phm129

I've noticed comments regarding driving the ES350 in the snow in other threads and remember a thread from October or November questioning if anyone had any experiences with how the car handles in the snow.
We've recently had several big snows and freezing weather. Since yesterday we got over 12 inches. Today I didn't go out until they had plowed the roads (luckily I teach and had a snow day), so I don't know how it would handle in anything that deep. I watched my neighbor try to back out of her driveway this morning (with a Saturn Vue suv) and after trying for about 10 minutes she gave up and pulled back in her garage.
I have driven with some snow on the roads and through slush, lane changing through the piles that ends up between lanes, etc. I have found that my car really handles well in all of the above conditions.
Does anyone else have any snow experiences to share?

I did have a funny experience yesterday. I got in my car at 6:30 am, sat my purse down, and heard a different beep. Much to my shock all of my windows went down and my moon roof opened. I always keep my keys in my purse and decided that when I sat my purse down it must have pressed on the key fob button and held it long enough to activate the windows down/ moonroof open meant to cool down our cars in hot weather. I was very happy that I was parked in the garage at home when this happened and not in the parking lot at work at the end of the day wit 4 or 5 inches of snow all over. That would have been awful. Needless to say I made sure I had my keys in my hand when I got in the car after work. I can think it's funny since I didn't end up with snow all over. Lucky for me.

static

I live in NH and work in Mass. I have a very steep driveway and if the snow isn't removed from it even our 2 4WD vehicles have difficulty getting out.

I had to commute in yesterdays storm, the car had very good traction, I had no trouble getting up the driveway. I noticed the traction light (I'm not sure what its called) on the dash came on once. After that on a secluded stetch, I tried to make the car lose control at slow speeds. I was able to make the light come on a few more times. The car is very steady and seems you have to try pretty hard to get that light on.

Braking on ice and packed snow, the car stops in a straight line every time.

To me, this car is very stable on snow and ice. Between yesterday's and this morning's commutes a total of about 5 hours driving in a variety of snow/ice conditions from back roads to a slushy I-95, never felt out of control.

PaJaHa1

I'm pleasantly surprised at how confident the car is in the snow. I was playing around on a wide road stopping and accelerating and there wasnt much fishtailing going on. Obviously it will not "perform" in the snow, but it will get you from point A to B if you find yourself in a jam, which is really all that you can ask for in a FWD. With snowtires, I'm sure it's significantly improved also.

Kaius88

i have never driven in snow ever. This must be scary. What if the public plow doesnt clear your street, are you stuck? If people slide around and hit each others' cars like a hockey puck, whose fault is it? What if your windshield wiper freezes in mid-motion, do you turn on your defroster? Living in snowy places adds one more item to worry about. argh.

RobF350

the wife reports a pleasant driving expierence with the icey roads we have had the last 2 days.

better then her old car that also had traction control, maybe the stability control helps it out more, or the less sporty tires versus the old car.

RobF350

most people just drive anyhow, they dont care

roads are usually plowed quickly, once in a while they screw up and there are some bad roads- but thats usually taken care of asap. Sometimes people get stuck a little bit going from the side roads to the main roads, the snow tends to get piled up at the corners until they start to clear the side roads.

if you get into a accident- its whoever's fault hit you I suppose.

Your wipers wont freeze in mid motion, sometimes they wont come up if there is alot of snow built up around the cowl, but get out of the car and clear it up and all is good, you always drive with the defroster on to keep the window warm and ice free, and use good washer fluid that also melts the snow.

I usually drive my truck or my jeep and let them get a day or two to clear the roads up.

Frozen

I've posted on this earlier, but we live in Alaska and have had over 70 inches of snow so far. Snow stays here, doesn't melt until April. Black ice is the norm, and commuting through 10 inches of fluffy is normal. The ES350 has suprised us with its capabilities to the point where we are not putting snow tires on. My wife raves about the traction in snow and ice, and she would be the first to put the snows on if the car was faltering. Great winter car, esp. heated seats. Interestingly, we have not experienced any of the cold temp problems others have mentioned. Then again, we haven't had any problems period.

onsknht

Do you know someone who is running/ran the Iron Dog??? I can't remember if it's an all week thing or not but they were running last weekend... Arty Kat in the lead, Revs breaking all over the place and I heard riders were saying quads would have been a better option?

At any rate... My $0.02 on snow driving (in a 07 Camry SE of course). The car flat out rocked! Awesome traction and I think the VSC is very well calibrated for the car... My TL on the other hand, sucks in the snow! Different rubber/tread/width etc I think is the culprit, the TL has wider tires and they're these goofy Michelin MMMMMMMXXX444MMM (whatever) tires... I just fell in love with Toyota again (tundra crew-max 5.7) so it may be a non-issue next year, but if I decide to stay the TL needs some new sneakers. A positive though on the TL compared to the Camry, I can start the TL in 2nd gear, which helps provided I go to 3rd and 4th quickly to keep traction up (there's a joke in there about being able to shift from 3rd to 4th in the TL, but I'll keep that to myself).

Kaius... Snow driving is a blast!!! Although you need the right conditions, the "crunchier" the snow the better, slop is no good but crispy dry snow gives nice traction I could do without the salt and the slop... BUT I do have some fun on unplowed roads and traversing the piles between the road lanes. There's nothing like momentary losses of control to crank the adrenaline up a little.

From a recent excursion, we've FINALLY gotten some decent snow around here... I love taking out a clean car and getting it dirty!







But then again, it's not like I'm enthusiastic or anything?

onsknht

Aye, just got an update as of 6:28CDT

wanderer99

I drove up to Big White Ski Resort late last week in my ES350. Coquihalla (highway) had compact slush, compacted snow and lots of pooled water depending on the elevation.

In all conditions and driving on the standard Michelin All Season tires, the car behaved fine... as long as you were driving at or under the posted speed limit. Ordinarily we tend to drive over the speed limit here, and I've often done this run in AWD vehicles at 20-30km\h above the posted highway limit. We did attempt this with the ES350, but it just didn't give you a sense of stability, ease or confidence at driving at that speed in those conditions.

What was really interesting to me was how the ES350 behaved with some strong crosswinds on the highway. I'd be driving in my lane when bam! All of a sudden I've moved two feet to the left and I'm almost half in the other lane. The ES350 does not like a strong crosswind. I was constantly being buffeted 1-2 feet either left or right, depending on what the wind wanted to do. I was surprised by the crosswind response. I'd estimate maybe 50-60km\h crosswind given previous experience with this type of weather.

We didn't feel relaxed at the either end of the trip. We felt tired as you were constantly having to concentrate on the steering given the weather conditions. Again, it could be an AWD issue as I've driven many AWD vehicles on this same road in worse conditions, driven at higher speeds and still felt relaxed and confident throughout the trip.

Interestingly we saw another ES350 UL vehicle parked at the Gem Lake Day Lodge at the ski resort. I seem to see a lot of ES350 vehicles around BC