tarheelrx

One of my friends lives in Vermont and wanted to know how the LS4 was driving in snow and ice. Any experiences and feedback would be appreciated. thanks

Gladee8er

I live in Maine, and will buy an LS 400 soon, so I have been asking the same question lately. It seems most owners are from milder climates, so info is harder to get.

A salesman I am getting to know in Manchester Lexus in New Hampshire says the most important thing to getting decent traction in snow is to have good, aggresive snow treads on your tires. It goes without saying you should have traction control, and VSC if you have a 98 or newer. The next tip he gave me was to always keep your gas tank full. Sounds good to me!!

Oh yeah, drive carefully the 1 or 2 days the roads are bad. The milder weather in the North, and the new chemicals they use on the roads now clear them off fast.

wwest

The LS was not my only choice for winter driving I would always op for the other choice, assuming the otehr choice is a truck or 4WD something, not a Porsche or Corvette. If you only have one choice and MUST get out and go in bad winter weather then it shouldn't be an LS.

mlevk

Howdy , I live in Boston and I have a '91 w/o traction
control . I've had my LS for 2 winter seasons.
The 1st was w all seasons and that was not good,
had problems on grades and 4" deep snow.
The 2nd yr I bought snows w/ aggressive threads.
for the 15-20 days that it has snow covered roads.
It wasn't bad, I'd recommend getting studded tires
if you don't own another car.
I have a 4x4 as well.

Lvangundy

Do you know how fun the LS and it's rear wheel drive would be on an open road in the snow?

Man, you could just floor it and do figure 8's...whoooooooo makes me want to take a trip to somewhere cold to do powerslides and burnouts. ;-)

Serisouly, unless you are an expert driver with RWD...you'd need the VSC, traction, and snow tires..

wwest

When I fly into logan in the wintertime I NEVER accept a FWD rental car (reluctantly even in the summer). I always request an AWD or 4WD vehicle, and will accept a RWD if there is a set of tire chains with it.

Summertime is reserved for Mustang convertibles.

brian3268

Abcedefghij

tarheelrx

Thanks for all the advice -- will pass along to my friend. He does not have another vehicle so this may not be the best option. Much appreciated!

epstns

Hey, Folks -- I'm sure you can tell from the post count that I mainly lurk here, but I've had 3 Lexi over the past 5 years, and I live in Chicago. First car was a 95 LS-400, then a 98 ES-300, and now an 01 LS-430. Actually the ES was the worst of the three!

Here's the experience I've had. On both LS sedans, I always use premium tires, typically Michelins. I maintain the air pressure at just a couple of pounds below the max certified level, and keep the tank at least half full. As previously recommended, I keep VSC and Trac on all the time, and drive conservatively. I live on a tiny side street that usually doesn't get plowed, and there have only been two days in the 5 years that I didn't get out of the driveway.

These cars aren't bad, you just have to know how to drive big RWD cars in snow and ice. I was raised on the big iron of the 50's and 60's, so it is second nature to me.

HTH
SteveE

ffitzgerald

We live in suburban Chicago area. I had a 1993 LS400 with traction control and standard Dunlop tires. It was very poor in any kind of snow or ice. I got a new 2000 LS400 and my wife started driving the 93. With any snow she coud not get up the slope into the garage.(Single Car Door) After fighting it for a winter she traded it in for a 4WD Jaguar X Type which she loves. It goes anywhere in ice and snow. The 2000LS traction control is better but still hard to drive in snow.

SCV8

I have yet to see a car that didn't work in the colder weather with today's super-soft winter tires(Blizzak,Alpin,etc).

alicemet

Here here! A good set of (preferably studded, IMO) snow tires makes all the difference in the world. Just bite the bullet and have a summer set and winter set. Problem solved.