My north-facing house in VT is located at elevation of 1700ft and is reached by a steep switchback cut into the moutain that runs about a third of a mile. The view is beautiful but the winter drive is treacherous. Last April, my newly purchased 2007 could not even deal with the mud, much less ice and snow. Friends from mountainous Maine assure me that the studded snows -- not merely snows -- on their 2005 Prius were the answer to their prayers and would be likewise for me. Anybody out there have any experience with studded snow tires on the Prius? Impact on mileage? Impact on overall performance? Thanks in advance for any comments.
I had heard that Toyota "fixed" the aggressive Traction Control issue, which was a real problem for some 2004/2005 Prius cars. My 2004 was useless at icy intersections, even with studless winter tires. I was planning on trading for a 2007, but probably won't if they have the same issue. I'm running Goodyear Nordic studded snow tires and despite our nasty winter last year, am very pleased with them. The car worked fine until it high centered in snow, which is what any car would do. I covered this more - including fuel economy observations - in this thread: http://priuschat.com/Winter-Tires-and-Steelies-t38732.html http://priuschat.com/Snow-tires-vs-Cables-t37051.html
