Is350 + Snow

[BadThad]

How is the IS350 in snow/ice?

[SW03ES]

Get a lot of snow in OH in July? ;)

My guess given my experience with other RWD Lexus is not good.

[The German]

I lived with a family in the US that had two Lexus, a GS 300 and a SC 400. They were complaining that both of their Lexus would do such a crappy job on snow and they decided to trade in the SC for an Acura RL with Super Handling All Wheel Drive.

What the crap?! It's written in every German/Austrian (where we get a lot of snow) car magazine that most every car does perfectly fine on snow AS LONG AS REAL WINTER TIRES are installed and that even if you have AWD, it won't help you any cause the AWD system has no traction due to y'alls terrible "All Season Tires" used by most ppl in the states.

Do yourself a favor and invest some money into summer tires AND a set of winter tires. Your driving a 30k+ dollar car and another grand shouldn't be such a problem if investing into your safety and perfect handling...(BTW: Winter tires are better than summer tires as soon as the temperature is below 8 degrees Celcius which is 46 degrees Fahrenheit)

I don't wanna sound like a "continental smart a**", but I just don't get it how rich Americans will buy such nice cars, invest so much money into tuning but then are too cheap to buy winter tires and therefore complain about bad handling on snow...or is there another reason why all of you are using All Season Tires? Tradition? Lack of real goof winter tire offers? Something else?

[bartkat]

Most people that live in snow country either have a dedicated set of snowtires and wheels or they drive their 4WD SUV or whatever when the roads are bad. We're so rich we can have a vehicle for every purpose. We got boats for floods, 4 wheelers for the woods, race cars for the track. You name it, we got it.

[Scott M]

Most people that live in snow country either have a dedicated set of snowtires and wheels or they drive their 4WD SUV or whatever when the roads are bad. We're so rich we can have a vehicle for every purpose. We got boats for floods, 4 wheelers for the woods, race cars for the track. You name it, we got it.

I have not personally met anyone who has driven an IS350 in the snow.

With the thought of not being able to get out of my Mt Everest like driveway and over 50 miles of New England roads to get to work, I'll settle for the IS250 AWD (And a set of good Snow tires)

This choice is due to my friend's experience with his BMW 330I.

He has a very nice set of snows but still struggles when trying to get the car going from a stop or getting up hills.

Even with traction control and a great set of tires, RWD has no place on New England's winter roads.

I wish $2,500 for wheels and tires was the answer.

I'd take an IS350 over an IS250 AWD any day of the week.

[The German]

Most people that live in snow country either have a dedicated set of snowtires and wheels or they drive their 4WD SUV or whatever when the roads are bad. We're so rich we can have a vehicle for every purpose. We got boats for floods, 4 wheelers for the woods, race cars for the track. You name it, we got it.

Guess what: Besides a Camry Station Wagon, a Honda Prelude and a Honda Civic they also had a 93' Land Cruiser with AWD. It wasn't any better on snow...it had summer tires

Okay, I'll shut up for now since I actually haven't been in snow with my IS yet. But I've driven many rear-wheel cars, including a BMW 325i...No problem at all during the winter time in the European Alps.

[Cherokee_Outlaw]

Most people that live in snow country either have a dedicated set of snowtires and wheels or they drive their 4WD SUV or whatever when the roads are bad. We're so rich we can have a vehicle for every purpose. We got boats for floods, 4 wheelers for the woods, race cars for the track. You name it, we got it.

Guess what: Besides a Camry Station Wagon, a Honda Prelude and a Honda Civic they also had a 93' Land Cruiser with AWD. It wasn't any better on snow...it had summer tires

Okay, I'll shut up for now since I actually haven't been in snow with my IS yet. But I've driven many rear-wheel cars, including a BMW 325i...No problem at all during the winter time in the European Alps.

I've lived in New England for only 5 years now... but I have never had a AWD car... front wheel and a rear wheel pickup... I've never been stuck.. and if the storm is that bad.... give the plows 4 hours after the storm and the roads will be clear.....

funny thing is... everyone I've seen in the ditch have 4 wheel drive!

[Rx330driver]

err they are horrible in snow? In san francisco, we dont get snow at all, so obviously i dont have winter tires. But during Feb, we got a nice coat of ice and hail, for about 10 minutes. I was driving my IS300 and i was skidding everytime i tried to gas or brake. Most embarassing time of my life i would say, everyone was looking at me. :(

Btw, i realize many people think the snow button just doesnt let you accelerate that fast off hand, but if you push the button while accelerating at any point, it does hold the car back a little, takes much more pressure on the pedal to go forward. I also noticed shorter revs

[SW03ES]

What the crap?! It's written in every German/Austrian (where we get a lot of snow) car magazine that most every car does perfectly fine on snow AS LONG AS REAL WINTER TIRES are installed and that even if you have AWD, it won't help you any cause the AWD system has no traction due to y'alls terrible "All Season Tires" used by most ppl in the states.

Do yourself a favor and invest some money into summer tires AND a set of winter tires. Your driving a 30k+ dollar car and another grand shouldn't be such a problem if investing into your safety and perfect handling...(BTW: Winter tires are better than summer tires as soon as the temperature is below 8 degrees Celcius which is 46 degrees Fahrenheit)

This is absolutely true, but what you have to remember is that many places in the US (including where I live) don't get snow regularly enough and have to great a fluctuation in their weather during the winter to make snow tires a worthwhile investment. We may get snow over 3 inches once or twice a winter, but those one or two times getting around in a RWD car is difficult, but its not worth buying snow tires and dealing with the loud crappy ride the rest of the winter when they aren't needed.

I've lived in New England for only 5 years now... but I have never had a AWD car... front wheel and a rear wheel pickup... I've never been stuck.. and if the storm is that bad.... give the plows 4 hours after the storm and the roads will be clear.....

You're assuming that the plow crews everywhere else are as competent as they are in New England, which they aren't. 6 inches of snow here can have you housebound for 36 hours if you don't have an SUV. Doesnt happen often, but it does happen.

[BadThad]

Well, we do get snow every year here in Cincinnati. I own a Moutaineer SUV with AWD, so it's not like I'm screwed in the snow...but....I could have the IS350 at work and it snows. I'll have to drive it home, I just wondered how screwed I'd be. I hate to buy snow tires for just a few times that I'll get caught at work. I was mainly wondering how bad it will be to hobble home in a few inches to snow.

[Scott M]

Well, we do get snow every year here in Cincinnati. I own a Moutaineer SUV with AWD, so it's not like I'm screwed in the snow...but....I could have the IS350 at work and it snows. I'll have to drive it home, I just wondered how screwed I'd be. I hate to buy snow tires for just a few times that I'll get caught at work. I was mainly wondering how bad it will be to hobble home in a few inches to snow.

That may depend on the length of your trip from work to home.

For me, in a bad storm, the Mass Pike becomes a parking lot, or a field of snow with tire rutts... either way, I avoid it, even with my 4WD.

My ride is approx 50 miles each way, and the back roads are tricky, even on dry sunny days. They are no place for a RWD car when there's feet of snow dumping from the sky..... and my job requires me to be at work, on time, no matter the weather.

(No, I'm not a postal worker) :D

Also, for me personally, I'd never be able to get it out of the driveway if the snow was falling.

I pull out of my garage and my 200ft driveway is a steep climb to the road.... which is a back road, off of a back road, off of a back road. We see the plow once.... hours after the white stuff has stopped falling.

If it snows and has stopped by the AM, I get out and snowblow early, and the wife's Accord gets out with a breeze. But if it's snowing and continues to snow while I'm leaving the house, the wife's car always gets stuck, even with very nice snows on the car. The IS350 would never get to the street above.

I like living in the absolute sticks, and to deal with it, I've always had an SUV.

I miss my sports cars so I'm looking for the AWD IS.

I wish I could go with the IS350, but for my situation, it'd never get out of the driveway, much less to work.

[clubfoot]

I have an IS350 with dedicated 18" wheels and and Pirelli Snowsport Winter tires and live in Canada. I drove 20Km to work and back and everywhere I wanted to go all of last winter with absolutely no problems. I preferred normal mode to snow mode, because sometimes a little wheel spin was better than killing the power to the rear wheels. With the standard summer tires the car would not even make it up the drive way.

[SW03ES]

Well, we do get snow every year here in Cincinnati. I own a Moutaineer SUV with AWD, so it's not like I'm screwed in the snow...but....I could have the IS350 at work and it snows. I'll have to drive it home, I just wondered how screwed I'd be. I hate to buy snow tires for just a few times that I'll get caught at work. I was mainly wondering how bad it will be to hobble home in a few inches to snow.

Its going to be a nightmare. I'd invest in snow tires if you expect that to happen often.

Even my FWD ES isn't teriffic in the snow.

[The German]

Well, we call them WINTER tires, not SNOW tires. In some European countries you have to have them installed sometime in November all the way through March. Germany is thinking about introducing that law also. Even though we don't get snow on regular bases.

Winter tires not only help you on snow, but they're also better if the temperature is below 45 Fahrenheit. They have better grip, handle bette ron ice and are just made for winter times.

I do realize that it's nonsense to buy winter tires when you live in Texas, Nevada, California, you name it.

But in New England? Parts of the Midwest? For sure!

[Scott M]

Well, we call them WINTER tires, not SNOW tires. In some European countries you have to have them installed sometime in November all the way through March. Germany is thinking about introducing that law also. Even though we don't get snow on regular bases.

Winter tires not only help you on snow, but they're also better if the temperature is below 45 Fahrenheit. They have better grip, handle bette ron ice and are just made for winter times.

I do realize that it's nonsense to buy winter tires when you live in Texas, Nevada, California, you name it.

But in New England? Parts of the Midwest? For sure!

I wish I could test drive an IS350 with snows during a snow storm in December.... I'd be able to make an intellegent decision.

I'm most likely gonna be stuck with the IS250 AWD and the thought of not really knowing. :(

[BadThad]

I have an IS350 with dedicated 18" wheels and and Pirelli Snowsport Winter tires and live in Canada. I drove 20Km to work and back and everywhere I wanted to go all of last winter with absolutely no problems. I preferred normal mode to snow mode, because sometimes a little wheel spin was better than killing the power to the rear wheels. With the standard summer tires the car would not even make it up the drive way.

Thanks, that's the response I was looking for! I think I'll just get a set of Winter tires if that works for short distances. I'm not planning on driving the IS350 in snow, I just want to make it home if it snows while I'm at work....only about 12 miles.

I'm concerned because I once owned a Pontiac Trans-Am that was completely WORTHLESS in snow. This car being similar horsepower, weight and RWD as the IS350, I was very concerned.

[Scott M]

Thanks, that's the response I was looking for! I think I'll just get a set of Winter tires if that works for short distances. I'm not planning on driving the IS350 in snow, I just want to make it home if it snows while I'm at work....only about 12 miles.

I'm concerned because I once owned a Pontiac Trans-Am that was completely WORTHLESS in snow. This car being similar horsepower, weight and RWD as the IS350, I was very concerned.

Even in the AWD, I also plan on having a set of snows before the first flake flies. ;)

[SW03ES]

Well, we call them WINTER tires, not SNOW tires. In some European countries you have to have them installed sometime in November all the way through March. Germany is thinking about introducing that law also. Even though we don't get snow on regular bases.

Winter tires not only help you on snow, but they're also better if the temperature is below 45 Fahrenheit. They have better grip, handle bette ron ice and are just made for winter times.

I do realize that it's nonsense to buy winter tires when you live in Texas, Nevada, California, you name it.

But in New England? Parts of the Midwest? For sure!

Winter, snow, thats semantics. I live where I live and you don't. I'm telling you, it snows more than 2-3 inches maybe once or twice a year, its not worth it to buy snows ("winter tires" excuse me) and chunk around on them and pay for more gas all winter when thats all the wintery precipitation we're going to get. BUT, if you have a RWD car you're going to have difficulties those couple of times. Hence, why rear biased AWD is an attractive option. We have two FWD cars and we're fine on allseasons.

And you're right, "winter tires" do have those advantages over SUMMER tires, but not allseason tires. The rubber compounds are designed to be effective in cold and warm weather, hence why they're called allseason. Winter tires will have advantages in the cold over allseasons, but I'd be shocked if there was any significant difference at 45 degrees, and winter tires also have reduced grip on wet and dry pavement vs allseasons, so why would I reduce my traction and ride on the road surfaces I'm going to have 90% of the time during the winter for better performance 10% of the time? Doesn't make sense.

Now, if I had SUMMER tires, then yeah it would make a difference.

[Cherokee_Outlaw]

Well, we call them WINTER tires, not SNOW tires. In some European countries you have to have them installed sometime in November all the way through March. Germany is thinking about introducing that law also. Even though we don't get snow on regular bases.

Winter tires not only help you on snow, but they're also better if the temperature is below 45 Fahrenheit. They have better grip, handle bette ron ice and are just made for winter times.

I do realize that it's nonsense to buy winter tires when you live in Texas, Nevada, California, you name it.

But in New England? Parts of the Midwest? For sure!

Winter, snow, thats semantics. I live where I live and you don't. I'm telling you, it snows more than 2-3 inches maybe once or twice a year, its not worth it to buy snows ("winter tires" excuse me) and chunk around on them and pay for more gas all winter when thats all the wintery precipitation we're going to get. BUT, if you have a RWD car you're going to have difficulties those couple of times. Hence, why rear biased AWD is an attractive option. We have two FWD cars and we're fine on allseasons.

And you're right, "winter tires" do have those advantages over SUMMER tires, but not allseason tires. The rubber compounds are designed to be effective in cold and warm weather, hence why they're called allseason. Winter tires will have advantages in the cold over allseasons, but I'd be shocked if there was any significant difference at 45 degrees, and winter tires also have reduced grip on wet and dry pavement vs allseasons, so why would I reduce my traction and ride on the road surfaces I'm going to have 90% of the time during the winter for better performance 10% of the time? Doesn't make sense.

Now, if I had SUMMER tires, then yeah it would make a difference.

I'm looking around for a $3000 pathfinder / 4Runner... something that will allow me to do the snow in the winter.. plus toss some bikes on it.. Kayaks.... you name it and go to the mountains..

One thing I will not do... no matter what.... track salt and crap in to my car.... AWD or not...

[The German]

Well, I've been to D.C. twice, once during the summer once during the winter. For sure, in D.C. I'd go with allseason tires, yet the guy asking about snow and the 350 is obviously not living in D.C. And I just recommend him instead of worrying just to buy winter tires and have them installed. Period.

[bartkat]

We just close the roads if it snows much.

[SW03ES]

Well, I've been to D.C. twice, once during the summer once during the winter. For sure, in D.C. I'd go with allseason tires, yet the guy asking about snow and the 350 is obviously not living in D.C. And I just recommend him instead of worrying just to buy winter tires and have them installed. Period.

But even he said he may get caught at work once or twice, otherwise he drives his Mountaineer. Why should he get winter tires because he may get caught once or twice and deal with a rough loud ride and poor gas mileage?

[The German]

Since when do Americans care about gas mileage?! That's new to me...

Well, ok then, you won. Maybe he should equip his Moutaineer with winter tires :D

[bartkat]

Since when do Americans care about gas mileage?! That's new to me...

Well, ok then, you won. Maybe he should equip his Moutaineer with winter tires :D

We wear big hats, ride horses, and carry six shooters too. :D

[SW03ES]

Look at the waiting lists for Prius' and tell me Americans don't care about gas mileage ;)