The350Girl

Hi all, as you can see i just purchased my IS350 It's a RWD, how bad is it to drive in the Winter especially snow storm with IS350 RWD on Winter Tires equipped ? my friend Lisa said, it's hard to drive with RWD in the winter with lot of snows ? my question is , if i have Winter Tires i will be ok ? thank you.

SeanO

iTrader: (1)

RWD vehicles are more difficult to drive in the winter no doubt about it.. If you have a good set of snow tires it will help considerably..

If there is significant snowfall (I would say anything over 6-8 inches) I would try to avoid driving until roads have been cleared..

What part of BC do you live in?

OrangeDino

I would recommend throwing two sandbags in the trunk of your car. Also, this car has a very intrusive traction control system so you better hope that it doesn't kick in during a hill climb in snow...

cleethree

Driven 8 winters in my IS350. Snow tires are an absolute must. It's also got little clearance so you can't break through a snow bank well. VSC is intrusive, you'll have to drive with it or turn it off. other than that, drive it like any other rwd car in the snow.

Lex Law

Even on my 250AWD the snow driving was bad with summer tires. I went to tire rack for their ranking of all-season tires and picked something near the top of the list. My bro has an ES with RWD and uses winter tires year-round. His ride is fine.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/review...surveyComments

Aspect

Not sure how much snow BC gets compared to ON but living in Canada you're pretty much forced into getting snow tires. Imo my IS250 AWD was amazing last winter running Michelin X-Ice 3s, never gotten stuck once. Even during last year's record snow storm day of 50cm. Keep your inputs smooth(steering and throttle) and you should be fine. Don't apply too much gas until you finish turns, try to keep the car's momentum up to avoid getting stuck when stopping, and try to avoid hitting ruts of snow at a decent speed and you should be fine. If you think you'll get stuck, just pack a small shovel, sand, and/or some disposable or used car floor mats.

On a side note. You should try drifting in the snow during a late night in an empty parking lot(preferably with no light poles) with fresh snow on the ground VSC/TRAC off. It'll help you get a feel for how to control a slide with throttle modulation and steering inputs - very handy experience if you ever find yourself a little sideways, :P It's definitely helped me last winter save myself at times. The VSC/TRAC system also saved me from totaling my car after hitting a mini snow bank/rut left behind by a snow plow and going instantly sideways after trying to pass some friends. Did the best on my part to catch the slide but I credit the save to the system.

The350Girl

Thanks all for the input, i'm planing to move to Quebec and interested in Lexus IS350C, i never drove RWD in snow before but everyone said just put 2-3 sand bags or salt in the trunk + good snowtires i'll be fine. IS350 and IS350C RWD and same weight and drivetrain ?

Aspect

350 and 350C should have the same powertrain but the 350C should be heavier because of the convertible top

Re3iRtH

Do you like snow tires (Blizzaks) or studded tires? I have just moved to interior Alaska, and I am trying to see if I can handle the winter just in my '06 IS350 without purchasing a truck. I hope I do not later regret this adventure.

Re3iRtH

That's interesting. My IS350 has a set of ISC N1 coilovers (lowered about 1") which are very stiff, approaching race-type settings. In other words, there is virtually no travel in the rear suspension if I try to put my weight on it. Do you still think sandbags would help in that case?

Re3iRtH

That said, would you recommend the VSC/TRAC system on or off while driving in the snow/ice? After 5 years in Hawaii and having just moved to interior Alaska, I'd say my winter driving skills are less than polished at the moment

Aspect

I'd personally keep it on. I don't consider myself a good or great driver yet to turn any of it off when normally driving in the winter. I only turn it off to have fun in empty parking lots. The system is pretty intrusive at times if it catches you sliding at all so it can be annoying when you have things under control.

DickH

I had to turn vsc off with my is350, it made driving on snow/ice more difficult than it should be. Winter driving also helped me find out how much our rear differentials suck. You can get around with winter tires, you will just need to be careful.

JeeKay

Interesting read. I too will be using my IS350 as my second ever RWD winter car. I have some Bridgestone Blizzaks I'll be using but after reading this thread I think I'll find an empty parking lot to try snow mode and try with the VDIM off/on.

On the bright side "they're saying we're gonna have a mild winter"

Re3iRtH

Thanks. I'll keep the VSC on and see how it goes. I will need to find an entirely new set of wheels for the winter. Buying studded tires or Blizzaks for my 19x9 Volks might be prohibitive Would a 15" or 16" wheel be just fine on this car?