caha14

It is pretty interesting out there, shall we say, and I wasn't venturing, so I took the truck out while Maximus (with his freshly charged battery) rests.

The plow left over 2 ft at the end of my driveway. This, combined with the slight ramp/incline, required locking differentials to get in. Good times... though not nearly as good a time as Dennis is having In fact, it's not even close!

tbilisi79

Not bad so far. We had a few inches yesterday.
vSc does a good job keeping things in line. Traction control could be a bit annoying sometimes.

Doublebase

I don't mean to dig up an old thread, but I'm in the heart of one of the worst winters I've ever seen in New England and my RWD Ls has performed admirably. Just today I found myself on the coast (where we just got 18 inches of snow) and I had to drive through some absolutely terrible conditions...the thing performed awesome. I do have snow tires on it, but still for a rear wheel drive car I was blown away...and I have been all winter. Now I didn't drive through 18 inches of snow, but there still was 3-4 inches on the ground and some serious snow drifts going on. The only time I've run into anything close to a problem was when I found myself going down a hill that was a total sheet of ice.

The traction control/stability assist is fantastic on this car.

caha14

This is awesome (the performance of the car, not the winter we're having)!

I remember close to a decade ago, when the 2006 GS430 (RWD-only car) was introduced, and it was the first Lexus to have VDIM (system integrating traction control, VSC, steering, brakes). A forum member (whose name eludes me now) posted a detailed review of the performance of his car in an unplowed parking lot, and I vaguely remember his observations being very consistent with this.

With the right grip (which you have with your snow tires), it seems that these systems actually help. The only other improvement I could see (besides, of course, AWD, which I don't care for on the LS460, mainly because it kills power) would be a LSD.

greg3852

We got 22 inches yesterday, and forecast is for 3-5 tomorrow. My LS is there on the right. I swear. Needless to say I haven't driven in it other than to move the car to the other side of the driveway. And of course I scratched my door with a shovel. And it's a deep one. Oh well I'll deal with it when the snow melts in August. hahaha

But the little I did drive it, it was good and I don't have snow tires on it.

caha14

Sorry to hear about the scratch.

And let's be optimistic and hope it happens by July 4th!

------

Trip down memory lane, for what it's worth... This is the review I was talking about. GS430 introduced what - by and large - is the same technology in the LS460 (putting aside the different motor).
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...ml#post1232110

Doublebase

I watched a rear wheel drive car in front of me the other day try to accelerate from a stop and it's entire rear end just swung out to the right in the snow. I can't say enough how good this traction control works on these cars...I haven't had that happen to my car once yet.

The AWD version of this car must be a beast in the snow, but I agree, I it's not something I want either.

Doublebase

That's a bummer. Just hope that's all you have to deal with during the rest of this winter...this is one of the worst ones I've seen.

Doublebase

Just read the link you provided and I'd say it's spot on with how the LS handles in the snow. I have driven front wheel drive car for years, in large part because my previous experiences with rear wheel drive cars were horrible in the winter. The LS (with snow tires), is a tank. Just yesterday I was in stuff deep enough that I could hear it hitting the undercarriage of my car - sure, it wasn't a foot deep - but I was watching plenty of front wheel drive cars have a lot more trouble than I.

peteybabes

This is so true. i held the accelerator down to the boards when i turned on to my road yesterday and spun the wheel left and right, and the car would not let me spin out of control. it was very reassuring!

CRowe14

Seeing the posts that you guys have posted only confirms my original thoughts regarding this car with RWD..that with snow tires, and even those who don't have snow tires, having an experienced, aware driver behind the when can make all of the difference. Not to say that things cant happen to even the best driver, but lets be honest...theres not much of a replacement for experience and good sense.
Reading the feedback you guys are leaving makes me feel that much more confident in this vehicles ability to handle snow covered grounds. Us here in the NW Indiana/Chicagoland area haven't had much snow here this season, nothing like last year and nothing remotely close to you guys out there in the upper East costal region, but I had my doubts regarding the LS' ability to handle in the snow, even with snow tires (due to reading previous posts' from current/past LS RWD drivers). But even then I felt as though the car should still perform pretty solid. You guys have confirmed such!

And Greg, sorry to hear about the scratch...hopefully it can be remedied this Spring!

And just my few coins here, I hope you guys thaw out and melt away by May!

caha14

All these posts are making me wish I'd had more snow fun with my 460! The car was super clean and road salt-free when I got it, and so I was a bit "protective" and kept it off the road whenever this crap was around.

It's really great and comforting to read, though. I wonder if anyone has added a limited slip differential to this car... I can only imagine that this would take it a notch higher.

peteybabes

There is a Japanese company that makes these LSD's that I saw in a post a little while back...

peteybabes

Looking great this morning after a slow commute in. (roads were a parking lot)

Doublebase

I guess I got lucky, I didn't get any snow yesterday and it's sunny today. There is still plenty of ice on the streets though...hit a nasty patch of it going 50 down a hill today...felt the car slip just a tiny bit and then the thing quickly stabilized. I swear if I was in my wife's Honda CRV I'd be dead right now. That thing has a mind of it's own when the AWD kicks in.