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SAFE ONLY IN WARM CONDITIONS
In the cooler world it aims to deliver, Toyota’s Prius becomes undriveable:
One Vermont Prius driver, suffering through a recent January snowfall, described Toyota Prius traction control as “dangerous in mountainous snow country” ...
Traction control failure in the Prius is no longer a isolated event. The continuing failure is producing damaging results.
In Medford, Oregon, Mike is the most recent victim of the reluctant traction control system.
“I am a seasoned driver in the snow. I can drive front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. I am a forester and have been driving in snowing conditions for 28 years, 22 of those years on the job,” he wrote. “I just had my first experience driving my Toyota Prius in the snow today. The engine cut out all power anytime the wheels slipped at all.”
All power was cut? Certain Prius owners might consider that an earth-saving feature, not a bug.
UPDATE. Prius thoughts from Ira K.:
So it appears that it is a poor-performing product in the snow. That made me wonder how it is performing in the Southwest desert. My wife and I are planning to move to the Las Vegas area in two years. During our visits to friends in the area, we keep hearing about the problems people have with their car batteries. It appears the intense heat kills the batteries. The normal life span for a car battery is only about two years.
The Prius has a huge, non-replaceable battery, correct? I wonder if the Prius will experience battery problems as well ... possible scorecard:
Prius 0- Snow 1
Prius 0 - Heat 1
Improvements in Prius Mk II - endorsed by Tim Flannery and based on “settled” science - will, I’m told, solve this unfortunate problem.
That colossal phony Tom Brady said during Super Bowl media week that everybody should see An Inconvenient Truth, and that he drives a Prius. I wondered what the odds were he drives Gisele around in that geekbox, and lo and behold, I find out he’s got a 16-20 mpg Audi R8 in the garage. Wonder which car he drives more?
I’d wager he drives the Pious about as often as he sees his kid.
All’s well with the world when Prius owners are forced to live in the real world.
Dave S.: I sent Brady an e-mail via the Patriots about that inconvenient British court ruling in November that says algore’s a liar. Wonder if he’ll see it.Posted by Gary from Jersey on 2008 02 02 at 11:59 AM • permalinkThe engine cut out all power anytime the wheels slipped at all.
Scotty, I need warp drive now!
Posted by RogerBournival on 2008 02 02 at 12:04 PM • permalinkNic, I agree with you as well, but there might be one mitigating factor: Mike lives in Oregon, perhaps the most conflicted state in the country when it comes to political correctness versus reality.
It’s possible that he had to own a Prius as some sort of carbon credit scheme to continue logging.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 02 at 12:18 PM • permalinkThis is a feature, not a bug. Global warming is caused by human beings (so the theory goes), so anything that reduces their numbers will alleviate the problem. Hence, a car that tries to kill its occupants.
That’s why compact fluorescent light bulbs also poison you with mercury. I expect that every “green” appliance will have an undocumented murder-the-consumer feature or two. The eventual result will be Skynet: all the machines link up and form a sentient network that declares war on humanity.
“dangerous in mountainous snow country”
Well, that rules it out for me. And here I’ve been having dreams about driving one.
Oh well.
Posted by rightwingprof on 2008 02 02 at 02:56 PM • permalinkTraction Control is an annoying feature of many cars these days. There is usually (always?) a button you can push to turn it off, but there should be a way to keep it from ever coming on. Maybe a circuit breaker?
Also, light cars definitely need snow tires for snow driving. Those “all weather” tires aren’t good enough.
Posted by Dave in Chicago on 2008 02 02 at 03:19 PM • permalinkLooks like Billy Jeff is going to be flogged through some black churches in penance for his blasphemies against Obama.
mythusmage
Get with the programme, it will never rain again, after all thats why no State government in Australia has built a dam for 20+ years!
Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 02 02 at 05:52 PM • permalinkIt’s all well and good if greenie-wannabees buy a Pious in the non-mountainous parts of the South, but anyone living and driving in snow country is a idiot to have anything but 4-wheel drive (or at least front-wheel drive).
Those clowns what sympathy? Tell ‘em to look in the dictionary - it’s right between sweat and syphilis.
Posted by Barbara Skolaut on 2008 02 02 at 07:22 PM • permalink#5 Dave S.
If his R8 is a V12 TDi (lucky so and so) he’d do much better driving it ... with quattro and snow tyres it would go pretty well (OK clearance may be a problem) and wouldn’t it be great fun.
Down here in sunny North Queensland, Australia, we’ve heard about this “snow” but ain’t never come across it yet ... but with the expected global cooling we may get lucky.
An email penfriend of mine in Fayetteville WV has lotsa fun in his 10 year old S6 when the snow arrives ... effortless progression with four rooster tails of snow from the wheels whilst many RWD chariots are slippin’ and slidin’ all over.but anyone living and driving in snow country is a idiot to have anything but 4-wheel drive (or at least front-wheel drive).
The only cars I ever see in ditches in the winter are SUVs. I’ve always thought that 4WD means four wheels spinning.
Now, in DEEP snow, it might be handy. But sane folks never go out when it’s that bad. In the words of Buffalo ex-Mayor Jimmy Griffin, “stay home with a six-pack.”
My Scion xA with Bridgestone Blizzaks is a peach in the snow. Unstoppable.
I drive a Ford F150, rear wheel drive only. Not a problem in the snow and ice. If it’s that bad, I stay home, or throw the chains on.
It’s not the vehicle, it’s the driver not knowing how to drive in snow or ice. Or when to stay with a six-pack, as per Dave S.
Unless you’re driving a Prius, whereupon you are SOL.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 02 at 10:52 PM • permalinkIt is a source of great satisfaction to a politically correct Vermonter, as he slips down a snowy precipice to his death, that he is not contributing to global warming, and never will again.
Posted by miriams ideas on 2008 02 02 at 10:59 PM • permalinkAnti-whalers get heroes welcome in Melbourne
says “the Age wearies” linkPosted by stackja1945 on 2008 02 02 at 11:55 PM • permalinkI don’t give a toss about the whales. That scenario makes the whales the medium not the message. And those who support the whales are grasping at straws for mediums. What I’d really like to see is a public humiliation of the jerks who jumped the Japanese ship. And their pathetic supporters, all 100 of them who welcomed them to Melbourne. How many of them have real jobs?? Snouts in the trough is going to be Australis’a biggest future issue if it isn’t already. Thank God for tourism and minerals or these jerks would really be on the streets.
Ira k.—Your Prius will remain energy efficient and ecologically sound in the desert heat as long as you park it in an airpconditioned garage maintained by a Practical Atmospheric Cooling Operation…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 02 03 at 11:36 AM • permalink#
All power was cut
A Prius. You’re talking about a Prius?
They have power?
“If you’re driving a Prius, and you stick your hand out, the car will turn!”—Achmed the Dead Terrorist
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 02 03 at 11:37 AM • permalink
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So in short, Prius owners need Global Warming to prevent their cars from stopping?
That’s funny.