Im planning on buying an IS300, (30) SC300/400 or a (160) GS300/400 here soon and I was wondering how they do in snow. I'll be living in Indiany where it snows a lot few times a year, and I wanted to know how they do in snow.

I know the GS has VCS, but its still RWD...the IS doesnt even have VSC right? Would I be ok with snow tires (like blizzaks) or are they useless in snow?

Thanks in advance.

 

My SC400 is useless in snow, even under very light throttle and very light breaking. Than again it's a RWD coupe, you don't grab a ton of traction when there's not enough weight over the rear wheels. I can't say about the others.

 

I gotta tell you... we had a 99 GS400 before the 06 430, and it did suck in the snow, but throw a little sand in the trunk and strap some snow tires on it, and if you're careful you should be alright. The VSC does make a huge difference though, especially in turns.

The ES300 is by far the worst car I've ever driven in snow, even worse than the GS400. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true. How? The traction control system is so overactive on the car, that every time you accelerate and slip, it cuts the throttle too much, and therefore you don't go anywhere. I actually get places better by turning the traction control off in that car.

My personal advice to you: don't let a couple of days out of a couple of months out of the year defer you from buying the vehicle you've been dreaming about.

Edit: another thing I should add is that the IS300 has a near 50/50 weight distribution. That'll help you in the snow as well.

 

My families two 1995 ES300s don't have TRAC.

 

Koma>
thanks for your insight. i was afraid of the SC b/c its a RWD coupe w/o VCS.
TheRupp>
well, glad to hear VSC does acutally work . and you suprised me with the ES300, especially b/c it was one of the cars i was considering. the only reason i considered it was b/c it might be better on snow but its off my list now.
and everyone is telling me about the "dont let a few days of snow keep you from buying a car you want" i dunno, maybe i am just being paranoid about snow.

 

The SC has TRAC but not VSC.
The ES's we have handle pretty well in snow even without VSC or TRAC.

Personally I'd buy the car I want and buy a Winter beater as well. Snow weather is always bad for a car. If you only want to buy one car (most likely) than I would say go for an AWD car or FWD. If you know you are a safe driver go for whatever you feel like, just keep it practical (don't go buying an Enzo if you know you're driving it in snow).


Oh and you're welcome.

 

dont worry im a 25 year old boring grad school student.
wont be doing ricer fly-bys or anything like that. but yeah, I am even considering an Acura....

 

I'm 20.
Acura isn't a bad company. The new TL-S is hot.

 

the new TL-S...drool...

but maybe after I get my master's degree. id probably buy an IS350 before that though . Fell in love with that car when i test drove it last year.

but anyways, keep those snow driving impressions coming!

 

If you really like those cars you mentioned but concerned about snow, pull out another $1200 and get a separate set of rim with dedicated snow tires. Before I got the Matrix as a beater my Supra is the only car I have all year around. I mount a set of Bridgestone LM-22 winter tires on it, and basically the only thing that will stop it from going is over 6" of snow. One additional note -- in those snow storms I did turn off the TRAC, because I want full control of my car and when the car skid the TRAC will switch to snow mode.

 

Bingo.Snow tires make ALL the difference.

 

If you don't want to end up in the ditch somewhere, why not buy an Audi?

 

Yea. I would say get good tires. I have a SC300 w/ no TRAC and I get by in NJ. The car's very heavy, so it's not too bad. I just drive slow. I've only veered off the road once, and that was b/c of black ice. I was taking a turn at less than 10 mph, but ice is ice...can't do anything about that.

 

just throw on some snow tyres, put some weight in the back and use some commen sense driving and your good to go blizzaks are great winter tyres.

ive got to drive on snow and ice every year from September through late April some times May and if you know what your doing and have the right equipment you will do fine.

 

a B5 S4 is my DREAM CAR. I would love to have any Audi actually.
but B5 Audis are unreliable sadly. The last thing I need is missing a week of class because my car is in the shop.

and I guess it is the tires....dang it, that means I need to set my budget lower b/c i was hoping 12k (minus routine maintenance and whatnot).