Dholmq

Hi Everyone, I am seriously contemplating moving away from my big truck and getting a 2016 or 2017 RX350 AWD FSport.
I am very nervous about AWD since I am used to true locking 4wd in my truck or Jeeps. I live in Utah and travel a lot on the
roads during the winter up north so it is important that I get great traction in the white stuff.

Tell me about your experiences please. Thank you.

skiracer

I think you can lock the diffs, but its limited to only a very low speed like 20MPH or something like that. Its mentioned in the Owners Manual, but i don't have it handy right now. I've only driven thru snow covered parking lots at a ski resort so i don't have much experience with snow....

skiracer

Do a title search for "Snow" and you'll come up with a handful of threads about driving in it

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sea...rchid=14729140

coolsaber

F sport Tires coupled with body trimmings that reduce overall clearance would be more of a concern then powertrain.

Mabcpa17

Hi, anyone have any experience with the RX 350 AWD performance? I've heard mixed reviews about how it performs in the snow. Thanks

JDR76

My 2013 had the same AWD system as the 16/17. I found it to be quite confident. Not quite as good as my GS, but the RX performed well.

Gibster

I know this may be bad luck but I've never been stuck in my '05 RX or so far with my '16.

The '05 was unstoppable in Chicago winters. I recall during one snow storm I found out that because I was getting through the snow while others were getting stuck I ended up helping push out quite a few cars.

I also hit a patch of snow between the lanes on the expressway and the RX started to spin but kept correcting itself over several seconds. I was sure I was going to spin but the traction control worked like magic.

I'm sure it would be even better with snow tires. The '05 had Bridgestone Alenzas. Great tire.

FastFord

F sport with 235 65 18 winter wheels and tires. Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV. Awesome in the snow, slush, giant snow banks from the plow.
Rare that a Pick-up can get going faster in the snow with AWD or 4 wheel drive, with or without locking hubs/differential. Buddies and I confirmed this, many times...not even close! Ran them in normal mode. Hit the gas and gone.

I have disabled the trac control to get out from being buried by a snowplow and that works very well.

satnav

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV I had them on my 2010 RX these are awesome tires! not the best for dry/wet, but the RX is a family hauler and I value winter traction the best.

Surprisingly the Michelin tyres on the 20inch seem to be pretty decent and get good traction. Capabilities seem to be on par with the 3rd gen RX. Good for city/semi-rural winter driving in ski resort areas. Overall Satifisfied.

(an optional off-road package would be nice similar to ML to give locking differentials and what not)

toyotaman7

I have the F sport AWD with 18 Michelin inter tires and it has been great in the past couple of weeks of snow and Ice we have had here. Its fun to monitor to power transfer on the dash to see how it switched from front wheel drive to rear and activates the ABS / Traction control to stop the front wheels from spinning.

I drove my Venza last year on ice covered step hills and it did great. The RX AWD set up is very similar to Venza and Highlander.

thrillamac

iTrader: (1)

Agreed. Our 2014 RX 350 Fsport was unstoppable in the snow when it was paired with Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires. I'm sure this gen RX will be as capable. Last year, we had an early snow dusting around thanksgiving, and we were slipping and sliding on the OEM all seasons. Any all wheel drive car with traction control will be fine driving in the snow; it's the stopping and turning that matters. Winter tires makes turning and stopping better.

skiracer

I drove my 4WD RX in the snow today going to a local ski mountain (Mountain High) that happened to get 17" of snow in the past 24 hours. During the twisty 5 miles to reach the resort, i was driving primarily below 30MPH since it was snowy and icy. I hit the button to lock the front/rear differentials and i put up the torque meter on the display. I noticed the same amount of power was going to all 4 wheels now and throttle sensitivity is severly numbed. I think one time i just put my foot to the floor and the RX barely broke traction on the snow. I had my family in car so i didn't do much experimenting while driving. However, i didn't notice any wheel slippage while driving to the ski resort......

PLamarine

The Certified RX I bought with 14,000 has the Bridgestone Ecopia Tires. Bad road noise and bad wet and snow traction. Trying to get the dealer to swap for the much better Michelin Premiere LTX that is also an OEM tire.

computerwi

The stock Bridgestone Ecopia tires have ok traction in snow and virtually no traction on ice. After installing a set of Michelin Xi-2, the RX handled even deep snow (up to 4 ") quite well snow but is still so-so on ice. Compared to my IS and NX, the ABS is very sensitive on the RX and the slightest icy corners will trigger it.

subaruwrx

Living in Ontario, I'd like to think I know a thing or two about AWD and 4WD in winter driving condition. I had a body on frame 4WD SUV way back when and I think for everyday highway driving in snowy condition AWD is miles better than 4WD.

4WD = limited top speed.

AWD = no limite on speed other than your common sense.

Also if you don't like the feel of the car transfering power front to back on it's own you can always lock it.

If you find yourself in deep powpow, or completely iced hill 4WD with diff locks will be much better than AWD, but if you drive mostly on paved roads AWD is much better choice. Just don't forget to get a dedicated set of winters as stock Ecowhatever tire are garbage on snow.