Gavinw35

Well this christmas i'll be heading up to a friends cabin in Duck Creek Utah and be headed to Brian Head to snow board as well! The drive up there is a windy typical mountain road. From what i've heard the roads can become very dangerous and I have driven them when dry and can see why. They have received normal amounts of snow for the season and monday they are expecting more. I own a 2004 Lexus RX330 FWD. I do not have AWD. I just got new all season tires this last summer pictured below. What do you all think? Will I be struggling up Utah Highway 14 to Duck Creek or on the snow covered roads? I've heard FWD is good in snow from having the engine weight above the tires. Any advice or tips are appreciated.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

you might need chains for snow.....

RX330inFL

Do you have much experience driving in snow? Heavy snow? What are the recommendations for driving on those roads in that area? Perhaps a question for the State Police for that location. Some places require you to be equipped with snow tires at a minimum while others require chains and with knowledge on how to use them.

It is not so much the capabilities of the vehicle, rather, it has to do with your abilities to deal with the conditions. You will be at 8000+ ft. When the weather gets bad it can get bad quick and does not suffer fools gladly.

You might be fine in nice weather, just not the right vehicle setup, IMO, for poor conditions in the mountains and definitely not something for an individual who lacks experience driving in those conditions.

Gavinw35

Was thinking about buying chains, Pep Boys has them for $45. Honestly i've grown up in Vegas never have experienced a large amount of snow. I have driven up at the local mountains in maybe 2 inches nothing bad and then the first time driving in snow was in Brian Head during a winter storm in which the roads were covered and unplowed. Im considering not going. My friend is driving his IS350 up tomorrow im debating on wether to follow. Obviously I would feel much better if the Lexus had AWD but i believe mine is only a FWD.

cartman57

Many years ago made the drive from LaSal to St George in a 4wd a lot, wouldn't try it in FWD without chains, if you're not used to driving in snow, you will now. Call the Kane county highway dept for updated road conditions.

Good luck, safe travels

Adamjeeps

Front wheel drive is fine on flat roads. Mountains I would want all-wheel or four-wheel drive. Would hate to get half-way up the mountain only to get hung up and have to come back down. With front or rear wheel drive, you have to keep up your momentum going up hills. And once you start spinning, you are just making it more slick. Also, our RX's do not have low range gearing so keeping your speed down while going down hill could become a problem (you do not want to brake heavily or you will lock up the tires and loose control). I have not experienced how well the RX does in the engine braking department so maybe 2nd gear does hold back well. In my Avalanche, I can go down good sized grades at 30 mph in second gear without needing to touch the brakes, and that is not even in low-range.

In summary, when driving on slick roads, do not make any sudden steering, braking, or accelerating, and you will be much better off.

Gavinw35

Thank You for your alls advice! My buddy insisted on taking his IS250 and he swore it was AWD. Not wanting to argue I agreed and couldn't even fit my snowboard in his car haha! We took it up and got stuck as soon as we got into the snow covered roads... His tires are almost bald! We got to the cabin after some pushing and parked the car for the rest of the weekend hitching rides with other friends with a Denali XL, new Infiniti QX56, and a buddy with a brand new RX350 F. All of which did fine in the snow. When we had to leave we had to have our friend use his Denali to pull us all the way to the main road where we finally got chains on. After getting the chains on it had snowed 3" in 45 min with the area expecting 18" from this storm in the 24 hour period. With little visibility we drove down the 29 miles to Cedar City sliding here and there but the chains did their job. Had to use the paddle shifters to down shift so we could slow down. Barely touching the brakes would cause the wheels to slide a bit even when barely touching them. Thanks to chains, our buddy who pulled us and some of the tips we got here we were able to get down the mountain. I have no question that my RX would have done fine. With the newer tires, FWD, and weight I think we would have had no problem in the snow. Will have to see next time...

GadgetmanN

Being from NH and driving in snow for years, I would have to say it would be risky to take a FWD up the mountain you describe in that type of weather. Every few years we see someone do things like that on the evening news. Usually they are found a few days later or in the spring. The wrath of mother nature usually is hard to escape. Life is too short to take chances...

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

If you were more experienced driving in snow i would say go for it, but if you aren't you may need chains. I have a FWD es300 with snow tires and drive a rwd volvo 940 ( i think is the model, its a friends) that i drive to ski country here in New York and have been able to get through about 97% of the time