I am posting a few different, related threads, as different people might have different feedback and be clued in by the subject line. How does the Prius do in the snow? I assume fine, since it is front wheel drive.

 

It does well in snow. The tires that Toyota sends with it are not very good and that is its greatest weakness in snow. Some folks swear by snow tires, however that is a rather general category. Studs are terrible on all vehicles, why we drive on them to this day I cannot understand. The stud less snow tires out there are wonderful. If you choose to buy snow tires, avoid studs.

The traction control system works well, however it has no defeat switch because the traction control system is also used to protect the hybrid system from over spin in a slippery situation. That is fully understandable if you understand how all of the components fit together.



I think you will be pleased with its snow performance.

 

I've had my Prius since February, and it's handled the North Dakota snow and cold nicely. The Vehicle Stability Control has been great, especially since North Dakota doesn't salt the roads so they tend to be icey.

-j

 

With Summer drawing to a close, I'm sure some of you will be thinking about driving in snow. I live in the Mountains of Colorado at 8500 ft. I got my 2004 Prius in February 2004. Drove it the rest of that winter with the stock tires. It worked great. Then the next winter I got a set of Blizzaks. WOW!! What fun to drive in the snow. I love passing all of those gas guzzleing SUV's flipped on their roofs on I-70.

If you want a great source for tires check out www.tirerack.com You just put in make a model, etc and they give you options for tires, rims, etc. I found that most of our local tire shops had trouble finding the right rims with the correct "offset" to prevent tire rub. I had no trouble with the tires and rims from them. Everything fit perfectly. And, everything arrived in a timely manner.

 

This is a pretty solid snow car. However the factory rubber, as mentioned above just sucks. It isn't particularly good on wet surfaces, and can really break out in snow, but they aren't downright unsafe.

Consider replacing your rubber for the winter season with studless snow tires, or getting a very good set of all weather tires before the winter season.

 

mtngoat is right - you will find a lot of SUV's turned over on I-70. Probably because they are rentals of people who are traveling from DIA to the resorts. I have been searching for ideas on tires for our new Prius. Thanks for the knowledge. As far as studded snow tires - I have been over Vail Pass in whiteout conditions with heavy early season snow which is about the worst conditions that I have been through and my 95 Accord made it with reasonable confidence. I have not had any situation where I felt that my car was out of control. Studded snow tires work in the mountains and you see a lot of vehicles with them. Of course knowing how to drive is worth more than any technonlogy.

 

The Toyota Prius is just awesome in the snow. I have a 2008 Toyota Prius with Bridge stone Blizak Snow Tires on it, and it just plows through the 1-2 feet of snow in my gravel driveway here in CT. I love going up all these really steep, snow covered roads and passing all these cars that are sliding back. It's so fun. I just zip right past all theses cars. It's awesome. The Prius was built for the snow. Also, use Mobil Gasoline. I noticed that Mobil Gasoline gave me about 3-5 MPG better. In the Winter with the Snow Tires on, I average 47-48 MPG and in the Summer, I average about 56-57 MPG. Click here, to learn how to increase your MPG even more. I followed this web site to a T and it really made a difference.

 

In the interim I bought a Prius and have driven it in the snow. No problems!

 

Ya, I absolutely positively 100% love my 2008 Toyota Prius. It is great in the snow. Nothing gets in it's way lol. 50-60 MPG and a All-Weather Vehicle. Can't beat that. Make sure you get 4 Bridgestone Blizaks.

 

I just put 4 new Bridgestones on, all season for this area. But what about chains? I was doing a trial run today, to see how the chains work, and OMG all alarms went off on the car when I attempted to move it forward a bit: a big red triangle and a message to put the car into P. It allowed me to move R but not D. Does the Prius not like chains around its tires?