Snow

Welcome, gob. My experience in snow with the Prius is quite the opposite of yours. Mine doesn't have VSC, and the stock Goodyear Integrities are so bad I just park it when we have snow and ice. I'm not sure how they even qualify as 'all season', since they're useless in the snow, slippery in the rain, and not so great in the dry. What kind of tires do you have?

 

No wonder your snow performance is so good....Hakkas are great tires.

I've got Blizzaks and they do acceptably well. My car is no Subaru, but it still gets me where I need to go.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gob @ Jan 11 2007, 11:24 PM) [snapback]374396[/snapback]</div>

Hi gob!


You beat me seven days! My black Prius (package 5) is due on January 17th...


Anyway - today was the first day this winter with snowy roads in the lower parts of southern Norway. My trusty ten year old Corolla with new unstudded Continentals performed just excellent.

I will be getting back to you next week...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gob @ Jan 11 2007, 05:24 PM) [snapback]374396[/snapback]</div>

How sensible, a regulation that mandates winter tires for winter.

With "all season" tires my Prius is helpless on hard packed snow, and completely helpless on ice. The standard "traction control" - which can NOT be defeated - will leave you motionless on ice.

Studded winter tires are the only sane choice for real winter conditions. With proper studded tires my Prius only bogs down in 60 cm of snow.

I'm running this tire, which in Canada is only available at the Canadian Tire retail chain:

http://eu.goodyear.com/home_en/tires/repos...p?page=benefits

http://eu.goodyear.com/no_no/tires/piggdek...p?page=benefits

When it was +5 C and the roads dry and bare, the tires were very noisy. Currently it is -24 C and the roads are slippery, with blizzard conditions. I will happily accept some tire noise to have grip.

 

:lol: :lol: Welcome to both of you new Prius owners from Norway!! Here in the mountains of North Carolina we had a snowfall this week that left us about 5 inches of new powder (and 10-16 degree F temperatures). My Prius handled very well. I have a 2006 package 5 which has the VSC. The light for that came on three times or so coming up the hill this evening afterwork, but it still made it up the hill without sliding or loosing traction at all.

The winter has decreased my gas mileage a bit though, but I expected that. So you both can expect your mileage to go up as spring time comes. Welcome again!! :lol: :lol:

 

We've been having a brutal winter in Denver in terms of snow, and I was not exciting to be driving my '06 with the stock tires, having traded in my AWD Highlander, but I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised. The only problem that I have had is scraping the undercarriage while driving in some deeply rutted roads. Other than that, its been no problem.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Jan 11 2007, 07:26 PM) [snapback]374454[/snapback]</div>

...Assuming of course studs are legal in your province/state. In Ontario, they are only legal in "Northern Ontario" between Oct 1 - Apr 30. They are not permitted at any time in the southern part of the province.

That said, there hasn't been a reason yet even for winter tires around here, as here we are in mid-January and we are still awaiting our first real snowfall! (which is unheard of for Canada, even for Toronto). Even Vancouver is far ahead of us for snowfall.... :huh:

I have a long commute and drive a lot so I have these nice brand new X-Ice tires on my Prius and can't wait to test out the VSC & Traction Control in real conditions for the first time... and mother nature is not cooperating! <_<

 

When I got my 2006 Prius I immediately exchanged the tires from the factory with Goodyear Assurance Comfortreds. The dealer put them on for us. These are much better in rain and snow as well as being a very quiet tire. Getting two sets of tires is really a good policy. Welcome to PriusChat and enjoy your new "wheels".

Cheers

 

Today, I was almost involved in a collision. The temperatures were nasty cold here in Winnipeg -36C (-32F) with a windchill of -44C at the time when two folks slightly ahead of me lost traction and collided with each other. One spun around and hit a street light. Fortunately, I had my snow tires on (michelin X-Ice) and I came within less than a foot of hitting the other.
I thought I was going to have a lowsy day as soon as I returned to the parkade on my way home and the Prius's ICE did not want to start (ended up starting). Well, if it was not for the tires' excellent grip on the icy streets I would have ended the day on a lowsy note for sure.

These tires have already paid for themselves !!

Cheers;

MSantos

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MSantos @ Jan 12 2007, 07:17 PM) [snapback]375016[/snapback]</div>

At those temperatures, I'm surprised they didn't have better traction. Or were they speeding?

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ Jan 12 2007, 10:34 PM) [snapback]375052[/snapback]</div>

Some of the streets have surfaces with polished ice, especially in the intersections. I guess you could almost visualize it as a large skating strip... except cars ride in it :huh: .

The other thing that is bad and might have caused the accident is underinflated tires and all-season rubber.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gob @ Jan 11 2007, 12:33 PM) [snapback]374300[/snapback]</div>

The new Prius with VSC is a good snow machine, especially with good tires. I was not expecting as much after leaving our 4WD Subaru and have been pleasantly surprised. How is the heater working for you in Norway? This has been a disappointment for us when the temperatures dropped to the low 20's (F). Are the Norway Priuses equipped differently for your cold?

 

I've never even heard of Hakkas or the other ones, are they even sold in the US??

 

getting 8 tires is a great idea. i have stock tires and we have had snow and ice galore here the past week. i do ok on them, but that is only because i am driving with conditions in mind.

the other day on the worst of it, drove 55 miles on the freeway at speeds ranging from 40-45 mph on flats and 25-30 on hills (we have some hills you dont want to be caught on without brakes!) and did just fine. slipping here and there but TRAC and VSC were enough to keep me on the road. (VSC only came on one time and that i forced...everyone is right, the delay seems to be MUCH longer than it should be TRAC is immediate) and there was 2-3 dozen cars parked ON the freeway on the South Center hill with tow trucks slowly towing them away. (law says they must be on to the shoulder completely. many of these were COMPLETELY in a lane of travel!)

also had 6 accidents, all involving 4X4's. (4 SUV's and and two pickups. one accident had two vehicles involved although it was hard to tell if they hit each other, the rest were single car accidents) so conditions were bad, driving skills MUCH worse.

but what got me was coming home, up the same hill (the upside is way less steeper than the downhill part) only going about 30 mph which is all traffic would allow and i could see TRAC kicking in whenever it hit a slick spot so tires are not the best... then again, thinking i should take some air out... got them at 44/42