gpielow

We live in Minnesota and my wife is looking at a new 2023 ES 350 F Sport. We want the V6 which means that we can't get the all wheel drive option. I am a little skeptical of winter traction in a front wheel drive car with low profile tires. I was wondering if snow tires are a must.

Dixoncider

I would get winter tires and rims , the general altimax Arctic’s work great on my 2015 es350. I drove them 2.5 years straight (even in summer) they didn’t get “louder” until about 50% of the tire was used (noise was not terrible)

I could only assume if you have 19” rims like my 2019 sport you won’t feel very confident in the snow we get here in Wisconsin / Minnesota.

I won’t know exactly how this car truly handles on 19”s with the Michelin mxv4 until the snow hits here end of 2023

GoOil97

I bought a new 22 F-Sport in July ‘22, here in Alberta, Canada, where we get lots of snow and frigid temperature that stick around for months!

I bought an aftermarket, hub-centric set of 17” RTX black alloy wheels and paired them with Michelin X-Ice Snow tires. No traction issue with the snow, ice, slush whatsoever. No clearance issue around the brake calliper. I used the same tire size that come in the base model 215/55/R17 and same wheels size as OEM: 17”x7.5J. My wheel offset is 40mm and the centre bore is, as I mentioned, hub-centric at 60.1mm.

LexFinally

Snow tires are always the best option in snowy areas. But the all-season Michelin CrossClimate II performed remarkably close to dedicated snow tires in a recent European test of winter performance, matching some of them in the snow and falling short only on ice. Given that the OEM tires on the ES are poor performers in virtually all conditions, some of us pre-emptively replaced them anyway. There are other recent threads on this board that can fill you in on this.

mikemu30

I've driven my ES FSport for five winters now here in northern NJ with no issues. Granted your winters in MN are going to be a bit more severe.

GilThorp

I live in Minnesota and have 2022 ES350 UL with Michelin Cross Climates, no problems here.

losiglow

Had Bridgestone Blizzak WS-90's on this year and they performed great on my '22 ESh.

This car doesn't do as well in the snow as some of my past front-wheel drive cars, probably because my others have been more front-heavy with larger V6's. My Acura had a 62/38 front/rear distribution. The ESh has a 58/42. Better for overall handling but generally you want more weight over the drive axle for traction in the snow.

The V6 ES has a weight distribution of 60/40 so that might make it a slightly better than the ESh in the snow. That might not seem like a big difference but 2% more weight pressing down on the road is significant when you're talking about 3700 lbs. That's 74 lbs. which is 36 lbs. more on each front tire pressing down on the pavement (or snow.....). Either way, it's all about traction, not drivetrain. FWD with winter tires all day vs. AWD with all-seasons.

Should also add, if you have the space in your garage, and want to fork out the $$$, going with a 17" wheel with something like a 215/55/17 tire would slightly reduce the width of tread you'd be putting down on the road compared to the 18's, which is a benefit in the snow. It's kind of a pain to have a separate set of winter tires/wheels but when the crap hits the fan and you're out on the road with terrible conditions, it all seems worth it. That's the route I go here in Utah. Swap them in and out during winter without mounting different tires which saves a bit of $$$ at the tire shop. And they're cheaper by about $50 or so (17's vs 18's). With a mounted tire rack in the garage, they don't get in the way or take up extra room.

mikemu30

Blizzaks are amazing tires for snow. Had them on a prior car before my ES. I don't bother with snow tires any longer.

dklanecky1

It really depends on which Minnesota winter you get, this last one where it never stopped snowing, or the previous 5 years where it hardly ever snowed. One of my sons lives in the Minneapolis suburbs, and drive a front wheel drive car, and uses a set of dedicated snow tires on cheap steel wheels for the winter.This last winter was the first time he needed the winter set in the last six years. IMO, the second set of wheels with dedicated snow tires is the solution.