Hi everyone! I have had my 2010 ES350 for about 8 months now and last night was the first time I had to drive it home from work at 2:00 in the morning in 2-3 inches of snow and I may say that the handling kind of SUCKS!!! Not a whole lot of traction when you take off and coming up to a traffic light and trying to stop from 25-30 mph my antilock brakes were trying to stop me if not I would have gone right through the intersection. This is the worst driving car in the snow I have ever had. My 2000 Maxima before this did excellent in the snow. Are these cars that bad in the snow or is it the Bridgstone tires they put on these cars from the factory in 2010? And I have never had an accident in the snow in 38 years of driving so I am not a bad snow driver!

 

Its all about tires. Those Bridgestone tires suck in pretty much every way, just read the survey responses on TireRack.

I'd invest in better tires.

 

lets see....new car, first snow, no snow tires, at night, old fart., you're lucky you didn't end up in the ditch

ok i've been winter driving in Canada (not wussy Toronto) for longer than you and as u know the first snow is always fun no matter how long you've been doing it. I get my snow tires on well before any snow is forecast. (usually mid Nov) and to keep them on until early April. Don't know what I'd do about tires if we only got a few weeks of snow a year. My ES handles the same as any other FWD car I've had w snow tires, though its maybe a bit light in the rear end /salt bags in the trunk.

Hope winter is over soon

 

I agree with nevernu, probably just an adjustment period (I fall way into the old fart category).

I had a 2007 with Michelins and a 2010 with Bridgestones and both were OK in the snow. The same as just about every other FWD car I've had. ABS and TRAC help out vs. cars back in the day without them.

 

I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and only drive in 2 inches or more of snow maybe 4-6 times a year so snow really wouldn't benefit me as much as you Northerners that drive in snow often. So what I am looking for is a good all weather tire that will perform in the snow better than what I have on now. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

 

The tire debate is endless. You want a good all season tire with pronounced treadblocks and good water evacuation sipes.

As for the driving in the snow, once you get better tires, I've noticed that the ES does require a bit more advanced braking than some other cars. Lotta weight and momentum behind it, so you have to brake earlier than you would think.

That, and shut the damn traction control OFF! It hurts more than it helps as soon as you get over an inch of snow.

 

My choice for tires on that car (I had the same car before I got my GS) is the Michelin Primacy MXV4. Very smooth and quiet, easily balanced, good wet and snow traction. Issue is if you get anything too aggressive for snow you are going to pay a penalty for all the other times you aren't driving in snow...

Mine came with the Bridgestones, and it was night and day when I swapped to the Michelins.

 

+1000

Just put Michelin Primacy MXV4s on my ES last weekend and I was driving in this weather that just hit Chicago like it was nothing. AWD? Pfft.. not needed. I left everyone behind me with total confidence. Traction control and ABS hardly even kicked in whereas the week before I got the tires it was fighting for traction.

Even the '99 LS400 (which of course is RWD) I used to have did great with decent all-weather tires.

 

Hi Dave, Whilst I now live in Australia, most of my life was in the UK where driving in snow is often mandatory. You may find this a challenge but my strong suggestion to you or anyone else is to turn your ABS OFF when driving in snow. It's not going to help much with the traction settings but will help you with the stopping.

 

Here in the U.S. I'm not sure that you can turn off the ABS. Maybe someone knows for sure.

 

Can't turn ABS off in the US.

 

Can turn off traction control in ES350 but I do not think you can in 2007 models. .I got stuck trying to plow through a wet snow bank and got hung up. Some one helped me push it out. Tried same snow bank with my at the time "07 Impala SS. Turned off traction control and smashed right though it.

 

Thanks all for the replies. I have thought about putting the Primacy MXV4s on next year if I can get thru this next month of winter seeing there is only 21,000 miles on my tires now and other than they are a little noisey.

 

I use MXV4's on my LS in Spring/Summer/Fall and agree that they are quiet and good handling tires but they are not at all suitable for winter/snow of more than a couple of inches. Get real winter tires like X-ice or the Blizzaks like I have on all four wheels.

I drove home from work about two weeks ago in 8 to 12 inches of fresh mostly unplowed snow - maybe 20 miles. I passed hundreds of stuck passenger cars that obviously were not equipped with snow tires. I saw only a few other regular passenger cars that were able to move in the unplowed snow - no surprise - they also had snow tires.

My drive home should have been about 11 miles / 15 minutes but I had to constantly detour and dodge due to streets blocked with stuck cars. It took 2 1/2 hours to get home but it probably would have taken no more than 30 minutes if everybody else had snow tires.

Hundreds if not thousands of stuck cars were abandoned by their drivers. Many were towed by local cities at owner expense to get roads and highways reopened - all because people didn't equip their cars properly.

All season tires including MXV4 are NOT snow tires even if they have something like M&S imprinted on their sidewalls for which there is no industry standard. True snow tires all have a mountain/snowflake certification logo on the sidewalls that show they meet industry standards for performance on snow and ice.

Yes, TRAC often needs to be turned OFF when driving in deep snow or you won't go anywhere even with snow tires.

 

Just changed my new pair of winter tire, again i went with MIchelin X3 brand new, not bad on my ES here in Quebec with alot of snow and ice. I sometime get the splittery alarm from time to time, but i blame on the soft suspension. Yes, the ES handle OK in the winter with good winter tires, but i've seen better.