Winter Handling

Mine is terrible. (Sorry to say) The instant the right front tire slips, it cuts all power to the wheel. I pretty much park it and drive a volvo AWD when it snows here in the mountains north of L.A..


I was really starting to wonder what the reaction will be this coming winter when people find out the cars are just not made for ice and snow.

 

Actually I was really impressed with ours last year. As with any car its just not going to be effective over 5 inches or so because of ground clearance, but I actually chose to drive the Prius over the Lexus in the snow last year, both FWD, both VSC.

I mean, its no SUV, but it'll get you where you're going.

 

Mine was fine last winter. I recommend a getting a good set of snow tires.

 

Here's a fun article on driving the Prius in *very* wintry conditions, albeit with winter tires: http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/ly/jamesbay.htm

I'm a firm advocate of using winter tires where winters are cold. It's probably the best bang-for-buck safety improvement you can make for winter driving.

 

That sounds dismal. I hope snow tires do the trick. We get plenty of snow around here. One of our cars has died, and i was planning to sell the second one. Which also is a FWD, but i have snow tires for that one. Guess i will have to invest in a set of snow tires for the Prius as well.

 

You'll note that when power is cut to the drive wheel a little yellow icon will suddenly light up on the dash letting you know the tire lost traction. This is how I quickly (in the middle of a huge storm) discovered how the Prius behaved in snow.

BTW - I'm in the mountains so perhaps on a level surface things will be a little easier.

 

So what happens when you start slow and don't get the little yellow icon? The key to snow and ice driving is to avoid losing grip. If you have tires with grip, and avoid spinning a wheel, how does a Prius drive?

I moved to avoid living in those winter conditions, but I've driven rear-wheel drive cars on roads glazed with ice. You start spinning, you stop, you start again as slow as you can to avoid the spin. Unlike a conventional transmission, I would think the PSD would let you finely control the power to the wheels.

 

John1017a lives in Minnesota and has the following on his website:
http://john1701a.com/

Misconception: Snow & Ice handling is a problem.

Not true, with respect to both hybrid components and the tires.

99 pounds is all the battery-pack actually weighs. That's it, just a very small amount for a vehicle that weighs 2,890 pounds. The little bit of actual extra weight is almost completely trivial in comparison to vehicle size. Prius is bigger than Corolla (which weighs 300 pounds less) and smaller than Camry (which weighs 296 pounds more). And remember, HSD doesn't have a transmission. The Planetary-CVT is nothing both a set of power-carriers that all together are only the size of the palm of an adult's hand. That design clearly eliminates quite a few pounds that are present on a traditional vehicle, but not on Prius. In short, weight is a non-issue.

The tires are nothing special, just run-of-the-mill standard all-season radial tires. In fact, you'll find them on a few other common vehicles too. So they do an adequate job for the typical owner. For those that desire increased traction, premium tires are available. And upgrading to them is no big deal, since the size on the 2004 Prius is relatively common.

Also note that the HSD system provides engine-braking (the "B" mode in Prius), something tradition vehicles do not. When you shift to "B", the engine participates in deceleration. The pistons pump (silently) under a compression load but without any fuel being consumed. This provides a slowing ability without affecting the wheels at all, an obvious traction advantage when the road is exceptionally slippery.

 

Well - I'll find out. This is now our main car and I live where john1017a does! On the plus side it's supposed to be a mild winter