Prius in Winter.wmv

PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING: This video shows traction control kicking in and preventing our Prius from making it up a nearly clear driveway with factory tires. I did not let off the gas on the initial run up the driveway - the Prius cut power upon the tires slipping slowing and then stopping the car. Despite possible appearances in the video the driveway is not icy -- the slippage is caused by snow picked up by the tires on the snowy road before hitting the drive. Starting around 0:54 seconds you will see me try to slowly climb up the hill and failing. This was done only to capture the fact that it would not work as this tactic had been suggested by several other people previously. I live in Minnesota and drive on snowy roads constantly, please give me the benefit of the doubt that I would not sit on the hill and spin my tires thinking I would magically get up the next time. I really appreciate the multiple calls to take a driving course that this part of the video has generated -- I'm glad to know others are so wise. Finally, I have since purchased a set of snow tires, and they are good enough at shedding snow that I am reliably able to make it up the drive, though I find if I do not get a quick enough running start the traction control still stops me on occasion. A couple of other bits of info: Another Prius owner has tried the driveway without snow tires as well -- their Prius was also stopped by traction control. Before the Prius we had a front wheel drive Honda which had no trouble getting up the drive without snow tires in similar conditions.

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People & Blogs

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• Prius
• in
• Winter

[nisseman74]

First, driving in that weather without snow tires is just stupid.

Second, the car is too heavy to move forward with spinning wheels even if traction control was switched off, trying to drive in that with spinning wheels would only wear the tires down. You can see the car moving backwards as soon as the tires spin and there is no momentum to move forward.

Learn to drive in winter conditions before putting your poor attempts online

[Dolgon2008]

@nisseman74 I appreciate your sage advice. Please read the video description and let me know if you have any addtional comments.

[smokedame]

Not the Prius' fault. Watch 0:58 seconds.

It's all ice.  Most cars will not make it up...including your fwd Civic.

I'd also suggest backing it in. More weight over the front tires and also when you leave your house you don't have to stop in the middle of the road. No big deal if no snow, but if there is snow you have to stop and then try to get momentum again.

[Dolgon2008]

The drive really was 95% clear it was snow on the tires from the road that caused the car to loose traction....once it loses traction on a slope the power to the wheel is cut off and the car comes to a stop. In normal conditions on snowy roads you may rarely or never see this depending on where you drive. Again - snow tires fixed it for me...they shed the snow quickly enough that I can keep traction.

[toyotaprius79]

dont blame the prius. any front wheel drive car can struggle that slope in such weather

[Dolgon2008]

Its actually the Prius in this case. It cuts power when the tire slips so it cant spin the snow off that it brought with it from the road. Prior to the Prius we had a regular front wheel drive car (a Civic) and it would get up just fine in similar conditions. After putting snow times on its not nearly so bad - though it will still briefly cut power on me a few times it retains enough traction to get me up the driveway even with a small amount of standing snow.

[99gsx4g63]

This problem isn't only on the Prius, lots of Toyota's and other companies have the same problem.

Look up videos of Subaru awd test and you'll see a nissan murano awd do even worse then this Prius. It would stop before it even made it half way up this guys driveway.

[smokedame]

@smokedame It might not be as fast/quick as the v8, v12 etc that the germans seem to think they need, but I'll at least get there without a tow truck.

[smokedame]

It still amazes me after all these years, that so many people are misinformed about the Prius and hybrids in general. What I find most amazing is that it's usually people who are german car enthusiast's to have a comment about the Prius. Must because they know it's more reliable then anything the germans can put on the roads. I will take a Prius over any bmw, merc or any other CRAP germany puts out.

[loweredtalon]

@mysqueeker Agreed! The more I read posts from these youtube hero's the more I laugh. Like these idiots: Zaphodsplanet and 31ilia01. They have NO clue.

[mysqueeker]

@loweredtalon same here matt. these idiots that dont have priuses dont know what they are missing insted they just find a way to hate because they dont have one. the prius is a very good car and it does pay for itself. my prius was all original at 200k miles and the only thing that was replaced was the headlight position sensor which had water get into and caused it to fail. everything else was factory and no problems and averaged between 55-65mpg highway and 75-85 city

[ZaphodsPlanet]

Prius is a POS designed for moron liberals who think they're "saving the environment", but they all seem completely oblivious of the round the world trip made by the materials for the batteries which completely offsets any bullshit carbon output reduction they think they're helping with. If you want a Prius, then by all means knock yourself out. An old 83 mercedes diesel I used to have would have made it up that driveway with crappy tires. Example just shows how pathetic a car it is.

[re245]

I love it when I see them stuck on a snowy Michigan road. I had one stuck in front of me on a little incline. Oh how I wanted to help him out with a great big push from my F-250. And I mean a great big push.

[31ilia01]

HA AHA see the prius dosnt even go up a teenie hill

[ClevelandOrangeDawgs]

YOU CAR BLOWS! BUY FROM AN AMERICAN COMPANY!

[MrFederalistPapers]

I had a toyota do this on level ground when I pulled into an intersection. The car just cut power and nearly got me hit. Luckily it was a rental.

[TrailGator01]

It's not the car, its the tires. And what appears to be ice. Did your Honda have an LSD? Any FWD vehicle with summer tires and an open differential would have issues with ice going up hill....