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)

 

Do you happen to have VSC? If so, how often did it kick in and what affects did it have?

 

No VSC here.

I did get to see the "slip indicator light" icon a couple times. The funny thing is that it indicates when you accelerate too quickly as well as when you put the brakes on too hard and the ABS kicks in.

There was another scary moment, come to think of it. I had just enabled the cruise control on a slight incline and then the wheels started slipping. The cruise kicked back in trying to keep me at 34 MPH and then she slipped again. I noticed this icon flashing and the car was lurching forward for a few cycles. All I had to do was turn off the cruise. Phew!

 

I can guarantee that in these conditions, VSC would have kicked in numerous times and made you feel extremely "safe." Of course, I live in Florida and will find my VSC virtually useless unless I am haplessly involved in a high-speed chase or hurricane downpour, neither of which I'm quite expecting