Snow Tires

[Gaugster]

another good idea is to get some pirelli optional studded winter tires that you can insert studs for the harsher days as well as just having good winter tires for light winter days.

also heres a nokian that is optionally studded for max grip:

http://www.tirefactory.net/Hakkapeliitta%202.htm

basically a really good snow tire should serve you good

Studs are cool. Reminds me of a James Bond movie. But they are banned in many parts of the country. The is especially true in urban and suburban areas. They chew up the road surface. Typcally tire chains and studs are used in rural heavy snow areas where the state does not plow or maintain the roads. In this case any type of AWD sedan doesn't have a chance as the snow would be up and over to the bummers.

[Manolo1]

Buy your set of rims, sensors (you may skipp the sensors if you want to) and tires from tire rack. They will arrive (overnite if you want to) already mounted, so all you have to do is take the existing ones off and put the new ones, not a big deal.

Prices for a complete set (4 tires, 4 rims, 4 sensors) at tire rack start at $1,334.00

Yes, go for the 17", they are cheaper and in winter you just want to stay on the road, you don't need "handling"...!

BTW: do you drive with the Snow switch ON? that is also a must!!!!

17X8 MSW Type 14 Silver Painted for 2007 Lexus IS350

12/19/07 012345678 $96.00 $384.00

225/45VR17 XL Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 Blackwall for 2007 Lexus IS350

In Stock 012345678 $136.00 $272.00

245/45VR17 XL Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 Blackwall for 2007 Lexus IS350

In Stock 012345678 $154.00 $308.00

TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR for 2007 Lexus IS350

4 $86.00 $344.00

In Stock 4 $6.50 $26.00

Hunter Road Force™ Mounting and Balancing

Total: $1,334.00

(before tax and shipping)

[webjeff]

Yes, I can see your point. I am a gear head that loves working on cars and researching this type of stuff to death. Going through the dealer is the most convenient because they will store the unused set of wheels. From what I remember, they will switch the wheels on & off per season for free after the initial purchase. I would confirm it in writing though.

As stated before - The difference will be Night and Day. Do Not hesitate if the money doesn't concern you. Once you get snow tires, your only problem will be over confidence because your traction will be so much better. So be cool. Also remember that you will be able to stop more quickly then most other cars. So if you make a panic stop, there is a good chance that the car behind you won't be able to stop as quickly. You alway have to watch out for the other drivers.

Regards,

Thanks Gaugster!

It makes me feel better when you say I will be able to stop better than most cars!! :) lol. I will certainly drive carefuly as I always do and I am very mindful of people in front and behind me. Sometimes people *BLEEP* me off by driving way too close even when its snowing, I try and move over and let them by if need be.

I will get these Snow Tires tommorrow and keep you guys up to date with my progress, hopefully I will be driving to work next week in the snow!

Jeff.

[MegaFossil]

Hi, I know little about snow tires, but just that my IS350 (with 18"s) is useless in the Nebraska snow. Do I need the extra wheels and sensors, or would I be ok if I just ordered the Blizzak LM-25s from Tire Rack and put them on my standard wheels?

Thanks.

[webjeff]

Hi, I know little about snow tires, but just that my IS350 (with 18"s) is useless in the Nebraska snow. Do I need the extra wheels and sensors, or would I be ok if I just ordered the Blizzak LM-25s from Tire Rack and put them on my standard wheels?

Thanks.

MegaFossil,

Are you saying your IS350 with snow tires is useless? Or are you saying your IS 350 is useless without Snow tires?

Jeff.

[1990LS400]

Hi, I know little about snow tires, but just that my IS350 (with 18"s) is useless in the Nebraska snow. Do I need the extra wheels and sensors, or would I be ok if I just ordered the Blizzak LM-25s from Tire Rack and put them on my standard wheels?

Thanks.

Of course you can use snow tires on your OEM wheels. But one of the points of buying an extra set of inexpensive wheels for winter use is to preserve your nice OEM wheels for the other three seasons. If you are not going to keep your car for very long, mounting snow tires on the OEM wheels might be a better option financially.

Also, switching back and forth between winter and summer wheels over and over tends to damage the beads on the tires. However, tires on 18" wheels often have an extremely short life so you wouldn't be switching the same tires on the wheels as many times as on cars where the wheels are smaller and the tires last longer.

Another good aspect of going the minus one (17" inch wheels in your case) route for winter tires is that they give you a little more comfort in the winter when tires are stiffer due to the cold and there are more potholes caused by freeze and thaw. And snow tires on 17" wheels will likely last a little longer than snow tires on 18" wheels.

The staggered size wheel setup on the IS350 seem to make the cost of snow tires (and tires in general) a bit painful.

[MegaFossil]

Hi, I know little about snow tires, but just that my IS350 (with 18"s) is useless in the Nebraska snow. Do I need the extra wheels and sensors, or would I be ok if I just ordered the Blizzak LM-25s from Tire Rack and put them on my standard wheels?

Thanks.

MegaFossil,

Are you saying your IS350 with snow tires is useless? Or are you saying your IS 350 is useless without Snow tires?

Jeff.

I was saying that it was useless with the standard summer performance tires. There was only about one inch of snow and I couldn't even get beyond the bottom of my driveway.

[webjeff]

Hi, I know little about snow tires, but just that my IS350 (with 18"s) is useless in the Nebraska snow. Do I need the extra wheels and sensors, or would I be ok if I just ordered the Blizzak LM-25s from Tire Rack and put them on my standard wheels?

Thanks.

MegaFossil,

Are you saying your IS350 with snow tires is useless? Or are you saying your IS 350 is useless without Snow tires?

Jeff.

I was saying that it was useless with the standard summer performance tires. There was only about one inch of snow and I couldn't even get beyond the bottom of my driveway.

Mega,

Yea, you are in the same boat I am. There was an inch or two on the ground and my IS 350 was sliding like crazy, and got stuck in my slightly raised driveway. Soo sad, I'm getting tires tommorrow and it's suppose to snow this weekend, so I'll let you know what happens.

Jeff.

[AJAquino]

I have an 07 lexus IS350 and jst purchased new winter tires on the original 18' rims, stock tire sizes are 225/40 18 and 255/40 18. My question is I can still stick with the original TPMS right since im using original wheels? No need to replace or reprogram? Another thing, any suggestion on how much it would cost to mount and balance when my my tires come in and suggestion of any good place like pep boys, bc tires, goodyear, etc. Thanks for the help in advance.

[bartkat]

TPMS should be OK as long as they don't get damaged during the tire change. I'd use a good independent tire store for the change as they may take a little more pride in their work.

[webjeff]

*UPDATE*

I got the snow tires installed. $2500 poorer, I hope they work :). I have the Nokians Hakkas, I hope they turn out good. I have seen good reviews and Lexus said for my car, they are the best (but who knows).

I will keep you up to date with this information as a lot of people have similar issues and I have to drive a long distance to work daily. I hope I can keep this car as this is the BEST car EVER :)

By the way, what are studs? Do you think I need them?

Jeff.

[bartkat]

Good luck. Just be careful.

Studs are little metal "studs" that stick out of the tire tread for traction on ice. They aren't legal in lots of places because they tear up the roads. You shouldn't need them in snow, especially if your tires have a softer compound.

Here's the Hakkas in action.

[jrobsea]

I have an 07 lexus IS350 and jst purchased new winter tires on the original 18' rims, stock tire sizes are 225/40 18 and 255/40 18. My question is I can still stick with the original TPMS right since im using original wheels? No need to replace or reprogram? Another thing, any suggestion on how much it would cost to mount and balance when my my tires come in and suggestion of any good place like pep boys, bc tires, goodyear, etc. Thanks for the help in advance.

I have another quick question about TPMS. If anyone has swapped out wheels and left the TPMS sensors off the car, is there any chance that the low tire pressure warning stays off when you select the 2nd set of sensors?

I'm wondering if maybe they forgot to make the warning light go off in the case where no sensor codes are programmed into the car.

I drove around for a few miles with the 2nd set selected and with my original factory wheels, and I didn't get a warning. The real test would be someone who has no TMPS sensors in the car.

As my message might imply, I'm trying to figure out how to get another set of wheels/tires without springing $500 to get the TPMS sensors and have the car programmed to accept them.

[webjeff]

OK,

We just had a decent amount of snow. 4-8 inches and I had to drive an hour distance. This was my first test of the new snow tires on my IS 350 the Nokian Hakkas.

It was GREAT! On the side streets where it was the worst I was able to slowly stop at stop signs and accelerate slowly (using snow mode). With driving cautiously I was able to drive normally without any traction loss at all!!!

I did, however, when I tried to lost traction when on turns I would accelerate faster to see how the car would handle fish tails and did so nicely. I was able to get on the road and see others having more issues than me (EVEN WITH FRONT WHEEL DRIVE!). I was passing people (not like an idiot), but I was able to go a bit faster than some and could keep up with the flow of traffic which was my main concern.

On the highways the roads are always better, but more dangerous cause of speeds, I stayed in the middle lane and kept my slower speed but I was able to get into the faster lane and drive a bit faster when I wanted without the worry of loss of traction.

So far, I am very pleased with my IS 350 in the snow. I will keep everyone up to date as the days progress incase others are interested in an IS 350 and are worried about the snow.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Thanks

Jeff.

[Gaugster]

webjeff,

Glad to know that everyone worked out for you. I was out in the snow on saturday night too with the AWD and snow tires. Needless to say - I had a lot of fun testing out the limits of the car. It is a great pleasure to drive on snow tires.

Regards,

[Roburb]

Hello,

I'm am on the verge of selling the best car I have ever driven, my 2007 IS 350.

Here's what happened yesterday. You know when your at a red light and the car in front inches up, and then you inch up? ... well, I let go of the break, inched up, and then slid a few more inches than I wanted (I didn't hit anyone, thank god). But yesterday in the snow, my car was helpless, I did NOT feel safe at all, I was driving soooo slow and I still skidded when I was stopping.

How GOOD are snow tires?? I have to drive an hour to work each day. I'm afraid to drive my lexus, so I rented a car... thinking I may sell it if I have to. What should I do?

Is Snow tires good enough? Some people also said to put weights or sand bags in the back. What should I do?? I want to get a new car this weekend or snow tires, what should I do?

Can anyone who drives (somewhat long distances) in the snow please respond. I am scared as hell to drive in the snow anymore with this car.

HELP!? :)

Thanks again

Jeff.

I live in Utah and have snow tires, and about 100 or so lbs. in the trunk of my car. I dropped from the 18's down to 17's for the snow. Buying an extra set of rims and tires for the winter is the best thing to do. My IS350 does just fine with the Hankooks on them. A lot of people think the

Hankooks are not that good of a tire, but I have not had any issues with them in the snow, or sleet. Of course there is nothing you can do when its icy. Dont get rid of the car, not worth it.

[Butcher]

OK,

We just had a decent amount of snow. 4-8 inches and I had to drive an hour distance. This was my first test of the new snow tires on my IS 350 the Nokian Hakkas.

It was GREAT! On the side streets where it was the worst I was able to slowly stop at stop signs and accelerate slowly (using snow mode). With driving cautiously I was able to drive normally without any traction loss at all!!!

I did, however, when I tried to lost traction when on turns I would accelerate faster to see how the car would handle fish tails and did so nicely. I was able to get on the road and see others having more issues than me (EVEN WITH FRONT WHEEL DRIVE!). I was passing people (not like an idiot), but I was able to go a bit faster than some and could keep up with the flow of traffic which was my main concern.

On the highways the roads are always better, but more dangerous cause of speeds, I stayed in the middle lane and kept my slower speed but I was able to get into the faster lane and drive a bit faster when I wanted without the worry of loss of traction.

So far, I am very pleased with my IS 350 in the snow. I will keep everyone up to date as the days progress incase others are interested in an IS 350 and are worried about the snow.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Thanks

Jeff.

I have a 2007 IS350 and am in Minnesota which has gotten about a foot of snow in the last couple of weeks and with the summer tires the car was completely unable to move, without checking i had thought it was using all season tires. I got a similar quote from the Lexus dealer, tires and wheels for 2300. I went with the Michelin Pilot Alpins, as i had them on my last car (01 Audi S4). It certainly made the car better, but seriously, two inches of snow can still literally disable the car. Any ice at all under the snow, which is hardly uncommon here and the traction light comes on and the car simply won't move forward. And the Etc/Power/Snow switch which i believe electronically just starts the car in 2nd gear, makes it worse not better, it can take 30 seconds in "snow mode" before the car gets moving. It's really maddening because like others who've commented on this thread i've really loved everything about the car right up until the snow fell. i knew a RWD car would be more difficult in the winter (for several years i drove a V8 Mustang, RWD) but i never dreamed it would be this bad. Given the climate in Minneapolis i think i am going to sell the Lexus next summer and go back to Audi with maybe the S5.

Just my .02

[Gaugster]

I have a 2007 IS350 and am in Minnesota which has gotten about a foot of snow in the last couple of weeks and with the summer tires the car was completely unable to move, without checking i had thought it was using all season tires. I got a similar quote from the Lexus dealer, tires and wheels for 2300. I went with the Michelin Pilot Alpins, as i had them on my last car (01 Audi S4). It certainly made the car better, but seriously, two inches of snow can still literally disable the car. Any ice at all under the snow, which is hardly uncommon here and the traction light comes on and the car simply won't move forward. And the Etc/Power/Snow switch which i believe electronically just starts the car in 2nd gear, makes it worse not better, it can take 30 seconds in "snow mode" before the car gets moving. It's really maddening because like others who've commented on this thread i've really loved everything about the car right up until the snow fell. i knew a RWD car would be more difficult in the winter (for several years i drove a V8 Mustang, RWD) but i never dreamed it would be this bad. Given the climate in Minneapolis i think i am going to sell the Lexus next summer and go back to Audi with maybe the S5.

Just my .02

Sorry to learn about your troubles. I think the owner's manual mentions something about disabling the traction control when the car gets immobilized in snow. This allows the wheels to spin so you can dig your way out. This is a technique that I am sure you are familiar with from your Mustang days. You have a 2007 so you can disable the traction control with a single button touch. This will avoid the traction control applying the brakes and bogging the car down.

I can’t claim that I it will work 100% as I roll an IS250 with AWD but I seem to remember other IS350s with similar issues.

Chicago is going to get another half-foot or so of snow this weekend so maybe you can try my suggestion up in MN. Unless of course you have already tried it without success?

Regards,

[Butcher]

I have a 2007 IS350 and am in Minnesota which has gotten about a foot of snow in the last couple of weeks and with the summer tires the car was completely unable to move, without checking i had thought it was using all season tires. I got a similar quote from the Lexus dealer, tires and wheels for 2300. I went with the Michelin Pilot Alpins, as i had them on my last car (01 Audi S4). It certainly made the car better, but seriously, two inches of snow can still literally disable the car. Any ice at all under the snow, which is hardly uncommon here and the traction light comes on and the car simply won't move forward. And the Etc/Power/Snow switch which i believe electronically just starts the car in 2nd gear, makes it worse not better, it can take 30 seconds in "snow mode" before the car gets moving. It's really maddening because like others who've commented on this thread i've really loved everything about the car right up until the snow fell. i knew a RWD car would be more difficult in the winter (for several years i drove a V8 Mustang, RWD) but i never dreamed it would be this bad. Given the climate in Minneapolis i think i am going to sell the Lexus next summer and go back to Audi with maybe the S5.

Just my .02

Sorry to learn about your troubles. I think the owner's manual mentions something about disabling the traction control when the car gets immobilized in snow. This allows the wheels to spin so you can dig your way out. This is a technique that I am sure you are familiar with from your Mustang days. You have a 2007 so you can disable the traction control with a single button touch. This will avoid the traction control applying the brakes and bogging the car down.

I can’t claim that I it will work 100% as I roll an IS250 with AWD but I seem to remember other IS350s with similar issues.

Chicago is going to get another half-foot or so of snow this weekend so maybe you can try my suggestion up in MN. Unless of course you have already tried it without success?

Regards,

Yeah, i had forgotten about that switch and it's sort of hidden by the steering wheel. I tried it out just this last week and it was an improvement, to have the tires spin, even if they were slipping a bit to power through. Still not great but better for certain. And your right about being used to it with the Mustang. On a side note, the dealership replaced the summer tires with winter tires of the exact same width and aspect ratio. I have always heard that for going through snow, narrower tires were a little better as they allow the car to get through the snow easier. So i'm a little surprised that they didn't use narrower tires as the car can use all the help it can getting through snow and ice.

-Mike

[kisik]

Just would like to add to the all good thing said above since I am from Russia originally. I used know how to handle snow with bold tires, ugly 4 speed stick and rear drive. Here are my cure for snow:

1. Driving skill. Everything is slooow. No torque, no jerky turns. "Snow" mode does it for you almost.

2. Traction. Keep your wheels with good tread. Winter profiles with proper rubber compound is a good thing.

3. If you don't meet with the first 2 requirements then AWD will not help. zero traction times 4 is still zero.

4. Practice and practice!! Go to the big open field and play. Try to control the car

Be safe!

[roz900]

Thanks for the responses so far. I am getting the idea, Get snow tires! :)

I have an appointment for Saturday morning to get them purchased and installed for $2300 (ouch!). Well worth it to keep my car though. I just hope its enough traction, I don't expect to be doing 80 round corners, I do drive very cautiously in the winter, but I just want to feel like my car will stop given enough time and slow enough speed. If im going 5mph, I should be able to stop, easy as that.

They said a brand of tire that wasn't blizzaks tires, it was something different but the guy said they are really good... should I trust what they put on, or demand blizzaks?

One more question: I see that traction button down by my steering wheel the little picture of a car and 3 wayve lines. When I turn that on, it will eventually go off after a while, is that ok? I wasn't sure. Even when I turn it off, it still seems to turn on when I started sliding (weird, why even have a button then)

I Live in Toronto Canada and drive 70 miles each way to and from work. I just bought some BSA 329 rims for about $100 each and Hankook Ipike tires for about $150.00 each. 225/45/17 all round not offset. This way I can rotate them. Seems like a good tire and I put about 15K on my winters each year. Snow mode makes a huge difference. I only use it when there is a lot of snow because throttle is so sensitive.

[roz900]

I did not put any sensors on with my winters.

It is funny, sometimes the sensor tells me there is a warning and sometimes I will drive 60-70 miles before the warning turns on.

[passion4jdm]

I live in chicago and when it snows it snows hard, so I opted for the IS250 AWD, even though I really wanted the IS350, but RWD cars are awesome but not so good in weather, I would suggest getting some good winter tires, I recommend Bridgestone Blizzak, they're pretty good. But I wouldn't trade it in, its such a good car.

[ralphj]

Hello,

I'm am on the verge of selling the best car I have ever driven, my 2007 IS 350.

Here's what happened yesterday. You know when your at a red light and the car in front inches up, and then you inch up? ... well, I let go of the break, inched up, and then slid a few more inches than I wanted (I didn't hit anyone, thank god). But yesterday in the snow, my car was helpless, I did NOT feel safe at all, I was driving soooo slow and I still skidded when I was stopping.

How GOOD are snow tires?? I have to drive an hour to work each day. I'm afraid to drive my lexus, so I rented a car... thinking I may sell it if I have to. What should I do?

Is Snow tires good enough? Some people also said to put weights or sand bags in the back. What should I do?? I want to get a new car this weekend or snow tires, what should I do?

Can anyone who drives (somewhat long distances) in the snow please respond. I am scared as hell to drive in the snow anymore with this car.

HELP!? :)

Thanks again

Jeff.

[jrobsea]

I did not put any sensors on with my winters.

It is funny, sometimes the sensor tells me there is a warning and sometimes I will drive 60-70 miles before the warning turns on.

Have you tried selecting the 2nd set of sensors to see if you still get the warning? It's pretty simple - described in the owner's manual. I'm wondering if we're lucky enough that the computer might get faked out by not having any sensors programmed into the 2nd set and fail to light up the warning.

I think if there were a simple way to prevent the warning from coming on, I'd get a set of snow tires for my car, but having the warning light come on randomly will bother me too much, and I'm too cheap to spring for the extra $600 for a 2nd set of TPMS sensors.