cdencore

I live in Toronto, Canada. Other than occasional snowstorm, winters have not been that severe. I have been thinking of buying a used 2007 GS300 or used ES350 for my wife. The advantage of the ES350 is the fact that FWD is generally better in the snow.

I would appreciate it if GS300 owners can provide me with some answers for the following:

a) Is RWD (with winter tires) good enough for winter driving?

b) If I get AWD, do I need winter tires?

Many thanks for advice.

lkapimp216

iTrader: (2)

If you plan on lowering the vehicle and sporting rims I would go with the rear wheel drive. If your going to leave it stock and want something good in the snow go with the awd with decent tires!

BinaryJay

It's a personality test.

Are you practical or flashy?

You should have winter tires with either vehicle, but obviously put the same tires on RWD and AWD and you'll have an advantage in the AWD.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

HA, FWD are not that better in the snow. They always spinning in the front even with traction and in deep snow they are useless. This is from my experiences with FWD cars and AWD cars in Michigan with the snow storms we get. The Lexus GS300 AWD with snow mode is FAR superior in all aspect than the ES350. There is little skid or spinning of wheels or sliding. I am able to have full control of car on highways in snowstorms. I also have great control with my 2006 Audi A8L with 19 inch low profile wheels and decent all season tires in winter. You just have to do your research and buy decent all season tires or even better get winter tires. I use winter tires sometimes especially on the BMW coupe with the xdrive and its phenomenal. FWD are a compromise and a lousy engineering idea and should be obsolete.

BinaryJay

FWD isn't a compromise between AWD and RWD, it's purely engineered that way to reduce cost. It just happens that a FWD can pull itself out of slippery situations better due to a few factors like the fact that the engine is over the wheels giving them more traction.

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

I've been getting by with AWD + all season tires. It's not bad. Mine's lowered too.

You should be able to answer that question better yourself, no?!

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

I'm in New York w/ RWD GS350, no problems here.. The last winter was pretty bad, we had storm after storm. However, the GS did fine in snow with winter tires. I was able to get to any place. Finding parking is the only problem for me, since my car is lowered and I cant get over those huge piles of snow on the side of the roads

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

The winter tires don't help on the RWD have it and tried that, still slipped out. You could add the weight to the trunk or back end to keep it from slipping out but it really doesn't change much. Better with AWD with all season tires or winter tires they both work. My friend has one and has yet to have any problems in the snow.

516IS

iTrader: (12)

You live in TOR, I would recommend AWD...

gs350on22s

rwd if your looking to drop the car...

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

rwd and just get snow tires for the winter

cdencore

After seeing what's available on the used market and what my budget allows, I think a GS300 AWD is what I am looking at.

I am not looking to lower or modify it. Just want a nice driving and super reliable car.

Any owners of 2006 GS300 AWDs out there that can tell me the pros and cons of this model?

gsexy300

All 3rd gen GSs usually rattle like a 10 year old Hyundai, and the first year GS 300 AWD is the worst of the worst. Lots of recalls, steering rack, fuel rails, useless dash 'rattle retrofit'. I guess buying a now 4 year old GS 300 for $20,000 is an ok deal. But they were never worth the $40-50K new.