Would be interesting to see if you could make it up the driveway with winters.

I'll bet yes.

 

I have to side with those that recommend snow tires. They make a world of difference on any car, let alone the TCH. I won't recite the statistics here - the data is readily available. If you don't use snow tires, you can't expect good traction (not in an Ottawa winter anyway), and I sincerely hope that you never have to brake quickly with me in your way!

That said - my TCH (equipped with good quality snows in the winter) is the most stable car I've ever driven in the winter. The VSC is simply amazing.

I will say that I have gotten stuck one time - I drove off the side of the road a bit and got one of the drive wheels completely buried in the snow. The car would not budge until I cleared it, but I'm not convinced that wouldn't have happened with any other car. I think that without the traction control, the other drive wheel would probably just have spun freely rather than not turning at all, producing the same result - but I admit that I can't be sure of that.

 

The tires on the hybrid are not made for winter weather, they are for low friction (best mpg). Not good match in snow ! I live in one of the worst areas for winter Montreal, and with a good set of winters I have never had a problem, the car is very easy to control. The only thing that needs to be improved is the ability to disable the traction control when stuck on ice or in a snow bank so that one can rock the car out .

 

If you live in a snow area, get snow tires. It's important to remember your life depends on the ability of your car to stick to the road under each tire on a space about the size of your hand. You can go cheap on many things for your car, but not paying the money to ensure you have the best control of your vehicle in winter conditions should not be one of them. Todays snow tires have come a long way over the ones we used to use.

 

In Canada, there are several provinces that have passed laws mandating the use of winter tires. Several others are looking at doing it as well.

 

OK so I'm convinced. I need snow tires for the winter. What's a good brand?

 

Lots of good snow brands out there..I purchased the Continential extreme winter contacts....and after a bad snow last weekend I'm extremely pleased. Very impressed with the ice contact as well as snow.I know peoplw who have Blizzaks and Michelins and are also very pleased.

 

Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3. Best snow tire I've ever had.

 

I purchased a '09 TCH in april of '08 in Anchorage Alaska. My wife is the daily driver and we maintain about 32-40 MPG (weather depending) in the winter (Oct-Apr). Up here studded tires are legal and its all the rage to have them. My wife being the strong headed female she is, raised in Minnesota opted to keep the factory tires on. No problems so far, if the expectation of the car is to drive like it is dry and warm that is unreasonable. It is balanced a little better because of the battery pack on the rear axle and she does just fine. The stablilty and traction control do work quite well and I'm honeslty impressed.

 

I have a long hill I have to climb to get home and seeing as it's a side street, the plows don't get to it until everything else is cleared. Most of the time I think I could get by without snow tires, but not when it comes to getting up this hill. 18 inches of snow today and I wouldn't want to be driving my TCH or any other car without snow tires. That's not a slam, as I don't think anybody without snow tires should be on the road with that amount of snow. I have 4 General studded snows mounted on aluminum rims that I purchased from Tirerack. They worked great today, traction and stopping. I highly recommend them, so far. Mileage drop on dry pavement is about -5mpg compared to the original equipment Bridgestones. The TCH is not as good in the snow as my wifes 4 wheel drive Jeep, but that wouldn't be a very fair comparison.