Moving Up North...

[cwhite3213]

93 LS 400

156,000 miles

I've had my LS 400 for about six months now on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I love it. Runs like a dream. I'm going to be moving up to Vermont in a couple weeks and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for the Lexus in the cold weather. I've been using Castrol 10W30 for the oil. Should I switch to 5W30 in the colder weather? Also, I've had people tell me that I will only need snow tires on the rear. Is this true? Thanks for any advice guys.

[uncledee]

93 LS 400

156,000 miles

I've had my LS 400 for about six months now on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I love it. Runs like a dream. I'm going to be moving up to Vermont in a couple weeks and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for the Lexus in the cold weather. I've been using Castrol 10W30 for the oil. Should I switch to 5W30 in the colder weather? Also, I've had people tell me that I will only need snow tires on the rear. Is this true? Thanks for any advice guys.

If I were moving to Vermont I would be using 5W30. You may not need snow tires at all if you are using all weather radials. I would move up and see what the locals have on their cars in the winter. If you live in an area where the roads or streets are kept clear you may be okay with what you have. I wouldn't spend any money before I investigate. Good lock on your new adventure. :D

[1990LS400]

The recommended oil weight for your car is 5W30 year round.

Driving an LS400 in snow with all season tires can be scary -- even worse if your '93 LS doesn't have the traction control option.

If you decide to get snow tires, you will need four of them. Putting snow tires on just the rear can be very dangerous (suicidal?) on a car with as much power as an LS. I've used snow tires on my Lexus LS cars for the past 18 winters and wouldn't dream of driving in snow without them. But, I'm not one to take needless risks and I like being in control of a car. I also find it fun to drive past all those stuck vehicles that have only all season tires.

If you do get snow tires, do yourself a favor and get "real" snow tires with the "mountain/snowflake" logo on the side wall -- a world of difference from the ones that are labeled only "M+S". I use Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires on my 00 LS but there are other good real snow tires. If you need an extra set of wheels for snow tires, a set of used 16" wheels from a Toyota Avalon or Camry should work. Try CraigsList. This month's (Nov 08) Consumer Reports magazine has a good article about the different types of tires for trucks and SUVs -- the information is also applicable to cars.

These cars generally start easily at cold temperatures and warm up reasonably quickly. If you find you need or want a block heater you can obtain one at a Canadian Lexus dealer -- the closest one to Vermont would probably be in Montreal.

If the age of your battery is unknown, consider buying a new one -- cheap insurance.

[intellivised]

I second any calls for 4 tires. I live in a pretty extreme/cold weather part of the country (Wyoming) and all I can say is that having 4 dedicated winter tires on my car has seemed to really make a difference, not only with driving but overall confidence. I bought the car during the winter when I lived in Michigan (lots of snow) and the all seasons didn't cut it - I spun that car out so many times. I bought dedicated winter tires and they've treated me well and helped me deal with some outright harrowing (e.g. interstate shutting down) conditions. The tires I chose (Hankook iPikes w/o studs) seem to do well, though I've been in situations that have called for either chains or studded tires and if I had to do it again I'd reconsider studs.

I'd research the kind of weather Vermont gets and buy a dedicated winter set for your car and have them put on right when the weather starts to turn. I'm very happy with my winter/summer set, and this way I'll have two sets of tires that'll last me a lot longer than a dedicated all weather set and give me better handling year around. It also let me splurge a little bit on summer tires since I knew, realistically, they'll only get 5-6 months of use, we still had snow and ice on the ground right up until the end of April!

[90LS400Lexus]

As far as driving in snow, I am glad I live in the southeast, where snow is not really an issue. I once got caught out in a wet snow in my LS with all-seasons and getting home was scary!

Good luck with the move... that will take some getting used too.... from the coastal Gulf, to Vermont.

[jcrome04]

Factory recommends 5W30 anyways year round.

My 97 LS did awesome in the snow (horrible storm, literally ICED OVER FROZEN HIGHWAY) with all season tires. Tires do help, but the majority of driving ability falls in the hands of the driver him/herself.

[1990LS400]

My 97 LS did awesome in the snow (horrible storm, literally ICED OVER FROZEN HIGHWAY) with all season tires. Tires do help, but the majority of driving ability falls in the hands of the driver him/herself.

jcrome04,

Since when did Sequim or Port Angeles start getting snow? Heck, your grass stays green year round! (My cousin just got back from visiting her wussy brother in Port Angeles.) My brother-in-law across the water on Whidbey didn't even put central heating in when he built a new house back in '94! You wussies! LOL

Vermont is not just iced over highways in the winter but gets some real snow -- more like the kind of snow you see on the drive to Paradise on the slopes of Rainier, which I climbed twice when I was younger. Try driving up to Paradise this coming winter on your all season tires -- that'ill teach ya!

A LS400 in fresh 5" - 10" snow is just about immovable on all-season M+S tires as I've found out when I've got caught in an early snow storm with all season tires on. And I consider driving in snow to be great fun. Snow tires (the real ones with the mountain/snowflake log) make a huge difference when the snow is deep -- the difference between being stuck with your wheels spinning helplessly and getting where you need to go.

Two or three years ago, we started out in a late night snow storm to drive about ten miles in my wife's front wheel drive Camry which has all season M+S tires and traction control. (We wouldn't have tried it but she had to meet some sort of publication deadline.) The streets were abandoned -- no one else was venturing out. We made it about two blocks before we gave up. We struggled back home, got into our Blizzak equipped LS400 and drove the 20 miles round trip with no problems at all.

OK ... some of the credit has to be given to VSC and the transmission snow mode setting on my 00 LS but the Blizzaks are what made the real difference.

Hey, I'm just having fun with you. I'm jealous of where you live. I've spent so much time in the Seattle area I should have moved there decades ago.

[IS400]

One thing to remember about snow tires is that they have a much softer compound and will wear out fast in warm weather on dry roads. Put them on when it stays below freezing at night and take them off when it gets above freezing every night, at the very least.

I have a house in Maine and from Nov 15th to March 15th is snow tire weather. Some years you can get lucky and go a month more without snow but it all depends on how many Vermont mountains are near you. Inclines are a REAL !Removed! in this car without snow tires!

Also remember the narrower (without going crazy of course) the better with snow tires. It allows the weight of the car to cut though and get to the pavement rather than snowshoe and sit on top. Good luck and slow WAY down until you get used to the slip and slide of New England winters! ;)

[nc211]

One thing to remember about driving the LS400 in snow "or any rear-wheeled heavy sedan for that matter", is to utilize "N" when coming to a stop. On two seperate occasions, when I had my LS in snow, I found I had FAR more control when braking if I just popped the transmission into neutral when coming to a stop. For some reason, in really cold temp's the snow can melt on the brakes then refreeze instantly as ice. It doesn't make the brakes useless, but I noticed on a few occasions that no matter how hard I stood on the brakes, the car still inched forward when at a stop. I've seen Jag's and Benz's act like this too. Haven't seen BMW do this, but they've got the best brakes in the business anyway. Plus, with the length and weight of the LS, when coming to a stop on a really slick surface, the down-gearing of the transmission as you slow can cause enough torque kick in the rear wheels to break their grip on the snow. If in neutral, that is eleminated and you've got a lot more control. Braking power is applied more evenly between the front and back, since you're not having to fight the force of the transmission wanting to move the rear wheels. Just make sure you're standing on the brakes when you reengage the transmission, otherwise that intial kick back into gear can make the rear start sliding.

Dang man, Gulf Coast to Vermont huh? I'm really sorry to hear that. Although, Vermont is quite nice, or so I've been told. With my thin southern blood, I'd probably freeze over in seconds up there.

PS: What ever oil you use, I'd make sure it's synthetic. Synthetic performs better in cold temps during the intial start-up in the mornings.

[jcrome04]

Hey 1990LS400,

If I was talking about the winters here then I'd give you permission to call me the worst names in the book B) hahahah

I'm talking about when I flew down to Salt Lake City, UT to pick up my LS Dec 23, 2007. We flew into the worst storm SLC has seen in YEARS. It almost took our plane down. We had to divert to Boise, ID and sit on the pavement for 45min.

To give you a gauge on how bad it was... It dumped 7" in less than 6 hours.........THEN I drove home! :D :D :D hahahah

Lots of snow on the back roads. The highways were kind of plowed, but the highway all the way into half of Idaho was SOLID ICE

It's scary when you're cruising on the highway with cruise control at 40mph then you hear this strange noise, "WWWWHHHHHRRRRRRR" THE WHEELS SPINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahhahah