Uphill in snow

[LambertvilleKen]

While pulling uphill out of my brother-in-law's driveway the other day with some snow on the ground, the '05 Prius sounded quite weak and was unable to get enough oomph to get onto the road. Had to sheepishly back up and go out the other end of the driveway.

Since there is no "low" drive (does B fulfill that role?), I'm hoping this was just a fluke or maybe the engine was too cold to crank out any power. I briefly felt like I was driving a three cylinder Justy with two cylinders out of commission.

This was the first taste of snow the new Prius had experienced.

Also, when first driving after the car has been sitting or cold, milage is pretty poor. I live on a hill and going downhill cranks out less than 25 mpg for a few minutes. Normal?

Any thoughts?
Ken

[epinionator89]

Mileage is bound to lower when your engine's cold. From what I've researched on Prius vehicles, the engine will run continuously just to warm it up. Only when it's at normal operating temperature will the engine shut off for electric-only operation ("stealth mode" as most owners have infamously nicknamed it), at stoplights etc.

I'm not sure about the lack of power though.

(By the way, welcome to TN. )

[Tideland Prius]

Press the accelerator harder . Most people are scared to press it harder because the PSD will rev the engine up and people associate high rev/low speed as bad. "B" is engine braking or the equivalent of shifting to L when going downhill.

As epinionator89 said, any car will have bad mileage when cold. You'll notice it only on the Prius and others with trip computers that tell you the mileage. The car's first priority is to lower emissions which means the engine and catalyst must be up to operating temperature as fast as possible. A 3L thermos that stores coolant helps a bit but install an engine block heater to get it out of the warm up period even faster. Also, I'd recommend a good set of winter tyres cause the stock AS Goodyear Integritys are pretty pathetic in deep snow as I've heard from other East Coasters. If not, I guess a set of TripleTreds should suffice.

[LambertvilleKen]

Well, we're supposed to get some snow today (2-8" coastal storm, tough to forecast), so I'll take it out and play. Will bring cell phone to call AAA if I get stuck.
Ken

[Tideland Prius]

Oh, and ignore what mr2driver has to say cause nothing constructive ever comes out of his mouth.

Go have some fun. I did yesterday. Get a feel of when the TRAC will kick and how to respond when VSC kicks in.

[epinionator89]

I've always wondered what it's like to have traction control/stability control. Do they make as much noise as ABS does?

[Tideland Prius]

Depends on the system I guess. The Prius one, if you have the radio and A/C off, you can hear the clicking sounds. When TRAC is engaged, the "slip" indicator will blink. If VSC is engaged, the "slip" indicator will blink and a beep will sound.