We drove over 120 miles on the evening of one of these bad winter storms. The storm happened to hit very quickly and it was pretty late on a Sunday night, so the road crews weren't out everywhere so quick. Also, there weren't very many cars on the road in the first place - reducing the contribution of tire friction on snow.
The highways were completely covered in the passing lanes and mostly covered in the "slow" lane. The average speed on the PA turnpike was only around 38
MPH for over 50 miles.
The Prius only acted a little unpredictably after I ran a little bit off of the road into some deep and heavy snow after a red light changed green, but that was pretty much my fault.
I was very impressed with how well the car handled when I did have to enter the passing lane (to pass those who felt like they had to go 25
MPH). I have to add that I wasn't going very fast when I entered the snow-covered lane. If I was going 60
MPH, I wouldn't have gone for it - there was at least 3" of snow on the road.
Another thing I'd like to add is how I didn't feel as stressed-out as I probably would have been in my old Grand-Am - seriously.
Does anybody have a similar story about winter driving in this little "shuttle"?
Peace,
Opie B)
