I would prefer to drive a FWD car with all snows rather than a AWD with all season. I have done both.

 

I'd like to operate my car that way also; my ES is new. I've never done that, though, so figuring out how to make it practical is the real challenge. Sure, buying the rims, as suggested above, makes a lot of sense. And it seems like I'm stuck moving everything to a shop myself, since my slopy, traffic-y neighborhood is likely to kill someone changing a wheel on the street.

 

I did that with the car prior to my ES with Bridgestone Blizzaks and the traction was terrific.

 

AWD and winter tires are not interchangeable. AWD will get you going in bad weather, but has no impact to steer the car better or stop it in bad weather. A winter tire will provide better traction to stop, steer and also help with traction to get off the line.

BTW, Cross Climate 2 tires are not all season; they are all Weather category tires. A new category A hybrid of snow and all seasons.

 

Correct. Many poeple think they can drive in any harsh snow conditions just because they have AWD. Yes it might get then "unstuck" but its not a substitute for good snow tires.

 

76 lb ft for lug nuts

 

The spec according to the owner's manual is 76 ft lbs of torque for the wheels and don't be bashful asking for them to do it right.

 

If the car is calibrated from the factory with the 18 inch noise reduction wheels and I were to buy 17 inch steel wheels for snow tires, do I need to do anything with speedometer calibration? How about the tire pressure monitoring system? Or is it as easy as just swapping them?

 

As long as you get the appropriate (factory) size 17 inch tires, which are 215/55/17, your speedometer won’t know the difference. You’ll need four new TPMS monitors for your second set of wheels.

 

To elaborate on Denzlex's speedometer answer, you can use the Tire Size Comparison Calculator to see the differences between 235/45R18 and 215/55R17 tires. The 17 inch tires are 0.1 inch smaller in circumference resulting in 1 more revolution per mile over the 18 inch tires. Also, the "Speedometer Error" table shows over the 20 to 90 mph range there's no whole mph significant figure difference.

If your 2019 ES 350 (assuming your profile info is correct) is equipped with a navigation system, there's a "Tire change calibration" function to be:
See page 104 of the 2019 Lexus ES 350 Navigation and Multimedia System Owner's Manual for details.

The navigation system uses this calibration value and wheel rotations information to determine distance traveled when GPS signals are unavailable.

 

As stated above, Michelin Cross Climates are all weather tyres, rated for snow. In parts of Europe, where winter/snow tyres are mandatory at certain times of year, Cross Climates qualify, and they have the snow rated symbol on them. How they stack up against dedicated winter tyres, I can''t say as i've never used them. All I can say is that when I used them in snow they were fine on ploughed main roads, and fine on unploughed side roads with a foot or so of snow, with no slipping. I use them because they've worked well for me in snow, and work as well as regular tyres in the summer, so it's as much a matter of convenience for me. If I had heavy snow, for several months of the year, then I might consider the cost/inconvenience worth it to change. Ice is different matter, regardless of what tyres you have.

Guess it ultimately depends on what you feel comfortable with. If I wanted to be 100% certain then I'd get dedicated winters. If I was unsure then I'd get Cross Climates and see how they went but, if I found they weren'tt up to it, I'd get a set of winters and keep the Cross Climates for the rest of the year.

 

You can get alloy wheels for not much more than ugly black steel wheels. It’s a Lexus, spend a couple hundred dollars more IMO.

 

Personally I value functionality over looks but I checked Tire Rack and you are pretty close saying $200 or so gets you away from the "ugly" bullet proof steel wheels.

Question: The factory only offered this wheel in 17/18/19" configurations but according to Tire Rack they can set it up on 16" Rims.
What concerns would there be assuming the caliper clears the rim?

 

Worth checking Ebay too. When I first thought I'd need dedicated winters for a trip overseas, I was able to get a set of OEM alloys for £150. The seller had them as winters for a 3rd gen RX, but were the wrong size when he upgraded to a 4th gen.

 

I assume the 16s would work fine as they’re standard equipment on the Camry which likely has the same brakes.

As for functionality vs looks, well you bought a Lexus ES instead of the Toyota Avalon stablemate so…