iWannaGS

Hi all,

Well I woke up at 5:00 am this morning and looked out the window and saw that it snowed overnight and I was like "oh man, this will be an adventure." Then I realized that the GS 350 f sport had snow mode so I felt a tad bit better hoping I would get to work ok. When I hit the road and got out of the neighborhood, I stepped on the gas and it felt like that even though I was stepping on the gas, it would barely move and a yellow light came up on the panel Everytime I stepped on the gas. At times it slid a bit and also swayed which got my heart rate up.

After I was on the highway, everything seemed ok and while still on snow mode, stepping on the gas wouldn't get me much speed so at times I alternated between snow mode and regular. The last thing I wanted to do is get in an accident so I was super super cautious. Exiting was really scary cause I was sliding as I was turning. When I got almost to the parking garage, I had to drive down a very small hill but I couldn't go back up. So I was stuck for a good 5 minutes. I reversed then stepped on the gas and kept repeating this for the duration as cars were passing me. And I wasn't sure if I gained enough momentum or if I was like "screw it" and punched on the gas while in snow mode and it finally nudged up the hill and I finally made it into the garage.

I hate driving in the snow as there will be more snow in the upcoming days/weeks so can anyone give me any suggestions or tips on how to handle winter driving?
Im located in Oklahoma.

Snow mode, are you suppose to step on the gas harder or no? I was playing safe and barely did and wasn't gaining much speed.

Thanks

JDR76

Is your car RWD or AWD, and are you on summer, all season, or winter tires?

In Snow Mode, you just drive regular. My experience with it is that it doesn't do much on my AWD car. I couldn't honestly notice a difference.

er34

Being light on throttle is always the way to go in snow regardless of what electronic aids you have. When you have difficulty moving from a stop, it's often the traction control that's might be getting in the way as it cuts power once there is slippage, but sometimes you need to build up some momentum to get out of a slick spot. Turn off TCS in those situations, but once you get moving, put it back on. There is no clear understanding or consensus on what the Snow Mode actually does, some say it makes the car start in second gear, others do not see that - might depend on whether you have AWD or RWD.

Most importantly, don't brake while turning or if you feel the car sliding.

er34

I haven't noticed much difference on actual snow roads either. But what I did find is that if you just let off the brake and let the car roll forwards(in D), there is a noticeable difference when the car is in Snow Mode - it creeps forward slower. It's not in second gear, because RPMs appear to be the same with or without Snow Mode.

nerv81

Snow mode reduces the throttle input so in case you're making a turn or something and give it too much gas, the slower throttle response will keep you from spinning out of control. If you need to gain momentum to get up a hill or something you should turn snow mode off and possibly traction control off too depending how steep the hill is. The reason you were having difficulty gaining momentum is because snow mode was on.

iWannaGS

Car is RWD. They didn't have AWD available due to my area.

Also, forgot to mention this part but my tire pressures were 27, 28, 29 at times due to cold weather. . Should inflate it to proper pressures...30, 31

JDR76

Yours is an F Sport, right? So a RWD F Sport would have summer tires, no?

Snow Mode isn't going to fix that issue.

tejanp

This is why Lexus should have never called that button "Snow." This is very misleading and people will assume their RWD with performance tires is invincible in snow. This is not a knock to the OP/TS because it is very misleading. but there is no substitute for winter tires / awd / careful driving when in snow. Please play it smart and stay off the roads if it's bad out there. We are expecting heavy snowfall in NE as well, I hope everyone stays safe out there.

homerj227

Proper tires would make the biggest difference, but I don't know if it snows enough in your area to make it worth it (vs. trying to avoid driving in the snow). If you are driving a RWD car with summer tires, the snow performance will be horrible. Even most all seasons aren't that great in the snow.

bclexus

Summer performance tires are extremely dangerous on dry pavement when the temperature is under 40 degrees because the rubber gets hard as a hockey puck and slick as a banana peel.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

yep.. i slid back on a hill because i put on my summer tires too early on my RWD infiniti once.. learned my lesson.. lucky no car behind me..

Afrosheen

Echoing everyone's sentiments here. Drove my '13 RWD F Sport in the snow twice a few years ago. On summer rubber it was terrifying and snow mode didn't help at all. You're better off getting some temporary "chains" for now. They're cheap and will help the tires dig in. You only need a pair to put on the rear. http://amzn.to/2iZt4q4 is a start.

I'd go ahead and leave your tires somewhat deflated for now also, you'll get a slightly larger contact patch and they'll heat up a little faster which is what you want in this weather.

I'm in the opposite boat now though since I jumped ship and got an AWD Volvo. I want it to get bad down here so I can test it out even though it's got Pirelli P Zero rubber on it.

bclexus

It's been snowing in Dallas for a couple hours and 20°.

er34

Larger contact patch on snow gives worse traction...... you want a narrower contact path(i.e., overinflate your tires) to cut through snow and reduce chance of hydroplaning on slush.

The tires aren't going to be heating up regardless at that temperature and constant contact with cold tarmac/snow/ice/slush...

But what do I know, I'm just another bloke from the Great White North....

iWannaGS

Here in Oklahoma it snows maybe 2-3 times in January/February so even though purchasing winter tires would be great and a greater chance of driving safely, I just hardly won't use them enough.

Also, I hardly keep anything extra in my car to help keep it weighed down. Maybe I should get a bag of sand or rocks and keep in the trunk or something?