Waiting for our Prius to arrive at the dealer and would like to hear anyone's experience driving the Prius in the winter and, in particular, the snow. If it's anything like my 04 Corolla, I'll need to replace the factory tires with all-seasons that get better traction. We're excited to get the Prius but want to make sure it's up to the Midwest winters. Thanks.
That snow we (I'm from the Minneapolis area too) got recently was pretty fun to play on. In fact, I even think my Prius ticked off a SUV driver by climbing up a hill in thick snow without getting stuck. Of course, I had brand new high-traction all-season tires. The factory tires are adequate. Many owners upgrade at some point though. .
There's a chance your 04 Corolla shed the same tyres as the Prius (Goodyear Integrity). If so, then yeah you'll want to replace them with better winter tyres (or all-seasons if you prefer that). Some Corollas even came with Uniroyal Tiger Paws (which I consider lower than the Integrity in terms of dry/wet performance)
Snow I thought someone would ask "How does the Prius handle in the summer?" Anyway, the Prius will do well on the snow. Wait till the plow trucks go by and you should be fine. Regards.
With excellent, top of the line Yokohama's, the following : Never got stuck. This year's snowfall in Montreal was huge, small streets not plowed for multiple days. I live in SUV land, meaning the SUV's that drove the street before me, plowed the street to their level - higher than the Prius. I was constantly body-surfing with the car! Entire streets! (wheels not touching pavement - now cover too thick) I would constantly get the yellow ! slippage sign, but would gradually increase in speed. People with regular cars were always stuck, I drove boldly everywhere, even during the worst storms. (I LOVE IT) The first year I kept the stock tires, and the slippage was way too high, after the first storm, got winter tires. If you mostly have ice conditions, or snow conditions, or both - some tires are better for such conditions. IOW, three different types of winter tires. Yokohama's are general, Michelin have awesome tires for pure ice. What I don't like ! When I want to GO! from a red light or stop, car just inches along if there's slippage, it's quite sensitive. Can't pump the gas. I wish there was a setting an experienced driver could choose. - efusco setting (max slippage) - Wildkow setting (in between safe & crazy) - Stev0 setting (max grippage) No zig-zagging :tsk:. Can't do 270-360 turns , not having a manual hand brake for the rear wheels, can't drive sideways into a snowbank when I want to. IOW no fun to do controlled James Bond style stunts. The Prius is very low on the ground, my Precious has a chipped tooth! Well, since I couldn't hit the snowbanks left by the plow at a cross-street, sideways, I had to smash it face-first. Huge ice chunks. Her belly is scratched / scarred too.
The Prius is very good in the snow. Some people have issues with the traction control. I think it is a great system. You have to understand how it works and get use to it, but the bottom line this year I was never stuck in the Prius in any condition.
Tomorrow I pick up my first Prius and I'm very excited. We've always driven 4 wheel or all wheel drive vehicles as our daughter is in college in the Finger Lakes Region and the snow there is HUGE. We were a little concerned about driving the Prius in the snow, but your comments put my mind at ease. I will probably purchase all-season tires at some point. Can't wait to drive the car tomorrow!
Thanks for all the good feedback. After one year with the Corolla I ended up with Michelin Pilot Exaltos and what a difference they made when driving in the snow. I'll probably look to get the same for the Prius or maybe look at some Yokohama tires. I guessing the Prius with good all seasons won't be much worse than my Corolla. Of course, the Corolla does not have traction control so that will take some getting used to. From what I've read on PriusChat, it looks like the issue with traction control and cutting power completely was resolved with the 2007 and subsequent models of the Prius. I am looking forward to some summer driving! Thanks again.
My OEM tires were adequate in the snow at the beginning of the season. After I put about 22,000 - 23,000 miles on the tires there was a dramatic drop off almost instantly from where they were.
LOL! Thanks Mark your about the only one here at PC that acknowledges I'm somewhere in the middle on any subject! The only concern I had with the Prius was how it seems to shut down any acceleration if it detects wheel slippage. I learned how to drive in Montana and occasionally would pull away from a corner with oncoming traffic and realize that hey its way to slippery! I could just gun it and even though the wheels spun I could still accelerate and get out of the way. I was afraid that the Prius would just shutdown the ability to do this. It’s nice to read these comments from other Prius owners and see that it behaves quite well in slippery conditions. Believe it or not I have owned my Prius for almost 2.5 years and have yet to drive it on snow or ice! Wildkow
