willyb0b

are you familiar with a standard transfer case with 4HI and 4LO settings???

AWD drive vehicles are 4wd all the time

selectable 2wd and 4wd vehicles usually give the driver the option of going from 2wd into 4wd with either 4HI or 4LO. 4HI is roughly equivalent to a AWD vehicle, with all speeds being safe to drive in, with 4LO being the equivalent of ECT SNOW, with the tranny locked into 1st gear only, or 1st and 2nd, gears only

shortlid

There is NO LOW RANGE GEARING in the transfer case, which is really just a center diff. in a RX or Highlander. 4Lo is only in dual range 4WD vehicles.

salimshah

Snow mode is not for driving in snow. Its impact is only in moving from stand still. [it locks out 1st gear]. Snow is just a name. and this setting can be used in mud as well.

Salim

lexus114

"There is NO LOW RANGE GEARING in the transfer case, which is really just a center diff. in a RX or Highlander. 4Lo is only in dual range 4WD vehicles." What he said!! These are NOT jeeps were talking about here. It`s a Lexus AWD. Not to be confused with off road abilities.

willyb0b

i agree that we're not talking about jeeps... hence when i made a comparison that it is similar to a 4LO setting on selectable transfer case. ECT SNOW keeps the gear low and applies more torque to get the wheels moving

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

Not even close it does just the oppisite, it skips 1st gear and starts in 2nd thus limiting the torque to the wheels so as not to spin the wheels which would trigger an event and start the computer take over of your throttle and braking system most liklely ending up with you being stuck in the snow.
Jeff

aloinch

Hello Lexus Owners!

In Chicago and fighting another mini blizzard. I used my ECT button on my RX330 (2005). I understand the trans starts in "2nd gear" from a stopped position; however, my vehicle still slides when driving due to the slushy conditions - not speed!

Does anyone know if there are any GEAR restrictions when using the ECT SNOW button. For instance, can I use "4" , "3" or LO without tampering with the transmission? I just feel I need more traction. By the way, I bought new tires a few months ago.

ManXP

I have no idea how AWD vehicle could still slide on low speed (unless you have really, really bad winter), so I can think of 2 reasons only:

1. This is not AWD model.

2. Bad tires. Good winter tires cost about $1500 or more, so don't save on them.

P.S. We have some "wild" winters here, and I never had any troubles with my RX + good snow tires.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

do you have snow tires or All weather M+S?

2KHarrier

I'm currently in Atlanta waiting for a flight back home to Milwaukee. Apparently the snow is coming down rather hard right now, so I'll be able to finally give Snow setting a try when I get home tonight. As far as any transmission restrictions, I haven't read of any. It just sets up the trans ECM to skip 1st gear and start out in second. I know the "power" setting changes the shift points slightly and it feels a little more "solid" when going into gear, but I didn't experience that with the "snow" setting.

Perhaps Lexmex or Salim can chime in??

RX330inFL

In what realm does a set of winter tires cost $1500? Are you including an extra set of wheels in that purchase? Not even a set of studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7's is going to cost that, unless perhaps you are trying to purchase the day of a major storm.

RX330inFL

Welcome to Club Lexus, aloinch.

ECT SNOW only puts you in 2nd gear. You can still put your vehicle in a lower gear should you choose to do so. However, from the sound of your situation I am going to say you are getting the power down you are just not getting any grip. So, a few things come to mind:

1. what tires do you have? size? these will have a big influence on your problem new or otherwise.

2. you may be coming across areas of ice below the snow and slush. little you can do about that and you are going to slip and slide.

3. are you getting any dashboard lights coming on regarding stability or traction control while your RX is slipping around?

I have routinely driven around in PA with 6" of snow on the ground, along unplowed back roads, with a standard FWD 2004 RX330 on Bridgestone Alenza tires. Never had a problem.

ManXP

Not very sure of prices in US, but it's impossible to buy a set of good winter tires for less than $1000 (this is the minimum amount needed) in EU

RX330inFL

Perhaps then you should have qualified your statement to have said just that instead of leaving it open ended. You could have said €1000 or £1000 depending on what was appropriate. Unable to tell as you do not include that information in your profile.

There are plenty of places online to compare tire prices. Here in the US, prices on snow tires are no worse than all-season tires with the upper end being around $200 (plus or minus) per tire not including installation. Much of that "$1500" you are paying over there is in taxes I might assume.

Lexmex

Tires were also expensive in Mexico. I ended up paying close to $250 USD a piece for my 235-70-16 Michelin CrossTerrains and that was about 5 years ago. I never complained about tires prices in the U.S. after living down there.