Driving in the snow with the low resistance tires. Not necessarily on the Prius C, but any Prius as I assume they all had the tires. I've had nothing but great success with my C.
View 1 RepliesI purchased a used 2003 Echo last week. The all season tires are on 15 inch rims. I would like to buy snow tires for this car. The question is - snow tires on 15 in rims or snow tires on 14 in rims? I understand that 15 inch rims was an option selected on the original purchase. Without this option, the car would have had 14 inch rims.
View 14 RepliesI had my snow tires removed yesterday. My mechanic who is great said everything looked good. I drove down the highway at 55mph lost power, was able to pull over. He my mechanic had it towed. I'm wondering if changing the snow tires would have anything to do with it?
View 1 RepliesI tried to reset my TPMS light using the procedure in the owner's manual after installing my snow tires on the OEM wheels. Now it looks like there is no effects as the lights will just keep blinking even if i am holding the button down. Does this mean the tire shop broke one of my sensor during the install?
View 5 RepliesI am a new owner of a 2007 Prius and as the snow will soon be here, will driving in B mode rather than D provide greater traction?
View 6 RepliesWhen its heavy snow; which mode I should drive; I have 2012-Prius 3rd Gen - 26K Miles; I am driving in Mountain area every day ? The tires are still in good condition.
View 19 RepliesI live in an area where we don't really get any snow, very rare. But when it does, everything shuts down because our city doesn't have the proper equipment (salt, plow trucks, etc.)no one here owns snow tires, and we're all inexperienced. It snowed today around the same time as the drive back home and it took forever because it was rush hour at 5:00 pm (Fairly populated city, around 440,000 people).
Needless to say almost everyone was going super slow, 20-25 mph. Couple of people in SUVs were going fairly fast, but generally everyone was being safe. I saw a couple of accidents but nothing too crazy. I had never driven in the snow before in my LS460L. WOW. that was a stressful and long drive back. What normally takes me 30 minutes to get home took me close to 2 hours. While everyone was going very slow, I went EVEN SLOWER because of how nervous I was.
I felt like I never accelerated too fast or aggressively, and I did slow controlled braking (did not slam my brakes abruptly or anything). Yet every other time where I had to come to a complete stop, the rear part of my car would lose control and slide/slip to one side or another. Again, I felt like I was driving cautiously slow (between 10-20 mph) and did nice and slow controlled brakes. But I seemed to be the only one on the road slipping and sliding when at a stop.
The conditions were pretty snowy, but by no means was it crazy (maybe an inch or two of snow). Something that would be laughable to those who are used to real snow . That was a really scary and long drive. I am glad to be home. and I don't plan on driving my car out in the snow anytime soon.
I just purchased a 2014.5 Camry and winter is around the corner. I was going to buy a set of oem 17in SE rims and put snow tires on with out the tpms sensors. The question I have to ask is once the light comes on can you disable the traction control. Reason I ask is because on my 2011 accord it forces the traction control on and is sucks. Snow tires without the sensors.
View 5 RepliesEventually, I'd like to replace the steel wheels on my Corolla LE (P195 65 R15) with ultra light wheels and low rolling resistance tires.
View 12 RepliesOn a front wheel Cadillac (2011) DTS, can I use only two snow tires--installed in the front?? These cars have stablization systems which are profound. I never had a problem with the rear end swinging out in my 2005 Sedan de ville. It looks to me as if the tire dealers just want to sell more tires, as they all suggest 4 snow tires. Aren't the rear tires just "along for the ride?" They have no torque.
View 6 RepliesFitted new snow tires with the intent of leaving them on year round. Now find that the Escape is pretty well un drivable due to shake at all speeds. Balance has been checked by two tire shops. I think that the problem is that the deep blocks of tread are "squirming"The tires are surprisingly quiet but unfortunately will have to go.
View 2 RepliesIn the 30,000 miles I have driven my Gen III, it has gone through three different sets of tires. Driving conditions during this entire time have been identical, and temperatures have been fairly constant. Therefore, I think my fuel economy data can be a good example of the impact that tire selection can have on your fuel economy.
I currently have 2400 miles on the Michelin Energy Saver A/S. These are the MPG stats, manually calculated.
Highest: 53.4
Average: 48.2
Lowest: 45.0
Standard Deviation: 2.4
In the 14,000 miles I had the Michelin Primacy MXV4, these were the mpg stats:
Highest: 50.1
Average: 42.7
Lowest: 37.0
Standard Deviation: 2.6
(I may be missing 2-3 tanks, so this is probably 90% of the fill-ups during the time in which I had the Primacy MXV4.)
Lastly, in the 14,000 miles that I had the OE Yokohama Avid S33d Tires, these were the MPG stats.
I had terrible issues driving in the snow /ice last month. The car literally would not move forward. I bought 4 new Michelin Tires (Weatherwise II) but am thinking I should put on Snow Tires. Can I put them on the front only since the car is FWD? Also, which tire to choose?
View 11 RepliesThe car was in an accident last spring where it went off the road and side swiped one of those cable barriers between the sides of a highway. It actually spun around backwards, hit the barrier on the rear passenger side corner smashing the tail light on that side. Then slid the whole passenger side into it roughing up that side and knocking off the side mirror.
Amazingly both passenger side doors work, the trunk works and it was able to drive away. I drove it around gingerly for a bit and it seemed to be fine. I took a big 4 hour trip up north in it and it had zero problems (other than looking like hell).
I had new tires put on before the accident and are nearly at factory new tread. I can't see any noticeable uneven wear on them. This winter however, every time there is fresh snow on the roads it feels like the back is shifting back and forth like its out of control. Its not vibration like unbalanced tires or ice on the rims. It feels like the rear is swinging back and forth about a foot about every 3-4 seconds. At first I thought maybe a wheel was loose so I jacked up the car at each wheel and wiggled them, they are solid. There is no play in the steering, so i don't think its rack and pinion. I've gone around corners purposefully quick on snow to see if its a grip thing, and it doesn't slide.
The only conclusion I can come to is that the frame is tweaked or my suspension is messed up. On dry, or even wet roads everything seems fine. I do notice a bit of the "drift" when I hit a decent bump or pothole, although then it feels more like a slight "shift" at the rear.
I've been dealing with this for 2 years now and its going to snap my axle shaft one of these days. I am scared to take it out in a snow storm because the truck will clunk and then release. Its a split second thing but its enough to notice and make me worry a lot. I cant figure out why and ive done the plugs and wires but that didn't solve the problem. It only happens when its snowing or when I drive though a gust of wind that has stired up some snow. I know it must be something electrical because it only happens when there its cold and wet and not all the time. In the rain it does not matter but when it snows i just wont go out at all. The truck is a 2003 4.0 4x4 with a manual. Not a function of the 4 wheel drive it happened in 2wd as well.
View 14 RepliesWhy the "esc off" light goes off in my 08 elantra se? This has happened 3 times in the last 4 months, every time while I am driving in rainy/snow shower conditions. I tried reactivating esc, but it does not allow me until I turn the ignition off and back on. Is this supposed to happen when it rains? I would like to take the car to the dealer for diagnosis but it happens at night and not close to a hyundai dealer.
View 7 Replies2000 Explorer 4.0 SOHC, 138K miles on it. Runs like new. Except this butt problem since mid November 2010 (2 months) First time this happened it sounded like someone smacked the rear end with a 10 pound maul. BOOM! Was in blizzard conditions. Does it in AWD or 4WD. No tire slippage when it happened or happens. Only happens when:
1. Snowing good or in blowing snow from car ahead of me.
2. Not while accelerating or coasting.
3. In overdrive (not sure when in just third gear).
Had rear end inspected at Ford dealer and no issue was found. Complete driveline given clean bill of health. Dealer did PM of new lube and did the transfer case and front end at the same time as it was due anyway. After this, it usually (but not always) starts as an engine miss feeling and works it's way up to the sudden and violent "BOOM" and then a mixture. Anyway, did it again. Changed plug wires. Did it again. Tranny shop test drove while snowing - no root cause but certain it's not the tranny. Saw B1352 code and said take it to the dealer. Justanswer.com FORDEXPERT guy says B1352 is most likely the X-fer case shift motor. Inspected and replaced shift motor as it had signs of near death and on borrowed time. Did it again. Ford dealer Tech test drove while snowing and freaked out when BOOM happened. He's certain it's ignition. NO CODES!!!
Cylinder #3 (mostly) and cylinder #1 (little bit) showed slight ignition issues on diagnostics. Pinched clip in boot so they were tighter on plug and plugs were inspected OK. Sprayed water mist on coil and it's OK. Did it again. NO CODES!!! 70K on plugs so installed new plugs and second set of new plug wires thinking that RH tire is kicking snow on #1/2/3 plugs and causing short. Did it again. Tonight, when driving the last 10 miles in light snow with bucking 6 times, thinking it might be snow ingestion, I checked filter housing and I see just traces of snow in housing and snow packed into filter pleats at just one corner about 2" triangle. Still plenty of clean filter area I feel. (NAPA brand) filter is 6 months old and looks quite good. After reassembly, I feel around seam of housing and discover front seam not tight. Aha! Perhaps snow is getting into combustion chamber. Pushed in housing bottom and "thump" now it's tight and proper. Battery terminals tight and super clean. Dit it again but just once in 8 miles and was slight engine miss feeling - no buck or kick.
Other possibilities (I'm thinking):
Injectors?
main power to coil?
Is there are snow/dirt screen missing on tube into filter housing?
Enjoying taking trex out in the snow here in the northeast this afternoon... When I accelerate, I hear a groan coming from the front axle and the ESP light blinks on/off.. Is it normal? Still happens if i turn ESP off...doesn't happen in my wife's glx passat (4motion), so it seems unusual to me...
View 5 RepliesIt's happened to me the last 3 times I've taken my truck out and drove through some deep snow. I have a hard time shifting the transmission from drive to park. The snow must get packed up under the truck near the shift linkages.
View 14 RepliesWhile driving into town during a recent snowstorm, my truck started to misfire quite badly. The check engine light started to flash and then remained on as I went to the auto parts store. The code indicated cylinder two misfire. I don't a few things of dry gas in the tank and let it run for a few minutes which seem to solve the problem.
Since then, however,every time the engine gets even a little bit wet it starts to bark again. It usually lasts a few minutes then goes back to normal. Typically, I would have replace the plug wires. When I lifted the hood of my truck I realize I knew nothing about it.
I was waiting for my son to come out of his work for an hour with the car on. I got distracted reading and messing around on my phone, and since the heater and lights were off, I had no incentive to turn the car off since it was perfectly quiet (the gas motor only kicked on once to keep the battery charged). Then, I can't remember if I turned the car off or left it on while I took a nap for an hour (he was a total of two hours late getting out of work).
At any rate, when he finally came out, I don't remember if I needed to turn the car on, but I do remember that as I pushed the brake down, put it in reverse, and began to back out, I was moving kind of fast and pushing the brake down didn't slow my motion at all. Also, it felt like there was not much resistance in the pedal. I stood on the brake and there was a noise and a jolt as I came to a stop. I really thought I had stopped because I hit something, that's how violent the stop was. But my son walked around the car and found I had not. No dash warning lights came on. I pushed the park button, powered the car off and on, then put it in drive and coasted forward / carefully tested the brakes. All was good.
I put it in reverse and used the brakes without anything seeming out of the ordinary. Then we drove 16 miles home with no issues. Until this incident I have never had a single brake-related issue apart from grabby brakes when it is raining.
This is what I have learned:
When I stood on the brakes, that is the only time the hydraulic system was in play.
Rusty brake components are pretty grabby.
Actuators are expensive and no service center wants to replace them at 92K miles.