IS-300. how good in winter weather.

[kaimax04]

thinking about buying an IS-300, but i live in MD. how good are they
in winter driving. does the traction control help in snowny weather.
need some serious advice before dishing 20k on a lexus.

[<l33t>]

hey im not really sure, i live in southern california so im not sure, but it has a specific mode made just for snow, so..., you should test drive on in the winter, maybe that would help.

[peaches6182003]

Well I live in New York city and this car sucks in the snow I can't even take it outside of my garage. This car is rear wheel drive and that's not good in snow at all. So if you plan to buy it, remember it ain't good in the snow at all. It made for the spring/summer. The tire will never work in the snow either because they come with thin summer tires unless you switch all of them to winter.

[kwinholt]

Peaches is correct. Not a good car for snow with the factory tires. I put a set of bridgestone blizzak snow tires and it was so much better I was shocked. The dealer stores my summer tires all winter and my winter tires all summer. I know this is an expensive solution but it works great.

[RWD Maniac]

??? my is300 ran fine the last snowstorm we had in new york... everything stock. just hit the damn snow button...

[Balla5900]

How about rain? If it is only stock how would it do in rain? I live in the Pacific Northwest and it rains quite a bit so this factor is very important.

[peaches6182003]

When you buy the car it will feel fine but after a while you will get flats and bumps on your tires. This car doesn't drive well in the rain or snow. It the rain, you can't go over puddles you car will go out of control. And in the snow forget about it, you might as well keep the is300 in the garage. The car won't run well in the snow if it snows more than 3 inches. Even if you use the snow button, it's helps but not much at all.

[is_pilot]

i live in seattle. we dont get too much snow. but the little we did get put my car out of commission. ive even lost control of the car entering the highway. i was going about 45 around a corner, hit a pudle, and ended up in a ditch. no body damage luckily. and my $3000 coilovers were still good.

[babyblue615]

my cuz has an 04 is, 45g off the show room floor, loses traction when it rains though even though he leaves the traction control on, but it still loses traction when it rains, he just got it this summer so i dont know bout it in the snow, bout iuno, w/e

[lberry27]

Originally Posted by peaches6182003

Well I live in New York city and this car sucks in the snow I can't even take it outside of my garage. This car is rear wheel drive and that's not good in snow at all. So if you plan to buy it, remember it ain't good in the snow at all. It made for the spring/summer. The tire will never work in the snow either because they come with thin summer tires unless you switch all of them to winter.

My daughter bought an IS-300 about 2 months ago and until today she loved it. This car can't be driven in the snow. From earlier appends it seems tire related versus its rear wheel drive. Did you install snow tires ? How is it now with the snow tires ? Thanks

[g2driver]

I live in Southern Ontario. The car sucks in the winter. Inpossible to drive in the snow.

[31rx7]

I live in central Ohio and we have had (for us) a very snowy winter. The first heavy snow, I still had my stock tires and wheels. The car was horrible with any kind of snow on the ground. I got my Dunlop snow tires mounted up and the car was transformed. It is quite drivable in light to moderate snow (1 - 4 inches), with traction control on and in snow mode when really heavy.

I would imagine that in the really heavy stuff it is not too good, and would not thing it is a good car for areas that consistent have snow in the 6+ inches range.

I have not had the issues mentioned in the rain. I am running the OE Dunlops.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by kaimax04

thinking about buying an IS-300, but i live in MD. how good are they
in winter driving. does the traction control help in snowny weather.
need some serious advice before dishing 20k on a lexus.

[1noless]

What the hell are you people talking about?!! First of all, do not drive a RWD sports car in the snow with the STOCK tires (or any all-season tire for that matter).

This is my first RWd car. I live in Denver, Co. For one and a half years, I refused to drive the car in the snow. Partly because I like to keep it clean and plus I was afraid to drive it in the snow.

Well, I knew I would have to drive it in the winter (2004-2005) for work purposes so I went and bought Pirelli zero nero M+S tires. The day finally came when I had to drive it from Denver to Breckenridge in a snow storm (a ski town about 90 miles away). I put the snow mode on and off I went. White knuckles all the way there (and I'm not even white). I'm glad to say that I made it there safely, without any problems. Even on a stretch of highway that was very icey. The snow mode, reduces the power to the wheels SIGNIFICANTLY! I was doing less than 30 mph in 3rd gear - it was weird but it worked.

If you get stuck in a parking lot, clear a good 4 inches from around the tires and turn the snow mode OFF to get going. Then immediately turn the snow mode ON while you're driving. This (and traction control) will keep your tires from spinning while driving.

Obviously, the car is not 4WD or FWD and shouldn't be driven that way. I just don't know why people complain that a RWD sports car doesn't do well in the snow. Possible reasons why it can't - tires and driver!

[g2driver]

When you buy the car it will feel fine but after a while you will get flats and bumps on your tires.

After we bought ours they changed the tires for us at their expence. Maby it was only a Canadian factory recall. But these tires still wont perform in the winter.

Plus you don't want to drive a nice car in the snow, the street salt will kill the body.(rust)