[lowspeed]

I have expirienced two really scray incedent where i was on an uphill with a slippery condition (mud and snow).

Problem is once you get to zero speed you can no longer make the wheel spin no matter what.

It doesn't even try, only way is reversing which is freakin dangerous.

SO i know it has traction control but at least it should keep trying to get some traction instead it gets to a point where no matter how much to press on the gas pedal nothing happens.


Anyone had similer expirience?

 

[Victor]

No.

I have winter tyres and had no problem. I also got onto a very steep hill where I had to stop. On starting, the wheels started to slip on the gravel, and the TC kicked in. I just kept the foot on the gas and the TC got hold and I moved up easily. At first I thought it wasnt going to budge, but I just let the car et on with it.

Anyhow, as said elsewhere, if you are on ice/snow and the wheels spin, you wont get any traction, you just polish the ice, so spinning the wheels doesnt help. You need to apply very gentle power, and that is one of the things TC forces you to do.

 

[lowspeed]

No.

I have winter tyres and had no problem. I also got onto a very steep hill where I had to stop. On starting, the wheels started to slip on the gravel, and the TC kicked in. I just kept the foot on the gas and the TC got hold and I moved up easily. At first I thought it wasnt going to budge, but I just let the car et on with it.

Anyhow, as said elsewhere, if you are on ice/snow and the wheels spin, you wont get any traction, you just polish the ice, so spinning the wheels doesnt help. You need to apply very gentle power, and that is one of the things TC forces you to do.

So your saying something maybe wrong with the car?

The uphill on the mud situation wasn't even so steep....

 

[jshore]

Well, I didn't have an uphill situation, but there were a few times starting up from a stop this winter where the car would hardly move at all as the traction control kicked in...which seemed a bit disconcerting at the time. On the other hand, I guess just sitting there because you are spinning your wheels isn't any better. I guess I just didn't feel competent to judge whether I would have been happier with the car's reaction with or without traction control in these situations.

 

[lowspeed]

Well, I didn't have an uphill situation, but there were a few times starting up from a stop this winter where the car would hardly move at all as the traction control kicked in...which seemed a bit disconcerting at the time. On the other hand, I guess just sitting there because you are spinning your wheels isn't any better. I guess I just didn't feel competent to judge whether I would have been happier with the car's reaction with or without traction control in these situations.

The thing with the mud is that if it keeps trying it espacially not in deep mud just alayer of mud it could at some point get a grip. but just feeling dead in the water is the worst feeling.

 

[hyperion]

I think everyone is complaining cause we can't dig a nice big "hole." like we can with American "iron."

 

[Guest]

better tires

OEM tires are crap. Get better tires and you won't have a problem. I did and the change is dramatic.

 

[lowspeed]

Re: better tires

OEM tires are crap. Get better tires and you won't have a problem. I did and the change is dramatic.

Doesnt matter if the OEM tires are crap or not. They actually seem to be pretty good.

The problem is once you loose traction on an uphill your stuck It will not even try to spin the wheels.

Anyone knows why ? I'm still waiting to hear from someone that had this scenerio happen to.

 

[Tideland Prius]

Well I got stuck on a hill with slush. I was going up then realised - wait, can I get back down? While doing that I stopped. Once I came to a halt, I could not get up that slush hill (with OEMs) but then again, we rarely get snow and going up that hill wasn't THAT important. I just slowly slid back down and got my bro to drop me off

 

[dontcheff]

I have had no problems with the icy or snow surface here in Finland. Steady car! But I have winter tyres..

 

[Cyclesome]

Huge Disappointment

Lowspeed,

I had the exact same experience yesterday. I wrote a post about it on Priuschat.com called Huge Dissapointment. I just picked up my Salsa 3/31/05 and was so excited. Then we received about 3-6 inches of snow which was slushy Saturday night. Coming back from church on Sunday, I could not get up my driveway. The car's wheels just spun and spun in the slush. Depressing the accelerator did nothing. Eventually, we realized the only way to get up our 2/10 mile driveway was to put it in reverse then drive continuously until we made it up the driveway. I should mention I live in Western Pa in the hearlant of the Allegheny Mountains.

The OEM tires are a piece of CRAP! There is no way my dear Prius will be able to cope the PA winters without winter tires. I just pray that helps.

 

[lowspeed]

Re: Huge Disappointment

Lowspeed,

I had the exact same experience yesterday. I wrote a post about it on Priuschat.com called Huge Dissapointment. I just picked up my Salsa 3/31/05 and was so excited. Then we received about 3-6 inches of snow which was slushy Saturday night. Coming back from church on Sunday, I could not get up my driveway. The car's wheels just spun and spun in the slush. Depressing the accelerator did nothing. Eventually, we realized the only way to get up our 2/10 mile driveway was to put it in reverse then drive continuously until we made it up the driveway. I should mention I live in Western Pa in the hearlant of the Allegheny Mountains.

The OEM tires are a piece of CRAP! There is no way my dear Prius will be able to cope the PA winters without winter tires. I just pray that helps.

SO ur wheels kept trying to spin when pressing the gas pedel ?

Mine did not respond to my pedel press.

 

[Cyclesome]

My gas pedal did nothing . It was useless.

 

[Cyclesome]

I wanted my gas engine to come on, but I had no speed even when I had the gas pedeled floored. It was a futile situation.

 

[lowspeed]

I wanted my gas engine to come on, but I had no speed even when I had the gas pedeled floored. It was a futile situation.

I think toyota should check into it.

I was scared **** when it happend.

 

[Cyclesome]

Lowspeed,
How long have you had your Prius? Are you happy with your Prius other than this situation? What part of the country are you from?

 

[Cyclesome]

Lowspeed,
What part of the country are you from? Do you like your Prius other than this situation? How long ago did you get your Prius?

 

[lowspeed]

Lowspeed,
What part of the country are you from? Do you like your Prius other than this situation? How long ago did you get your Prius?

upstate NY,

Yes i love it, its a nice car. But this thing really bothers me now.

It happend to my one time i thought it was a fluke, 2nd time in muddy conditions is a little too much.


And to answer your other question i had it since sept. 2004

 

[Victor]

No.

I have winter tyres and had no problem. I also got onto a very steep hill where I had to stop. On starting, the wheels started to slip on the gravel, and the TC kicked in. I just kept the foot on the gas and the TC got hold and I moved up easily. At first I thought it wasnt going to budge, but I just let the car et on with it.

Anyhow, as said elsewhere, if you are on ice/snow and the wheels spin, you wont get any traction, you just polish the ice, so spinning the wheels doesnt help. You need to apply very gentle power, and that is one of the things TC forces you to do.

So your saying something maybe wrong with the car?

The uphill on the mud situation wasn't even so steep....

Did I say that?
No. Im just telling you my experience.

 

[RSnyder]

Couple observations:

1. In a Prius, even if the gasoline engine is off, you can still get power to the wheels. In fact, at really low speed, it makes no sense to run the gasoline engine unless the hybrid battery is really low.

2. I do not believe that the traction control shuts off torque to the wheels forever. In the 2001-03 model, it shuts off briefly then tries again between 1 and 2 times per second.

3. There is no posi-traction in the differential. If either wheel can slip, it will slip and the other wheel will not turn.

4. I discovered this winter that tires make a HUGE difference. When I put new tires on my Prius it was able to climb the snowy hill by my house even though my wife's Subaru (with tires down to the wear bars and due for replacement) was not able to climb the same hill. Normally, the Subaru is a far better winter hill climber than the Prius.

5. Spinning your tires until they melt through the ice to pavement, moving forward a few yards, then doing it again, is very hard on the drive train of any car. Maybe you should avoid this behavior.

6. Flooring the accelerator in slippery conditions is probably not the best choice. Try just pushing it lightly. The Prius electric motor gives a lot of fine torque control to the driver at the low end. Take advantage of it.

7. There does not exist a car that is perfect for every use and that includes the Prius. If you live in a location where the Prius traction control interferes with your ability to drive too often, even after replacing the tires with snow rated tires, you should probably be driving an AWD car (Subaru and Audi make good ones). If you simply must have a 2 wheel drive vehicle, at least get one with posi-traction.