[IHTR]

Originally posted by alf@Dec 15 2005, 10:07 AM
Yesterday we got about 7 inches of wet snow in northeast Wisconsin.

I had read a comment about a Prius not able to negotiate snow in Alaska so I though I'd put the Hylander to the test.  Well with very little effort I was able to put it in a situation where I was unable to move forward.

I got in some of the wet slippery snow on level concrete.  I stopped and let the wheels set for a few seconds.  Well that was pretty much it.  I had stopped such that the tires had to push snow if they went forward.  They would pulse on for a second and then off for about 5 seconds.  I couldn't see how much they were moving but I would guess a quarter revolution or so and they would stop.  This would go on for some time.  If I backed up and got a run at it I was okay, and if I went in someone else's tracks I was fine.  That would probably explain why I went prett well in reverse, where the drive wheels were following the rear wheels.

I have stock tires, and the 2WD decision was based on the fact that I didn't want to carry the weight of the rear drive unit anound.  My guess is that the 4WD would get much better traction with the added weight and additional drive wheels.

If I had to make the purchase decision again I would not change anything.  I just wanted to know how far I could push it.  The Prius yielded the same results when I took it out.

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