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Heading from Florida into potential snowy/wintry weather in the sweet spot of the South where they may have salted the roads but they don’t have any snow plows. 99% other inexperienced drivers like myself. Saving grace, I guess, is that roads will be mostly flat. Doing everything I can to circumvent the inevitable unhelpful/troll comments so:
It’s unavoidable, family emergency.
No access to snow tires.
I’ve read the manual and looked at all 87 instances of the word “snow” and still have questions about all the buttons/modes. I’m personally frustrated by my own lack of understanding, so I’m asking for help.
I generally get to go extra slow, leave more time than I think I need for braking etc. I’m asking about all these dang buttons and dials.
With that—if you have some experience in snow, how do you think about *tiering* your approach to the conditions, eg: “if any snow you should always, at a minimum, use ECT 2nd and drive with center differential locked” versus “if things get worse go to HI4” versus “if it’s defcon 5 go to crawl”.
I live in an area that gets over 100" of snow a year. With your LX, just slow down a bit. Give yourself extended stopping distances. Traction and handling will be diminished. If you have an all season tire, you really do not need to change any drive modes for normal snowy road driving. Just slow down and get a feel for the difference in traction, braking and handling. If you have performance summer tires, I can't say how they will handle. Currently own 2016 LX, 2015 LX and a 2022 GX. These vehicles handle snow better than any all wheel drive or four wheel drive vehicle I have ever driven, and I have owned over ten different 4x4s. Other current vehicles are Chevy 2500 4x4 and Jeep Wrangler. The only other vehicle that has come close to these Toyota/Lexus is a Subaru.
I live in an area that gets over 100" of snow a year. With your LX, just slow down a bit. Give yourself extended stopping distances. Traction and handling will be diminished. If you have an all season tire, you really do not need to change any drive modes for normal snowy road driving. Just slow down and get a feel for the difference in traction, braking and handling. If you have performance summer tires, I can't say how they will handle. Currently own 2016 LX, 2015 LX and a 2022 GX. These vehicles handle snow better than any all wheel drive or four wheel drive vehicle I have ever driven, and I have owned over ten different 4x4s. Other current vehicles are Chevy 2500 4x4 and Jeep Wrangler. The only other vehicle that has come close to these Toyota/Lexus is a Subaru.
Tires is the most important component of safe driving during snow. Check your tires. What brand they are? Their thread depth and check to see what type of tires you have (all-season, summer performance, all-terrain etc.). If you have good all-season / M+S tires and they have sufficient thread, you'll be fine. If you have summer performance tires (highly unlikely on LX570) - take extra precaution because those are not for winter driving.
I have experienced driving LX570 with really bad tires (original OEM garbage Dunlops) during ice storm and I was sliding all over the road with only electronics saving me from a wipeout. Fast forward a year later driving in a similar ice storm, but with brand new Michelins M+S and it rode like a tank! Snow handling isn't as treacherous as ice handling, so even if you have original Dunlops, they should get you there if you slow down and keep sufficient distance between you and other cars. ECT 2nd will help you to get going from a stop, but once you're driving it's no longer doing anything.
No need to engage anything else unless you're stuck in a pile of snow.
And you ARE in one of the best vehicles out there for this type of driving, so definitely do not panic.
For me, if I only hit snow a few times a year, it doesn't make sense to invest in snow tires economically speaking... many cars wear all seasons tires during snow and I drove through many many miles thru interstate in snow storms wearing all season tires in the middle of the night... just need to slow down, keep your eyes on all sides... watch out for the snow plowers. Beware of black ice especially if you see a bridge ahead of you - that area tends to be 'colder' / 'icyer'. If you have to pull over, try to look for a rest area and not on the side of the highway. I always have a sleeping bag, chocolate and water in my car at all times JUST in case I get stranded and stuck.
Snow is not a problem as long as you take it easy and slow down.
ICE is a HUGE problem. I don’t care what you drive, if you encounter ice there is not a car or truck out there that will stop or go on a sheet of ice.
if its snowing, no problem, if its sleet, you might want to wait.
what i don’t get is where you are headed in the south, the radar is clear and the entire south is above freezing.
Good luck and report back when you arrive at your destination.
Tires is the most important component of safe driving during snow. Check your tires. What brand they are? Their thread depth and check to see what type of tires you have (all-season, summer performance, all-terrain etc.). If you have good all-season / M+S tires and they have sufficient thread, you'll be fine. If you have summer performance tires (highly unlikely on LX570) - take extra precaution because those are not for winter driving.
I have experienced driving LX570 with really bad tires (original OEM garbage Dunlops) during ice storm and I was sliding all over the road with only electronics saving me from a wipeout. Fast forward a year later driving in a similar ice storm, but with brand new Michelins M+S and it rode like a tank! Snow handling isn't as treacherous as ice handling, so even if you have original Dunlops, they should get you there if you slow down and keep sufficient distance between you and other cars. ECT 2nd will help you to get going from a stop, but once you're driving it's no longer doing anything.
No need to engage anything else unless you're stuck in a pile of snow.
And you ARE in one of the best vehicles out there for this type of driving, so definitely do not panic.
Snow is not a problem as long as you take it easy and slow down.
ICE is a HUGE problem. I don’t care what you drive, if you encounter ice there is not a car or truck out there that will stop or go on a sheet of ice.
if its snowing, no problem, if its sleet, you might want to wait.
what i don’t get is where you are headed in the south, the radar is clear and the entire south is above freezing.
Good luck and report back when you arrive at your destination.
Leaving Sunday. Couple inches predicted for E Ark/ W Tenn.
Snow is not a problem as long as you take it easy and slow down.
ICE is a HUGE problem. I don’t care what you drive, if you encounter ice there is not a car or truck out there that will stop or go on a sheet of ice.
Sure there is, you need studded snow tires.
but check to see if the states you are driving thru allow them
Sure there is, you need studded snow tires.
but check to see if the states you are driving thru allow them
valid point, i never used them.
do they work well on ice
when i lived in Nebraska, it was always fun to watch the 4x4 trucks, they could sure take off quick but everything pretty much stopped the same.
01-11-24, 02:35 AM
Optimize 2017 LX for Snow
