Response from: Glenn

I have had a 2005 Prius and now have a 2008 Prius, and have had only one situation in Northern Michigan where the vehicle "barely" made a hill in some of the worst possible conditions for driving. In fact, a guy in a pickup truck probably was swearing at me as my 2005 Prius slooooowly gained speed on a steep hill after having stopped at a stop sign before turning onto the hill (he'd come from straight on and was not in sight when I turned right, up the hill). I have to say that for northern climates, a second set of wheels and or snow tires is essential for ANY car with traction control, unless said vehicle has an off-switch for the traction control. My wife's 2007 Hyundai Sonata does have an off-switch for the traction control, but the Prius does not. I understand this is to prevent overspeeding the electric motors. I may be wrong. Just like anything else, nothing on earth is 100% perfect. 99% of the time, we commute / carpool in the Prius in order to use 1/2 the fuel of the 4 cylinder Sonata. 1% of the time, we take the Sonata.

Response from: Karen

I have a 2007 Prius and was afraid I was going to be rear-ended on a very hilly interstate in very bad snowstorm. Traffic was crawling at 25 - 30 mph (except for the 50 mph trucks). For over 40 miles, I nursed the accelerator with white knuckles. It starting slowing a few times and all I could do was say "please, please please." I live in very hilly upstate New York and I knew I was going to be doing a lot of snow driving, I put Blizzaks on the car, but I did NOT know before I bought it about this traction problem. It also won't make it up my driveway if there's even an inch of snow. Admittedly, my driveway is extremely steep, but so what? I think Bill Kwon has never had to drive in snowy condition on steep hills. Stalling on an interstate is better than slipping a little? I think NOT. If you know how to drive in the snow, you can control a car, but not if the car doesn't let you. The Prius designers are control freaks. They also won't let you connect your bluetooth phone if the car is not in Park (much less complicated than the audio and climate controls, which they WILL let you use when driving).