Anyone Noticed Any Problems In The Snow?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

We've had a cold spell for the last couple weeks or so with snow on and off. So, anyone had any problems or experiences of their Prius in the snow? Good or bad?

I've found mine to be excellent for a non 4x4 car. I also find that driving in EV only helps on the deeper slippery stuff. Anyone else found that or is it just my imagination?

[timberwolf]

A 4WD is just as useless as 2WD if all four wheels lose traction :)

[Sagitar]

We've had a cold spell for the last couple weeks or so with snow on and off. So, anyone had any problems or experiences of their Prius in the snow? Good or bad?

I've found mine to be excellent for a non 4x4 car. I also find that driving in EV only helps on the deeper slippery stuff. Anyone else found that or is it just my imagination?

No traction problems at all. A little wheel spin once when reversing on wet ice, but I concluded that I was using too much throttle. It rolled away gently when I used lighter pressure on the accelerator.

My only real complaints would all be about visibility. Low sun gives problems with both windscreen blur and reflections off the dash. The lower part of the rear window dirties up terribly in the wet - but the upper part stays pretty clear. I have never managed to get the outside of the windows properly clean - there always seems to be some kind of smear on them. The blurb says that they shed rain and I wonder whether the smear is an indication of some applied chemical film. I have more trouble with condensation on windows than I can recall with any other recent vehicle. I added the word "recent" to that last sentence because I started driving in the era when some cars had no heaters . . . :o

[wooski]

My only real complaints would all be about visibility. Low sun gives problems with both windscreen blur and reflections off the dash. The lower part of the rear window dirties up terribly in the wet - but the upper part stays pretty clear. I have never managed to get the outside of the windows properly clean - there always seems to be some kind of smear on them. The blurb says that they shed rain and I wonder whether the smear is an indication of some applied chemical film. I have more trouble with condensation on windows than I can recall with any other recent vehicle. I added the word "recent" to that last sentence because I started driving in the era when some cars had no heaters . . . :o

Yes, that lower rear screen gets very bad. I've got a kitchen roll and window spray in the lower boot and regularly clean it before setting off. Makes a huge difference.

My condensation problems are resolved. Regular wiping of the windscreen internally with a dry cloth is drying it out and meaning I only use air con at the beginning and then can leave it off for the rest of the journey.

[johalareewi]

Plenty of snow yesterday evening and the prius handled it very well.

We have a wonderfull hill just round the corner where a spring leaks out onto the road.

This makes it a skid pan when it freezes.

The Prius can drive up it no problem.

You can feel the car drifting a bit but the trac and vsc keep you in the right direction and get you up.

Stopping is a bit more fun although the ABS does its best.

At the end of the day, when it slippery, there is only so much grip available.

Overall, I am very pleased that I got the prius early and am not driving around in my old astra.

[emphasis303]

had a nice skid into the kerb taking a corner at about 10mph, pushed the brake as hard as possible and steered into it but no luck only the kerb stopped me, im sure its put my tracking out, thank God there wasnt a car parked there.

But I blame it on my tyres not the car, maybe 1.9mm of tread and summer tyres. Waiting for my winter tyres to arrive so I can have some fun :)

[emphasis303]

ok so just nearly drove it to the back of a white van. I was coming to a stop at a traffic light lightly applying brakes had left plenty of room then all of a sudden entered into a skid, I released the brake pedal and quickly reapplied it as hard as I could, stopping millimeters away. I really need to change these !Removed! tyres.

[Red Yaris 54]

had a nice skid into the kerb taking a corner at about 10mph, pushed the brake as hard as possible and steered into it but no luck only the kerb stopped me, im sure its put my tracking out, thank God there wasnt a car parked there.

But I blame it on my tyres not the car, maybe 1.9mm of tread and summer tyres. Waiting for my winter tyres to arrive so I can have some fun :)

The worst thing you can do is to brake hard........................at that point you will have absolutely no control of your car.

Braking on snow and ice should be as gentle as you can be and also anticipating as much as possible to avoid the need for braking.

I does not always work as I found to my cost last february, after leaving a huge space behind the vehicle in front, I still managed to "nudge" it before I managed to stop on deep packed snow and ice................Ended up with a cracked Yaris front bumper :(

[cootuk]

I saw a BMW X5 spin as they hoofed it turning a junction and the rear end just slewed round...

looks like things will get much worse now as councils start to limit gritting due to having used most of their stocks and we've not seen the worst yet.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I saw a BMW X6 spin as they hoofed it turning a junction and the rear end just slewed round...

looks like things will get much worse now as councils start to limit gritting due to having used most of their stocks and we've not seen the worst yet.

Limiting their stocks? They've hardly started. I couldn't get out of my drive this morning cos the snow on the road was deeper than my cars ground clearance What's wrong with sending the ploughs round? You don't need grit to do that. What do I pay my £150 a month for? It certainly covers more than a weekly bin collection and the street lamps. I know they're strapped for cash and have cut back on gritting and ploughing etc but they always seem to have money aside for their pet projects. The council need to remember who they actually work for!!!

[cootuk]

How can they plough when there are speed bumps all over the bl**dy place?

Even our main road is freezing up cos the gritters haven't been round today whereas there used to be several a day.

Even the local chavs have switched to ATVs and scramblers.

[CavanG]

av had no bovr in the snow lad.. onli sidewayz action!!! :D haha!

[timberwolf]

The council probably spent most of the money on a health & safety risk assessment into snow plowing and gritting and then had no money left to actually spend on the equipment, supplies or people to operate the snow plows...

Did you manage to get out of your drive eventually?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

The council probably spent most of the money on a health & safety risk assessment into snow plowing and gritting and then had no money left to actually spend on the equipment, supplies or people to operate the snow plows...

Did you manage to get out of your drive eventually?

And then the payments for the huge pension and the sick pay and the reduced hours etc. You know, all the things that us out in the private sector can only dream of.

I did manage to get off my drive, found the car wouldn't go more than about 10 feet before spinning to a halt as the snow is deeper than it was. I then blocked the road for my neighbours much to their annoyance. Eventually got it free and back on my drive again by lunchtime. I think it will stay there for now. Of course, being one of the foolish ones who actually work, I don't get sick pay and am losing money but hey ho.

[timberwolf]

Ah okay, that is very frustrating.

I wonder up to what depth of the snow the Prius can cope with?

Do the Gen 2 and 3 have about the same ground (snow!) clearance?

[Chris Dance]

Councils sold off a lot of the snow ploughs etc. You all know we do not need them anymore as the government tells us how warm our climate is and then taxes us for it. I wonder where all the £60 go that every aircraft passenger has to pay due to our very hot winters and to pay for climate warming!!

As for humps in the roads they are the worst thing ever and should be removed.

End of my moan for today.

Chris.

[mfs1011]

No real problems. MPG isn't great with all the warming up and so on, but I find the car very nimble on ice and snow. Despite being in some slippy situations I've been able to get going with no real fuss - unlike my old Merc and BMW!

Count me happy! :D

[Sagitar]

I drove slowly out of and back into our Close today on 10cm of virgin snow, without any feeling that there was any snow at all apart from the crunching sound under the wheels. I had expected some trouble getting back in because there is an upward slope, a bend and cars parked so close that the mirrors only just clear, but there wasn't a twitch. Part of my apprehension came from the fact that last year, in similar circumstances but driving a Lexus IS250, I got stuck completely.

In between the exit and re-entry, I drove on country "B" roads. Some of the time there were tracks where vehicles had taken the snow down to the tarmac, but for significant periods I was on packed snow. The journey included some tightish bends and two fairly steep hills. I also needed to go into two uncleared car parks.

Apart from taking things a bit more slowly than I usually do, it was a completely uneventful trip during which I never once saw a warning light or felt a slipping tyre.

The Gen 3 Prius on good winter tyres is excellent. Will it bite me on the bum one day . . . . .

[Sagitar]

No real problems. MPG isn't great with all the warming up and so on, but I find the car very nimble on ice and snow. Despite being in some slippy situations I've been able to get going with no real fuss - unlike my old Merc and BMW!

Count me happy! :D

I agree - my tank mileage was showing less than 50 m.p.g. today for the first time.

I think that part of the secret of getting away without fuss is the electric traction with the very good accelerator control that it gives. When I owned a Lexus IS250 I complained at every service of the poor fly-by-wire accelerator control.

[Sagitar]

Apart from taking things a bit more slowly than I usually do, it was a completely uneventful trip during which I never once saw a warning light or felt a slipping tyre.

It appears that not everyone found it as uneventful as I did. According to the local web site a car turned over at about 6:30 this evening. I don't yet have any other details but I hope no-one was injured.

[Fujisan]

The only problem (so far hopefully :P ) is running aground on deep snow.

When was it (it's been a long week :( ), tuesday woke up to a good three inches or more of fresh crisp snow. Threaded carefully through the estate and eventually, even more carefully, joined the motorway. Was quite happy to sit in the convoy driving slowly along the only open lane.

Tuesday evening, motorway was ok but turning off the motorway was like a Christmas card scene! :o

Took to the longer country route home to avoid the dips and slopes of my normal route. Again driving slowly and carefully, was just shocked by the amount of snow all around me.

Down some of the lanes I could hear the bottom of car rubbing along the top of the snow but we kept going.

Relieved to see our estate again

Now being near enough the final house on the estate road, I made it to within spitting distance of our house before the snow just became to deep and beached the car. Got out the car, to get a shovel from the garage and I reckon the snow was easily seven inches deep. Anyway, with my wifes help a quick half hour shovelling and we cleared just enough of a path to get the car unstuck and safely on the drive.

Wednesday morning was spent shovelling a couple of tonnes of snow from behind both cars!

Anyway, now it is just the estate roads and little roads that are compacted hard icey snow. So far the Prius has been very good even on it's summer tyres but I must admit I'm thinking of saving up for winter wheels / tyres in time for next year.

[GreenJuice]

Part of my commute is a long uphill run. Last week it was ungritted, fresh snow, packed down to ice by other traffic. Buses were slipping and sliding, then letting off all their passengers and being abandoned. Many rear wheel drive vehicles were getting nowhere. I smiled as I passed a couple of Mercs, a BMW and a Porsche 911 - their rear wheels spinning. My traction light came on once, but otherwise it was plain sailing.

Seems to me its best to let the VSC and ABS do its work, use momentum judiciously & keep a distance from others!

[timberwolf]

It took an hour to clear the snow and ice off my car today. My Prius is parked on a downward slope and the car hadn't been driven since it had snowed earlier in the week. The most difficult bit to clear was the snow around the Wiper Blades that had turned into ice. :( The only positive is that I guess all that idling did help charge the 12v Battery.

The other thing I noticed is that engine temperature never got up to 86C, it stayed around 42C - this is something that I also notice one time when I had started up and then got stuck on the motorway before the car had warmed up. My car only seems to be able to warm the engine up to operating temperature if it is driven.

[Fujisan]

I smiled as I passed a couple of Mercs, a BMW and a Porsche 911 - their rear wheels spinning.

There is quite a debate on the Autocar website about high powered cars / fat low profile summer tyres / winter tyres / 4x4 etc., etc..

This years snow / ice and the fact that since moving to Warrington we have had quite a few winter white out's is seriously making we think of investing in winter wheels & tyres.

Humble pie all round Sagitar, you definately had the right idea, sorry I ever doubted you.

(By the way, I never smile at other peoples mis-fortune. I only think 'there but for the grace of God' and thank my lucky stars)

Seems to me its best to let the VSC and ABS do its work, use momentum judiciously & keep a distance from others!

Oh yes, totally agree!

[mfs1011]

The other thing I've noticed is the number of complete numpties thinking they can drive at brisk speeds on this snow and still stop. Far too many idiots driving far too fast with pedestrians walking in the road to avoid slipping and cars parked in odd places.

Needless to say the plod are nowhere to be seen