Winter Driving Fun

[Duckman]

I haven't had a chance to post about my first winter weather experience with my AWD GS. This is my first AWD car. I have owned a 2005 RX330 and a 1999 RX300. I had done the research ahead of time before deciding on going with a car rather than SUV - I felt that the gas mileage increase was more than worth any problems I may have in heavy snow.

We had a pretty good size winter storm on December 1st...so I decided to take the car out for a "spin". I have to say, I was extremely satisfied with the performance. The AWD alone worked really well. I was able to stop on an incline, punch the accelerator, and the wheels grabbed almost instantly. (The snow depth was about 4" at the time.). I turned on the "SNOW ECT" option for the transmission and drove around without any issues whatsoever.

The standard safety features like vehicle stability control kept the car in complete control through the whole experience.

I have to say - the gas mileage is obviously far better than the RX, and with this first experience, I couldn't find any problems in heavy snow - this car is GREAT!

--Duckman

[dawna]

I haven't had a chance to post about my first winter weather experience with my AWD GS. This is my first AWD car. I have owned a 2005 RX330 and a 1999 RX300. I had done the research ahead of time before deciding on going with a car rather than SUV - I felt that the gas mileage increase was more than worth any problems I may have in heavy snow.

We had a pretty good size winter storm on December 1st...so I decided to take the car out for a "spin". I have to say, I was extremely satisfied with the performance. The AWD alone worked really well. I was able to stop on an incline, punch the accelerator, and the wheels grabbed almost instantly. (The snow depth was about 4" at the time.). I turned on the "SNOW ECT" option for the transmission and drove around without any issues whatsoever.

The standard safety features like vehicle stability control kept the car in complete control through the whole experience.

I have to say - the gas mileage is obviously far better than the RX, and with this first experience, I couldn't find any problems in heavy snow - this car is GREAT!

--Duckman

[dawna]

I haven't had a chance to post about my first winter weather experience with my AWD GS. This is my first AWD car. I have owned a 2005 RX330 and a 1999 RX300. I had done the research ahead of time before deciding on going with a car rather than SUV - I felt that the gas mileage increase was more than worth any problems I may have in heavy snow.

We had a pretty good size winter storm on December 1st...so I decided to take the car out for a "spin". I have to say, I was extremely satisfied with the performance. The AWD alone worked really well. I was able to stop on an incline, punch the accelerator, and the wheels grabbed almost instantly. (The snow depth was about 4" at the time.). I turned on the "SNOW ECT" option for the transmission and drove around without any issues whatsoever.

The standard safety features like vehicle stability control kept the car in complete control through the whole experience.

I have to say - the gas mileage is obviously far better than the RX, and with this first experience, I couldn't find any problems in heavy snow - this car is GREAT!

--Duckman

Hi,

I just bought the certified 2006 GS300 AWD and wasn't sure when to use the SNOW ECT....The dealer told me only to use it when trying to get out of a snowy area not while driving. Is that true?

Also I have found a bad rattle in the dash.

[Duckman]

According to the manual:

Snow mode: For slippery road surfaces such as in snow. In this mode, the spinning of the rear wheels is controlled appropriately. When you push the driving pattern selector switch on the “SNOW” side, the snow mode is turned on and the ”ECT SNOW” light in the instrument cluster comes on. To return to the normal mode, push the driving pattern selector switch on the “SNOW” side again. When you turn the engine switch off in the snow mode, the electronic throttle control system automatically changes to the normal mode.

From that, I read that you can drive in SNOW mode and the system will go back to normal when you turn the car off. I would hate to have to turn the SNOW mode on each time I came to a stoplight. I was never told there were any limitations to it.

--Duckman