Down here in Edmonton, Alberta It snows like crazy.... As a matter of fact its snowing heavily right now. Should I use all season tires or winter tires for my gs. Do they both play the same role when it comes to driving in snow? I am also a new driver and i recently bought a gs400.

 

^^Winter tires for you; especially in your region. Even with a few inches of snow on the ground, my car had some difficulties.

 

Well like everyone else has already beatin' me to it, the GS is not fun in the snow. It would only be an ok driver is you installed a limited slip instead of the open diff. That being said winter tires will help, but not when your trying to get up a hill from a dead stop, you will be the SHEIT out of one wheel.... If you MUST have the 2GS, cause it's a great car, just give yourself plenty of travel time as you will need it, getting stuck or having to take other routes... Ask me how I know...

 

It's a great car but terrible in the snow

 

im telling you man, its hard to drive in the snow with a RWD

I was 18 with my first LS400 with no trac control (not like it woulda made a difference anyway)

that car fishtailed everywhere when you didnt pay attention to the amount of pressure you applied to the throttle.

If I were you, i'd have a FWD car... I also had a camry at the time. and that joint was eating through snow like it was no ones business.... if you get the GS, you better not drive it in the snow....

Im kinda scared with my GS400 as this is the first winter i'm gonna be driving in with it.

 

a rwd GS is NOT a good choice for a first car.

look for a maxima, or an accord, something FWD and cheap.


I drove my GS in about 14in of snow with Fuzion HRi all-seasons on it. Big mistake, but because i had so many miles under my belt and so much experience, I was able to manage. YOU, at 16, do not have the experience no matter how long you say you've been 'driving' or how many cars you've driven/been in.

 

I have been driving in one of the major snow capitals of the world for over 30years and all of my cars have been RWD. Needless to say I have done a lot of driving in just about everything mother nature has thrown at us.

Without a doubt my GS4 is the most challenging car I have ever driven in winter. The toughest part is to get the car moving when it is stuck in snow or on ice. And it doesn't take much to get this car stuck. When the car is actually moving it is not so bad because the "SNOW" mode and VSC do help you to keep the car on the road. Just remember that they only provide marginal assistance. Don't think think for a moment that you are perfectly safe just because you have these features turned on. One time in the middle of winter I literally spun car around 2.5 times in a matter of a second or two. The VSC beeper was chirping like crazy the whole time and there was absolutely nothing I could to to straighten out the car. Lucky for my there was no one else on the road and I never hit the curbs.

Do not drive this car without a very good set of snow tires. I am currently using Goodyear GW3's and they seem to work quite well. I had a set of Blizzaks which I did not like at all. I plan to us Michelins PA3's this coming winter. I have had good luck with them on my Cressida. The Cressida has an LSD so that really helps traction also. I would like to put a TRD LSD in GS4 if I can find one for a good price.

If you must drive in the winter I suggest that you practice in a snow covered parking lot and thoroughly understand what the car does when it is breaks loose or gets stuck.

 

beyond terrible mine sits in the garage for the snow months...thats with any rear wheel drive car...on a different note, my 07 GS350 AWD is incredible

 

Yeah it sucks in the snow bad...I make my wife drive soemthing else when the forecast has snow in it. And if other cars are broke I suck it up and drive it, its not fun. But if you have experience w/ RWD it becomes easier.

 

+1, the ES is so much better

 

most front wheel drives are

 

When I was 16 I had a 1978 Dodge Omni. That was back in '91. An old beater should ALWAYS be a 16 year old's first car with no exceptions. I don't care if you have a platinum spoon shoved up your woo-hoo.

Anyways, just in case you make the mistake of getting such a fine car for your first: the best way to learn how to drive in the snow is to get into an empty parking lot and start doing donuts and drift and have some fun. Then you will get a feel of what NOT to do, and you learn how the car reacts to emergency situations. This is how I transitioned into my GS from an Accord.

I have some cheap tires from CarMax and the way I handle the snow is throw about four 25lb bags of sand in the rear, two over each tire, and turn on the Snow Mode for your traction control. Works great for even Chicago snow driving.

 

Funny how this thread blew up pretty quick and the OP hasnt visited this site since he wrote the topic. go figure, probably another 16yr old just wanting to talk about something probably NOT getting one and

 

Yeah, but if you do have an 'off' least you'll stand a better chance of walking out of it rather than a little honda or something. Go for it but see if theres any training around, a get some winter tyres.

 

Good Day:

When I was 16, I lived in your area and I had a...BUS PASS!!! Get one quickly. It's your best option. While you may be able to purchase a GS at this point, you surely will not be able to afford to maintain it. Save your money. Put it in a Roth IRA and don't pull it put until you're 70. While you will never have the pleasure of cashing a Social Security check, the $1 million or $2 million you will have accrued by then will more than make up for it.