thegrey

I have a RWD IS 350 F sport and live in Canada (Northern Ontario)- lots of snow, ice and cold. The F sport has summer performance tires which are downright dangerous in the winter, for obvious reasons. I am using Blizzak winter tires on a second set of rims (from Tire Rack) and driving carefully. The car wiggles a bit sometimes, but it is fine driving in the winter weather. I do not regret one bit not buying AWD.

carderoni

I drove the AWD through last winter's snow storms and the RWD through this winter's.

The AWD with the stock all season tires is alright - it'll get through an inch or two of snow if you're careful, but it can't tackle it like an Audi or Subaru would. Handles just as well below freezing as above, but here in Virginia we don't get THAT far from freezing (below 20 is fairly rare).

The RWD with stock summer tires is far from useless below 40 degrees. In dry weather you can safely drive it at or just below freezing, just don't try to street race or track it. In wet weather just above freezing you'll start getting some traction control corrections. I wouldn't take it out in wet weather at or below freezing - at these temperatures the compounds in the summer tires really stiffen up and that, couple with the tread pattern, won't handle any kind of wintry mix or ice safely.

Lxi

great info.

JDR76

Yes, the RWD and AWD models use the same wheels.

carderoni

Not quite sure I understand the question. You can absolutely put aftermarket all season or snow tires on these cars. You can't swap the tires from a non F-Sport IS on to an F-Sport as the rim sizes are different. Maybe if the non F-Sport car has the optional 18's, but I'm not sure if they're a close enough match on width.

JDR76

The optional 18"s on the non F Sport model are the same size as the F Sport wheels/tires.

kinglexus99

thank god we don't have to deal w/ this ish is SoCal
I don't even think any of the local Lexus dealers carry AWD cars...if they do it's a 1/50 ratio at best.

Aeromotive

OP, I spent a considerable amount of time researching this before I made my decision.

Short version of the story : good tires > drivetrain

Long version :
Montreal and its suburbs are mostly flat cities. If you tend to drive through mountains, even with good winter tires, forget it. I've had difficulty going uphill (slippery surface) on a few occasions even with my badass Blizzak WS80's. Remember this : AWD helps you only when you're accelerating or taking a bend while accelerating. For highway driving and any other circumstances, AWD = RWD. It baffles me when I see people with AWD blasting through the left lane at 120kmh in a snowstorm "just cuz" they have AWD. They're also the first ones we see down the ditch. AWD won't necessarily save your *** if you lose control at highway speeds. AWD also won't save your *** in an emergency braking in slippery conditions. Good winter tires will.

I never lost control of the car. Yes I do drive carefully, but the car's traction control is a beast. It steps in as soon as you skid and saves your butt.

Unless you live in mountains or you have to constantly drive in deep snow (I mean daily), trust me, go RWD. I test-drove the AWD and I can tell you 8-speed tranny makes all the difference. It's much more responsive, much more fun and engaging to drive. IMO the 3.5L V6 engine deserves a better transmission than an old 6-speed.

VGRS is a blast! Auto-adjusting steering wheel is so much fun to have (retracts when you turn the engine off to let you out, and takes back its original position when you turn the engine on)

I'm absolutely confident my RWD IS350 with Blizzak WS80's outperforms any AWD IS350 with summer tires in snow and extreme cold conditions

edit : special thanks to carderoni for starting his AWD vs RWD comparison thread last year. It helped me a lot

Lxi

Great analysis.

BOBFSPORT

It's fine even though the stock tires suck but that's an issue on both rear and all wheel. Ill just say the 8 speed tranny in my (IS) is much smoother than the 6 speed in my GS but not necessarily better. Although I much prefer the way a RWD car behaves and how the steering feels with no power going to front wheels. If you don't have to drive in huge snowstorms Id opt for the RWD.

criticalgt

Tires are what stop the car not awd

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

I dont have a IS but I do live in the NY Tristate area where we got a decent amount of snow this year. This is the first year my LS has been introduced to the harsh winters here. But before the snow came, i had installed a set of Goodyear Ice Grips and man they made a big difference compared to my Venza's AWD with all seasons.

Snow tires make a big difference, but smart driving is a necessity in the winter.

Jlin89

i had a scion frs prior to purchasing the IS350 RWD. Had winter tires for both cars and that's what made the difference between moving and getting stuck. Like many have previously mentioned, as long as you have the right tires you will have no problems. The frs was a much lighter car and I had no problems with traction in the snow. The IS is definitely heavier and the traction control system is one of the best I've experienced. No chance of kicking the rear end out in the snow with it on. It definitely is confidence inspiring.