I did a search for this and came up empty. If you know of a post could you point me in the right direction.

I've got a 1998 TT Supra and IS300....and I'm moving from Cali to the east coast (MD). I'm trading the IS in for a GS350. I'd like to buy the car here in California before I come out but they do not off the AWD. Is AWD necessary in the snow or would I be fine with RWD? I've never driven in snow :-)

 

This must be some kind of joke....You stated you did a search for this and it came up empty? You don't know if you should drive RWD or AWD in snow? Wow...anyway, if you are going to move the to east coast where there is snow, then I suggest you get an AWD. I've driven many RWD and from my personal experience, it's horrible in the snow. You can get a RWD but I suggest you drive a AWD (carpool, etc) when it snows. Or else you will be fishtailing like crazy or your car will be jerking back and forth due to the independent braking (traction control, stability control, etc).

 

Awd Ftw......

 

AWD will make your life much easier.

 

Sorry for the stupid question...I'm born and raised and still live in Newport Beach, CA.

Is the AWD special order out on the east?

I'll order the AWD this weekend....90-120 delivery time :-(

 

not a special order on the east coast. i should say northeast. florida is a special order.

 

What everybody else said...

AWD >> FWD > RWD in the snow

But snow still sucks and is dangerous regardless of what you drive.

 

The decision on AWD vs RWD isn't quite that binary. No question AWD is the safest way to go, especially if you have no snow experience. But more important than the drive is the use of winter tires. A RWD with good winter tires will actually outperform an AWD with average all seasons. I have owned both setups in the east. When it snows, I put on winter tires and rims, easy to change, and plow through just about anything.
That said, the GS AWD is a great car, and you'll have that extra margin of safety in rainy weather when it isn't snowing.

The real question to ask is: why would you want to leave sunny CA for the east coast

 

That's what I'm saying. To the OP - want to swap houses? I'd love to move to Cali!

 

Just remember..AWD is for GO..Stop it doesnt matter...you should see the the L.A. people in there SUVS in the ditches up In Tahoe...No offense but if I see South Cali licence plate frame and its snowing..Give a wide berth

 

Right. I am assuming we are not going to make this unfair by running
ultra-high performance wide tires on the AWD setup and snow tires on
the RWD setup. Using equivalent tires on both AWD is the much better
choice. The downside is the extra weight and complexity.

 

Thanks pcohen.....that's the type of information I was looking for. I'm actually moving to Towson, MD. It's for a girl....I know I know! I'll also be opening an east coast office for the company I'm currently with. It's a great opportunity all around.

I just sold my 1998 Toyota Supra last week on eBay, now I'm focused on selling my 02 IS300. I really wanted to pick up a new car before I made my way over to the east (Feb 1st) but it's not looking like its going to happen. They are telling me 90 to 120 days for delivery. I really don't know what to do. I'm a Toyota guy so another mfg is out of the question. I also work in the automotive industry so I have a pretty good relationship with Lexus out here so I want to take advantage of that before it's not available to me. Any ideas?

 

Not by my experience. I have owned FWD, RWD, and AWD vehicles. RWD, even with winter tires, cannot compare to AWD, although, obviously, AWD vehicles with high-performance dry-weather tires, like the Subaru STi and Mitsubishi Evo, don't do as well in the snow as AWD with all-season or winter tires.
For real extreme conditions, AWD with winter tires is the best setup of all.

 

Get AWD - it will handle better ON DRY as well as rain, snow etc.

 

I thought about the IS250 AWD also but there is just not enough power....and fully loaded it's close to the GS price. No brainer.