spwolf

well he explained to you what it does... it doesnt give you extra traction to the rear tires.. in general IS is not tail happy car so it does well enough in the winter... if you live in snow area and up the hill, obviously AWD is better choice. But if you have 2-3 snow weeks in a year, its fine, I never lost control with my 2IS and winter tires.

goshawk823

My apologies for resurrecting a dead thread here, but I'm trying to buy a RWD IS350, and here in VA all I'm finding are RWD F Sports, or AWD base models.
The options that I want aren't available on the F.
I would consider the AWD, but I'm losing two gears and a bit of performance. It sounds like I would have to special order what I really want, and that's a 4 month wait.

I'd appreciate anyone's opinion on pros and cons of each configuration.

In Virginia normal winters here are mild (this last year was anything but "normal".) My current ride is a 2013 SS Camaro, and with all seasons on it, I have no issue driving in snow. I also grew up in the north and drove RWD vehicles from the 70s-90s there.

Mr_VFS1

What options do you want exactly?

goshawk823

Obsidian
Flaxen interior
Luxury Pkg Brown Wood w/ tecnology pkg
Nav
Rmote start

Apparently, not a "standard" build and must be custom ordered...

JDR76

I ended up purchasing a non F Sport AWD 350. No regrets, whatsoever. While I liked AVS and the instrument cluster of the F Sport, my wife hated the F Sport grill and neither of us liked the black headliner. Having to give up things like ventilated seats, fog lights, etc. made the F Sport feel like a substantial downgrade to me so I passed it up. I also liked the 18" wheel upgrade package better than the F Sport wheels. In the end, I could have saved some money by going for an F Sport, but wasn't willing to give up many of the options I would have had to in order to get the F Sport.

Good luck in your decision. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you choose.

Mr_VFS1

You're probably going to have to have them order one specifically to what you want which means waiting 4 months or just settle on one that they have and deal with what it comes with. If you don't want to wait that long, you're going to have to sacrifice what you want for what is available.

SC300Es

Here's how I look at it. Would you notice the AWD is missing two gears if you hadn't read about it? Driving dynamics yes, the AWD is different, but I think in most day to day situations it would be a non issue.

I would still go for the RWD regardless of how many gears it has.

Ed

goshawk823

good question. probably not; the camaro is a 6 speed auto and it flies along nicely
you would still go RWD? or did you mean AWD?

goshawk823

totally agree with you. I like the F dash, but I had these options on my 330, and would like them again on this car.
thank you for the feedback!

SC300Es

Want RWD, most likely would end up with AWD since NE doesn't get too many RWDs allocated for sale.

ilshm113

Awd if you live in ohio

s4awd

If it's gonna snow. Get AWD. If you we were giving up a DSG box, fine, go with the RWD, but it's not and the difference is negligible and not worth the hassle of switching out for snows, storing wheels, swapping, etc. My garage is tight, and I don't have time for that anymore so AWD and just drive.

carderoni

Just posted an update to my thread, which I hope has been helpful to others trying to decide between AWD or RWD. It's my best attempt at an honest, unbiased look at both cars as daily drivers.

Ownership and Daily Driver Comparison: IS 350 F-Sport AWD vs IS 350 F-Sport RWD

goshawk823

Awesome thread. Thanks for linking it here.
As I'm in VA like you, the amount of snow in a "Normal" winter wouldn't be enough to justify AWD (my opinion). This winter was just freaky.
My camaro came with summer only tires. Since this is my DD, I swapped them out for all seasons.
I found driving on the summer tires in temps below 40 to be borderline dangerous.
If I get a RWD, I'll be swapping tires before winter.

carderoni

Yes, this winter in the Mid-Atlantic area was freakish. Most winters we might get a handful of days where it flurries or barely tops an inch. I wouldn't take the RWD IS out in snow, but plan to swap to all seasons or winter tires in November or December.