Hybrid Winter Driving Tips

[TQS]

I have been pleasantly surprised when driving my GenIII Prius in the snow and ice. I just took it gently and either I was very good or the car took over and helped, but I found I was able to drive up hills that were blocked by lorries very easily. Take it steady and take advantage of being able to drive at 1 - 2 mph.

[Dave R.]

I have been pleasantly surprised when driving my GenIII Prius in the snow and ice. I just took it gently and either I was very good or the car took over and helped, but I found I was able to drive up hills that were blocked by lorries very easily. Take it steady and take advantage of being able to drive at 1 - 2 mph.

Just had an "interesting" journey in the latest downpour of snow.... getting up a rather steep hill with a fresh covering of snow.... the traction control took over (sounded like I was driving over very "crunchy" snow, but I suspect it was simply the TC pulsing the power). It was rather strange experience - the Prius was doing about 1-2 mph & struggling like mad to get any traction (thank goodness for the 2 new tyres on the front!) Fortunately I expected the traction control to cut in with a vengeance and so sat tight letting the car get on with the job itself. After a few rather tense minutes, it managed to crawl its way up the hill. I suspect that any other car (except for 4x4 I guess) would have been sat at the bottom spinning its wheels. The principle I applied was - provided the car is still moving forwards, however slowly, let it keep on trying. It's only stuck once it gets to the state when it doesn't move at all!

[Cyker]

Slight tangent; Ho can you tell whether you're using regen braking or friction?

Is there a detent on the brake pedal so you can feel past that point you're on friction brakes, or is it all handled by the computer?

Or do you just have to guess??

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Pretty much anything over 7 mph is going to be regen unless you brake harder at which point you get friction brakes as well. The friction brakes are always there ready to be used, but the first 'part' of braking involves the regen. It sounds weird but in practice you can't tell. It also saves your brake pads and discs as they are not used anywhere near as much as a normal cars.

[dwilson]

I have been pleasantly surprised when driving my GenIII Prius in the snow and ice. I just took it gently and either I was very good or the car took over and helped, but I found I was able to drive up hills that were blocked by lorries very easily. Take it steady and take advantage of being able to drive at 1 - 2 mph.

Just had an "interesting" journey in the latest downpour of snow.... getting up a rather steep hill with a fresh covering of snow.... the traction control took over (sounded like I was driving over very "crunchy" snow, but I suspect it was simply the TC pulsing the power). It was rather strange experience - the Prius was doing about 1-2 mph & struggling like mad to get any traction (thank goodness for the 2 new tyres on the front!) Fortunately I expected the traction control to cut in with a vengeance and so sat tight letting the car get on with the job itself. After a few rather tense minutes, it managed to crawl its way up the hill. I suspect that any other car (except for 4x4 I guess) would have been sat at the bottom spinning its wheels. The principle I applied was - provided the car is still moving forwards, however slowly, let it keep on trying. It's only stuck once it gets to the state when it doesn't move at all!

Only had my Prius since August but I am worried about getting stuck in this snow - my previous car was AWD.

The Prius has been good so far but I did experience the traction control preventing me moving forwards after I had stopped on ice in a car park (due to car in front stopping and sliding). Wish I could switch off traction control in that situation. I had to reverse out which was tricky in the dark and other cars coming in.

[Chris Dance]

My previous car the Toyota Avensis had the facility for disabling traction control it would be an advantage if the Prius had this as well.

My son drives in the French Alps a lot. At the moment he is there using his RAV4. In previous winters in the alps he used his Prius it was useless on normal tyres. He uses winter tyres now and the Prius copes well in the alps. It depends on the circumstances whether he uses "B" but on some mountain descents he does use it. Using "B" on a descent in the alps soon gives a fully charged Battery. I hate driving in snow and ice as a retired oldie it has the advantage that you can stay indoors. I decline offers to go to the French Alps with my son in Winter even though he has a nice warm apartment there.

[fuel miser]

Advice on winter tyres/snow chains/socks from the IAM.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/8209810/Winter-tyre-advice-from-the-IAM.html

[capnbirdseye]

There seems to be endless threads on various forums about 'B' mode and whether it charges the Battery or not, apparently it does but only 30% compared to normal regenerative braking according to this:

http://www.techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/b-mode.html

In the smallest possible nutshell, "B" mode is designed to WASTE some energy

that the car cannot recover and store.

[r04drunner1]

My Prius has been BRILLIANT in the white stuff.

I went to pick up a friend and saw a couple of other (FWD) cars get stranded trying to get up his hill. The Prius went up no problem.

I guess it's down to a combination of factors:

1) New tyres - well, I've done less than 3,000 miles on them.

2) FWD

3) Ability to creep along at slow speeds in electric

4) ECO mode on the throttle, means it is less sensitive to foot movements - exactly what you want in the slippery stuff.

5) All the electronic aids - ABS, ESR etc

6) Lightweight car with low power/torque - relative to the Jaguars I've been used to

7) Tyres are not low profile - 17 inch is not THAT low a profile by today's standards

I am well chuffed!

R04drunner1

[marlinleg]

Hi I have a prius plus 3rd gen, I have not driven much in snow ,but I do use winter tyres, they have a different rubber composition, which greatly helps in stopping distance in cold weather, plus side is they are good in snow, they are not snow tyres

[marlinleg]

Hi I have a prius plus 3rd gen, I have not driven much in snow ,but I do use winter tyres, they have a different rubber composition, which greatly helps in stopping distance in cold weather, plus side is they are good in snow, they are not snow tyres

I would like to follow up on my early post Look at this link Auto Express first part in snow 2nd part cold wet

I hope the link works

[PeteB]

This is the first year I've fitted winter tyres, but can't say they've really made a noticeable difference so far in another mild winter (apart from being noisier and hitting mpg more on a longer journey compared to last year).

Not that I regret having them, it gives some peace of mind that if I'm out and the weather turns nasty I'll have an advantage.

On the colder days they're supposed to give better braking even on a dry road, but I can't say I've ever been unable to control the car adequately on summer tyres in the past, when roads have been cold, but dry or just damp.

That said, I learned early in my driving career to anticipate well and do everything gently in snow and ice as there were some harsh winters in my first few years of driving in the 1970s. I've been rear ended twice (not seriously fortunately) by people who didn't make sufficient allowance though.

One thing I did find on my Gen 1 & 2 Prius was that using B mode in fresh snow could give better control than using the brakes for managing speed in the 5-20 mph range (haven't driven a Gen 3 in snow - yet!).

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I swear by my winter tyres and wouldn't be without them personally. But then I've had the odd close shave where I know they've paid for themself just in that one incident.

[CPN]

Like you Jonathan, I wouldn't be without winter/snow tyres these days during the winter months, no matter how mild it is and no matter what type of car I am driving. The one thing I have learnt about "normal" tyres fitted to cars these days is that show them low temperatures combined with wetness and they are next to useless if you need them in an emergency. I guess that's the price we have had to pay for all these cars running much higher mpg figures than in the past with the aid of smaller engines and LRR tyres...

Someone was asking earlier in this thread about regen braking in a hybrid and how did a person know when pressing the brake pedal, whether it was regen or physical brakes. Well, with the aid of the excellent Android Torque app and the relevant custom OBDII pids for the Prius/Yaris Gen 3 hybrid, you can actually see it in action by monitoring the flow of current into and out of the HV Battery. I did it this evening coming back home just before turning into my driveway. I had already slowed to just below 30 on approach and so was already in EV mode at the time.

As I applied the brakes, the reverse current (it shows as a negative quantity when being charged and positive when the car is consuming it...) going into the Battery climbed to near 70 Amps for a time as I dropped below 20 and then 10 mph whilst turning into the drive. The physical brakes weren't used during this process at all and that was about a third pressure on the brake pedal and it feels sort of "soft". As soon as I slowed further whilst manoeuvring (probably about 5 mph) the feel on the pedal was immediately different (harder) but not radically so... That's as close as I can get to describing the difference in feel between regen and physical brakes...

[johalareewi]

One thing I did find on my Gen 1 & 2 Prius was that using B mode in fresh snow could give better control than using the brakes for managing speed in the 5-20 mph range (haven't driven a Gen 3 in snow - yet!).

B mode in the snow in my Gen3 works really well for going downhill.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Absolutely. I know it's meant for steep hills but B mode does allow some 'engine' braking and is great in snow. Even Mrs Cabbie uses it on her IQ in the snow. Once you're back on a clear road just slip the car back into D.

[Mike0001]

There are so many people in the UK that just don't get that winter tyres may save their lives. LISTEN to the guy from Norway..please. With the weather in the last 2 years they're A MUST. Its amazing that some of the folks posting here are more interested in their mpg than being safe!!! We really are a third world country in some respects.

I am looking to buying four Michelin CrossClimate Tyres when they become available.

http://www.michelin.co.uk/tyres/michelin-crossclimate?fromTyreSelector=true&width=205&selectorMode=bySize&ratio=55&radial=16&load=91&speed=v&zp=false&fromTyreSegment=1&dimensionId=crossclimate-22742-094665-261855