Toyota Prius – Ass Kicker, or Trouble Maker?

[Filsilva]

This article started me on the path to buying a Prius. I drive for work (business owner, and yes it's worth it) and put about 100-120 km per day on my vehicle. I bought a used Toyota Tacoma two years ago thinking I needed the space in the back. Turns out I didn't need it as much as I thought.

I read this article and the one prior to it and did some research online and then went looking. Test drove 3 cars and chose one. Got a great trade in on my truck.

I must say, the Prius ROCKS! It handles great, fits 5 easily, carries a ton of stuff and carries my bikes on a hitch I installed myself (with bike rack of course). The fuel efficiency is crazy! I burn 60% less than the truck and 65-70% less than the 05 Nissan Pathfinder I have (I will make it go away soon too), so my wife uses my vehicle a lot more now.

So THANKS MMM for that article! It sent me on the path to a kick-ass car.

[follicular]

I too am a recent prius purchaser and have been enjoying the ride for the last 2 months. I would say the handling is not quite as nimble as some other toyota midsized cars but the mileage is great!! I can't wait for gas prices to peak over $4--they will eventually you know. In fact, I am a firm believer in tacking on US federal taxes to each gallon of gas to the tune of maybe $.50---take care of the national debt, air pollution, traffic congestion, etc. in one felled swoop.
Good Luck.

[reverend]

The taxes are already tacked on to each gallon and it's very close to 50 cents per...

The handling of the Prius has a bit to do with the tires. It's a little squirrely with cheapo tires, so I'll see if the Continental ContiAttack DWS' are available next time around. I really would like a VW Golf/Jetta TDi instead to get great mileage, but Toyotas a bit more reliable and the 2005 Prius in my driveway now has 105000 miles with only a hybrid pump replaced (under warranty/recall) and other than that, regular maintenance.  It's not an exciting car, but it's very practical and roomy for what it is. The mileage is okay too (right now I get about 46mpg, and top was 51mpg).  The Jetta or Golf would likely have cost more to keep on the road for the mileage.

[grantmeaname]

The federal tax is 18.4c per gallon. In Ohio the total for state and federal is only 25.9c, which is nowhere close to 50c.

EDIT: And, everywhere nationwide, the average for gas tax between state and federal is 45c. I stand corrected.

[Jamesqf]

EDIT: And, everywhere nationwide, the average for gas tax between state and federal is 45c. I stand corrected.

No, you were right first time around.  The OP was calling for a Federal gas tax of $0.50.  Though it wouldn't pay off the debt by any stretch of the imagination, it might at least fill a few potholes, and repair some rusty bridges before they collapse.

[jbhernandez]

While I don't have a Prius, here's what I getting as soon I get one.

http://www.juicedhybrid.com/Prius-Electric-Mode-Only-EVMODE-p/evmode.htm

This Prius hack will let the car run on electric only up to 34 mph.

[reverend]

While I don't have a Prius, here's what I getting as soon I get one.

http://www.juicedhybrid.com/Prius-Electric-Mode-Only-EVMODE-p/evmode.htm

This Prius hack will let the car run on electric only up to 34 mph.

It does that anyway, the button merely tries to do so a little more aggressively. If your HV battery is low, or speed over 32, or A/C running etc (there are some other variables) then it won't.

[Taylor]

I got a 2007 Prius back in March, and I love it so far. I'm a little nervous about driving it in the snow, as I used to have a Ford Escape, but I'm planning on getting some really good tires. Anyone have experience driving it in the snow?

[grantmeaname]

Why would having a heavier, taller vehicle be a good thing in conditions of compromised traction?

[palvar]

No, you were right first time around.  The OP was calling for a Federal gas tax of $0.50.  Though it wouldn't pay off the debt by any stretch of the imagination, it might at least fill a few potholes, and repair some rusty bridges before they collapse.

Just over $5 a gallon would cover all federal expenditures.

[Jamesqf]

No, you were right first time around.  The OP was calling for a Federal gas tax of $0.50.  Though it wouldn't pay off the debt by any stretch of the imagination, it might at least fill a few potholes, and repair some rusty bridges before they collapse.

Just over $5 a gallon would cover all federal expenditures.

Check your math.  Federal expenditure in 2012 is $3.8 trillion: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/fed_spending_2012USrn  Gasoline consumption was 134 billion gallons: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=23&t=10  So it'd take a bit over $28/gal in tax to cover all Federal expenditures.  Even figuring that the tax would also apply to the ~63 billion gallons of diesel fuel as well would only get it down to about $19.29 per gallon.  Then figure that if it was taxed at that level, consumption would go way down...

[reverend]

I got a 2007 Prius back in March, and I love it so far. I'm a little nervous about driving it in the snow, as I used to have a Ford Escape, but I'm planning on getting some really good tires. Anyone have experience driving it in the snow?

For all-season duty the Continental DWS tires are very good and have a long life (I put them on the Volvo).  There are two issues that I have with the Prius in the snow. First, it's front-wheel drive, which is inferior in the snow.  Second, the traction control is a little twitchy and over-active on it.

The FWD thing is something often debated, and in most common use isn't that big of a deal, but personally I prefer to have physics on my side with a RWD car (there's a reason that race cars and cop cars most often are RWD).  If/when something goes wrong, any advantage I have is a benefit.
The twitchy traction control seems is just unnerving and might err on the side of caution or excessive safety.  I'd recommend you take the car out in a parking lot and play for a bit to get a feel for when the tires let go, when the traction control kicks in and how the car behaves when you don't. ;) 

The BEST bet would be to find a cheap set of rims and mount real snow tires (Michelin X-Ice2's are studless but absolutely amazing in the snow!) on them and put them on before first snow.

[TLV]

Re: FWD or RWD in the snow, in my experience what makes a big difference is whether there is weight over the drive wheels. A RWD pickup truck with an empty bed will have a really hard time, whereas a similarly empty FWD vehicle would be ok because it has the weight of the engine over the wheels. My grandma loads her trunk up with heavy stuff during the winter because her RWD car can't make it up the hill to her house in winter otherwise.

[Taylor]

Thanks Reverend, for the tips. I did plan on getting snow tires, but I didn't know that I also had to get rims. I am planning on doing some practice in the snow because I've heard so much about the tricky things about the Prius in the snow, and I do want it to use for snowboarding this year (I have a back-up in that my boyfriend has an Xterra that I can borrow, but I'd rather use the prius).

[James]

I live in northern Wisconsin and have a number of friends with Priuses.  They don't have any problem in snow, at least not any more than similar vehicles.  I prefer front wheel drive to RWD in snow, but I absolutely love my Outback in snow...  :)

(And I still miss my truck, even though my Outback handles snow better than it did.)

[Jamesqf]

I agree that FWD is better than RWD in snow - and I have snow on serious mountains, too.  Only problems I've had with the Insight (and CRX, etc before that) is when the snow gets more than 5-6 inches deep.  It just doesn't make a very good snowplow :-)

[menorman]

Ask just about any true driver and almost all will say that RWD > AWD > FWD in the snow. RWD is better, but only under the tutelage of a competent driver. The reason everyone loves AWD/FWD so much is because there are scant few competent drivers on the road these days. When something goes wrong, it becomes much easier to handle and correct a AWD/FWD vehicle than a RWD.

[Cinder]

I have a 2008 Prius.  My tires were pretty low on tread, and I had ordered a set but not changed them out yet, and we had a decent bit of snow in Central PA..

I was trying to go up a small hill, and constantly spinning out.  The traction control was infuriating!  It would start to slip, and then just cut all power.  I have successfully gotten my Prius out of some tough spots at our local ski resort before using floor mats and a little pushing, but that wouldn't help at all on this very small hill.  If I had a way to disable the traction control, I would have been able to clear out enough snow and make my way up the hill..

To be fair, this was my own fault, I told the wife that we didn't really need X from the grocery store with a blizzard coming in, but she insisted. 

I have debated on picking up a second set of rims and throwing snow tires on them.  What would be a good brand/price to look for?   My very unmustashian Jeep Wrangler has two sets of tires, a set of 32x11.50 on aluminum wheels, and my 'off road' 34x12.50's on steel wheels.   


Having them mounted on a second set of rims just makes it easy to swap at home, much less hassle to change a tire then swap tires on a wheel (even if you have all the gear to do it).  I am just not sure at what point it pays for itself..

[Taylor]

As an update on Prius snow-driving, I'm happy to report that the Prius was awesome in the light-to-moderate snow/ice we got in Denver this winter. I ended up not even getting chains, just some good all-weather tires. There was one day during a snowstorm that I stayed home because my office closed, and I didn't drive it anywhere. I also used my fiance's Xterra to make treks up to the mountain once or twice for snowboarding. But overall is was great :)

On a separate note, we just took the Prius for a camping trip to Moab and it tackled some rocky dirt roads as we did BLM camping and it was a champ! I passed tomes of people in hummer, souped-up jeeps, jacked up SUVs, etc and just whizzed by them in the prius :)