gbutler24

Okay. The plan is to trade my 2018 Elantra sport for an 18 or 19 Lexus is 300 f sport. I have never driven the car and all cars I have owned only FWD cars ever. I really wanted the RWD because I'm biased toward 4 banger turbos. I would only be getting the v6 because it's tied to AWD, and I only want the AWD because of hypothetical light snow conditions in MD. My issue is that 2 cars are available to me for a similar price, but I'm not sure which is best to go with. I'm not sure a test drive would make a difference because the snow condition does currently exist. I mostly drive through Baltimore City and the streets are brined with a salt solution, so I would mostly be driving on a light slush on a black surface. My FWD cars make it just fine, but almost everything I read about RWD cars mentions a "trick" or gotcha of some sort. Add sand to the trunk or winter tires or separate wheels. A co worker told me that the RWD snow myth mostly applies to cars like mustangs, corvettes and camaros, not sporty sedans like the IS. Has anybody had the pleasure of drivng both and can make a recommendation. I like the low end torque for city traffic and feel like the v6, it's build up power, it's weight, and gas mileage would kill the experience for me in my non highway commute. Has anybody had the pleasure of driving both and can make a recommendation?

is500le

I've driven both fwd and rwd cars and can only assume any would be similar experiences. The biggest thing I've ever noticed on making a change to a car, is using dedicated snow tires. Back in 2012, my wife purchased a model 86 Toyota (I believe it was actually a Scion back then). Purchased in June and it was fantastic handling! As soon as winter arrived the car was HORRIBLE on any road that had any amount of snow or ice. After we installed dedicated snow tires, it was like we purchased a 4WD (even better). No amount of snow or road condition it could not handle. I was truly amazed at the difference, starting, stopping and driving (turning, changing lanes, etc) made her feel confident. Your doing yourself a favor by using summer tires for spring/summer/fall, then winter tires for, um, winter. Really, everyone should do this, 4WD, FWD, AWD included. It is so much safer for all types. Anyway, that's my .02.

Racer00J

I have an AWD 300 right now, but really wanted a RWD 350. I couldn't find any around when I was ready to purchase. I don't regret my purchase, but I think I would've been just fine with a RWD and dedicated winter tires around this time of year.

Realistically, the roads in MD get salted and plowed pretty regularly and if it's ever truly bad out I'd just call out from work and stay home anyways... despite having AWD. Also, I have a coworker who bought a RWD IS300 after seeing/liking my car. He does the same thing that I was planning to (dedicated winter tires), and he's had no problems so far.



Edit: I've honestly never even sat in one of those Elantras, so I can't say how I think it compares to the IS. Winter weather fears aside, I'd suggest taking both for a test drive and try to determine which one you think you'd want to live with.

gbutler24

I paid to have a 2019 is 300 f sport transferred from a carmax in NJ. RWD. Looked clean on the site. Just off lease with remaining factory warranty. I have the autocheck and paid for a carfax. Both show up clean. Only 30K miles. Carmax confirmed through pictures that they will pay me more than double what I owe on my Elantra, so the IS will come out to be 23K, which is less than what I saw them going for back in 2019 when I was looking at 2017s. We'll see how it goes when it arrives in person.

is500le

Very exciting!

FSporting

I have a '14 IS350 F Sport RWD, and I live in Maryland too. During the recent snow, I just put the drive selector in "Snow mode" and I had no problem at all. My previous car was a '15 Sonata FWD, and I can tell you the Lex is much more fun! Go ahead and get the RWD. Unless you live on a really steep incline, you won't have many problems dealing with the little bit of snow we get.