IS - 2nd Gen (2006-2013) Discussion about the 2006+ model IS models

RWD IS in snow

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Old 11-13-11, 07:04 PM
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mcollins11
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Default RWD IS in snow

This is the first winter with my car. I was wondering if any of you drive your RWD in the snow? This is the only car I have, and have no other vehicle to drive. What do you guys do?
Old 11-13-11, 07:13 PM
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JEFFOS69
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It's fine with good winter tires. It has a snow mode if it's actually coming down hard. I have Hankook IceBears on stock wheels and I've had no problems.
Old 11-13-11, 07:18 PM
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mcollins11
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Originally Posted by JEFFOS69
It's fine with good winter tires. It has a snow mode if it's actually coming down hard. I have Hankook IceBears on stock wheels and I've had no problems.
Well someone told me the snow ect button didn't do anything, I didn't know. I just don't wanna go out and it snowing, and slide all over the place.
Old 11-13-11, 07:21 PM
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Sango
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Originally Posted by mcollins11
Well someone told me the snow ect button didn't do anything, I didn't know. I just don't wanna go out and it snowing, and slide all over the place.
Snow mode limits the throttle response or something, therefore it likes limits the engine power to reduce the wheel spin. Could come in handy if required but if one can drive properly, you should be able to manage to drive in normal mode.

Also, winter tires is best to have to drive in the condition.
Old 11-13-11, 07:26 PM
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mcollins11
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Originally Posted by Sango
Snow mode limits the throttle response or something, therefore it likes limits the engine power to reduce the wheel spin. Could come in handy if required but if one can drive properly, you should be able to manage to drive in normal mode.

Also, winter tires is best to have to drive in the condition.
I'm not good at driving in the snow at all, I have had some bad times in it before. But that was in a AWD... I guess I'll see how it goes when it starts to snow lol
Old 11-13-11, 07:29 PM
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516IS
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A good set of Winter Tires would do the trick... Even with the AWD, if you are riding on All season tires they are useless in the snow.
Old 11-13-11, 07:32 PM
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mcollins11
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Originally Posted by 516IS
A good set of Winter Tires would do the trick... Even with the AWD, if you are riding on All season tires they are useless in the snow.
Thank you.
Old 11-13-11, 07:34 PM
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Sango
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Driving in snow is normal to me. I'm used to it. I used to drive 95 Corolla and 99 Solara Camry which had All-Seasons driving around. Would of been better if it had winters but I was not knowledable about tires at the time.

Best way to practice, go to an empty parking lot and have and drive it around. I know a friend of mine had fun with his Skyline going to an empty strip mall parking lot and started making doughnut and going in circles in the snow. Funny thing is that the cops were just parked aside just watching him since they know who he is lol!!
Old 11-13-11, 07:35 PM
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I'm in the same situation, I just put on some Blizzak LM-60... anyone know if they're are any good? I've never driven in the snow before, I just moved my car from LA to NY, anyone have any advice on winter/snow driving?
Old 11-13-11, 07:40 PM
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mcollins11
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Originally Posted by Sango
Driving in snow is normal to me. I'm used to it. I used to drive 95 Corolla and 99 Solara Camry which had All-Seasons driving around. Would of been better if it had winters but I was not knowledable about tires at the time.

Best way to practice, go to an empty parking lot and have and drive it around. I know a friend of mine had fun with his Skyline going to an empty strip mall parking lot and started making doughnut and going in circles in the snow. Funny thing is that the cops were just parked aside just watching him since they know who he is lol!!
I might try that! I use to drive a scion tc, and it was alright in the snow. Had some problems a couple of times. I'm even afraid to drive my car in the rain. For some reason RWD scares me, and idk if it should. That's funny that they were just watching him haha!
Old 11-13-11, 08:06 PM
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I drive mine with blizzak snow tire, traction control off and your winter skills. Snow mode doesn't really do much for me at least.
Old 11-13-11, 08:16 PM
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with rwd ,it's much better to have a dependable winter tires plus the carefulness in driving with snow/ice- skills plays a great factor in driving whether your awd or rwd but awd has an advantage due to traction,but a skilled driver will be a plus and try to be careful and don't rely on tires.
Old 11-13-11, 08:39 PM
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Took my car up the snow once last year... stuck for a good 45min before i can get out.. i had performance tires soo wasnt doing so well even at little hills/
Old 11-13-11, 08:55 PM
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Originally Posted by mcollins11
Well someone told me the snow ect button didn't do anything, I didn't know. I just don't wanna go out and it snowing, and slide all over the place.
Snow mode will keep you out of 1st gear and slow down acceleration so its easier to accelerate and drive in the snow.
Old 11-13-11, 09:16 PM
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Of all my cars in memory, I consider the IS as probably my least favorite in snow. Now have a mounted set of Blizzak WS-70 to try to compensate. They work well enough to get me and my son to the ski slopes, but it is not a fun or friendly drive by any measure.
Thanks to living in hilly terrain the car can't even get out of my driveway so I park it on the streets during snow, and if caught away from the house I have to park two blocks away because it wont go on anything but lightest of inclines.
To be fair, of my last 4 cars(in 7 years) not counting the IS, 3 were AWD and one was FWD... Everything prior was RWD.


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