, get really great super tech snow tires and you will never need chains, will have superior handling in any condition, at any speed. I had Michelin's on my front wheel drive, traction control, ABS Gran Prix and did the winter tour with the Park City Ski team for three years...worked great.

I'm expecting the same from the Prius. Same ground clearance. Only concern is that I've heard the Prius traction control kills power to both tires if it detects slip in both, leaving the car essentially dead in the snow.

 

Yup. I feel like MSRP has gone up since I bought - but I got them cheap since they had been returned. Only $180. Given that I had a lot of friends buy cable chains for $50 and have them break on our first trip, that's not a bad price to pay, hoping that they last a while and are much easier to put on. After all, the least fun part is trying to reach around the inside of the tire and hook the chains on, and you don't have to do that with the K-Summits.

I wish that were an option... But here in CA, they won't let you on some highways without either chains or a 4WD vehicle when it's snowing hard. The problem is, most people get into trouble while braking in the snow, not accelerating - and every car has 4-wheel brakes! Also, it's far less snow than I'm used to driving in from growing up in Wisconsin. I'm sure it's a rule mostly designed with Californians in mind, who probably have never seen much snow before. Maybe the new rule should be chains, 4WD, or an expired driver's license from a northern state?

 

Same in many states but the rule is if you have Winter rated tires with the Mountain symbol you are allowed on the road. You must carry chains and if they deem it really bad they can require chains for ALL vehicles.

But if you have rated snow tires on, you do not have to be using chains unless EVERBODY has to use chains.

 

Proximal,

My Gen I and Gen II were pretty good in the snow, being front wheel drives - I only got stuck when trying to get stuck to see how far I could go. Don't know yet about the PiP..

 

I don't know what region that misleading reply was intended for, but it is not true around here. All the mainland Pacific Coast states have winter road stages where all 2WD vehicles must wear chains, regardless of what winter tires are installed, but 4WD/AWDs don't need chains. Of course, each also has a lower stage where M+S or mountain/snowflake symbol tires are sufficient on 2WD, and a higher stage where even 4WD must have chains. Unfortunately, there is no consistent terminology.

In Oregon (Tripcheck - Chain Law), "Chains required" usually means chains required only on vehicles over 10,000 GVW, light vehicles need only approved traction tires. But another stage does require chains on all 2WD, but not on 4WD:

Washington (WSDOT - Traction Advisories) uses different terms. Oregon's "Chains Required" is most equivalent to Washington's "Traction Tires Required": Chains required on vehicles of 10,000 GVWR, approved traction tires required on light vehicles.

But I often encounter WA's "Chains Required", which is more equivalent to one of OR's conditional closures:

California (CalTrans - Chain Requirements) also uses different terms, but still has all the stages mentioned above:

From this, it appears that Oregon's standard "Chains Required" is most similar to California's R-1, while Washington's standard "Chains Required" is most equivalent to R-2.

Despite spending little time in CA, I've encountered R-2 several times. In rental cars, it has meant 'pick a different ski hill for today' and 'pick a route through Nevada'. But in my own Subaru, the CHP officer just waved me through. It was actually nice to have Donner Pass almost to myself.

 

Chuckle...the QUOTE and LINK were from CA Dept of Transportation since the person referenced "here in CA". Do you feel CA Dept of Transportation is misleading you?

 

I've never needed chains if I'm using good studless winter tires in over 30 years of driving in Colorado, New Mexico & the Pacific NW. To me they are too much of a hassle compared to just switching on my winter wheels & tires for winter time.

 

Supercharged,

I'd agree with you about the appeal of a 2d set of snow tires for those who live with usually snowy winters, away from (mostly) rapidly snow-cleared urbanized areas, and who have a garage or basement to store the spare set of seasonal tires (or entire wheels). For those who live in apartments, in major metro areas where snow is cleared within a day of major snowfall, or those who only access snowy areas occasionally, well-designed (!) lightweight quality chains can be a better solution. Those living in, for example, Duluth or Kalispell, or who travel all winter long across one of the Northern Sierra passes, likely will choose to own snow tires. Others living, like me, in Northern Virginia, where the city-stopping snowstorm arrives on average once every 3 -4 years, will probably look into chains, as the question becomes "can I get home from work tonight" rather than "can I survive a weekend winter hunting trip without getting stuck on the mountain" etc.

Well-designed modern chains are wayyy easier to live with than the Gorilla-strong, heavy and awkward military-type wheelwell-beater snow chains based on 1940s technology, like ones I see on state police cruisers during blizzards and like ones I used to wrestle onto wheels of US Army M151 jeeps and later Humvees back in my pickle-suit phase.

I agree that good snow tires are a better solution for some of us. When we factor livability considerations beyond snow performance into each user's decisions, snow tires can easily be a space-hogging overinvestment. Hence the freedom of the marketplace...

 

IMO anyone living in an area that is below 45F for a good portion of the time should be using winter tires as they provide much better traction below 45F in all conditions. I don't get a lot of snow here but the mountains and our temps are in the 20-45F range for long enough to want the safety of better traction in all conditions.

 

How do you talk your way past the man with a gun and a badge at the chain checkpoints? Or does your winter travel pattern never take you into such situations?

I'll agree that in the PNW, 'approved winter traction tires required' situations greatly outnumber 'chains required' events. And more than half the time that WSDOT post 'chains required', it is not enforced by checkpoints, but is a preemptive scare tactic to reduce the number of ill prepared drivers on the road, and to give them fair warning that needing assistance while stuck without chains will lead to a very expensive citation.

But sometimes the chain restrictions are enforced. Sometimes by a DOT worker, sometimes by a sworn LEO with a gun on his/her hip.

 

When chains are required, the situation is extreme. For day to day safety driving in conditions where you see frequent snow, the new tech snow tires are a life saver.