Once again, the GS has let me down in the snow. On Sunday, Minneapolis received about 5 inches of snow. I needed to goto the airport and the GS was the only car I had available to drive that day. Even in SNOW mode and with the VSC enabled, the car is absolutely terrible on snow. Going about 35 mph, I almost lost control of the car. Seems like the traction control is useless. After coming to a complete stop, I tried to accelerate up a very slight incline. The car sat motionless. Well, one tire would spin, then a second later the other tire would spin, back and forth. The VSC also appears to kick-in after a few seconds. I find myself correcting the steering before the VSC notices we have a problem.

I attached a picture from my webcam of the day I tried to drive the GS.

Needless to say, I am very dissatisfied with this car in the snow. This complaint is not without due comparision. My front wheel drive 2003 Accord is magnificant in the snow. From a RWD standpoint, the G35 is much better.

So, I'm sure everyone is going to say... Sell the thing if you're so unhappy. Well, I cannot seem to let it go. 300 HP and the unique looks make it a hard thing to do. And, since I plan to move to a warm part of the country in a few months, I'll hold onto it.

Just wanted to assure everyone that the GS is NOT comfortable in the snow. Don't kid yourself, its downright scary!!!

 

Question for you:

Was the GS you were driving identical to the one on your "GS400 HOMEPAGE". In other words, were you using the same wheels?
If so, that would be your problem. From what I learned from the GS forum here on CL, you will need 16" wheels with snow tires for optimum winter performance.

 

i have blizzak snows on 16 rims and the car is great in the snow, as long as its not too deep. the car is lowerd and the front air dam clearance is limited

 

Damn, you're getting me scared. This is the first winter coming up for my Gs400. I hope I can get through it with the stock 17" rims. Luckily, I use mass transit to commute to work here in New York so I won't have take the car out much. But I know something important is going to pop up on a day it snows 10 inches and I will have to bring the car out. Yikes!

 

I keep my GS in the garage when it snows and take my FWD. In addition, too much salt on the road....I am hoping Lexus will have AWD as an option for the next gen GS, LS, and IS.

 

Just put snow tires on the rears, that will give u good traction...My best advice is not 2 drive it at all in the winter months if u have another vehicle, thats what I opted I drive my 93 maxima se

 

Snow iz schkary.

 

I have two sets of tires. The 16" factory rim with all season tires are currently on the car. I also "siped" the tires to increase the traction. This is the same thing the Blizzaks and other winter tires have. I know that the compostion of the all-season tires is different, but should not be that big of a difference. As long as the tires have a tread pattern that isn't "race" inspired, they should be fine.

I also put a 50 lb bag of sand in the trunk to provide more weight on the drive wheels. Doesn't seem to help either.

 

If you notice, there are a lot of guys on this forums who get themselves a winter beater car!!! For the very same reason, I can witness for it: My GS3 is an accident await itself when there is snow on the ground.
PearlGS400: I can't believe how brave you were to drive your baby out in the snow like uh... 5 inches.... Must be horrible. Last time I drove my GS in the snow, there was 1 inche of snow and I thought I would have killed myself! BAD traction, horrible handling, rear wheels spin like mad... Don't tell me I don't know how to drive a RWD Trust me, I used to drive cars for a living, and trucks too.

My 2 cents: get a winter beater to drive around in the winter. Save your baby and keep her in the garage until Spring! Good luck!

Chuck

 

I have the stock 16" rims with winter Nokian Hakkappalita(sp) 1's tyres. They are ok. Road noise is excessive on normal roads.

 

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Yikes dude. Tme to pop on them snow tires.

 

The first year with the stock 16" GoodYear's, the snow performance was HORRIBLE! No traction, spinning out around corners, and this with only an inch or two. VSC does seem to kick in later than expected, and by that time it was too late.

Fast forward to two years later, when I put on the Dunlop SP 5000's, and the car was a different beast. In light snow, I was hardly getting the traction light at all, and the tires would not give. In deeper 3-5 inch snow, it was handling OK. A little spin at start, but after it got going, it was decent. Still no FWD car, but got me where I needed to go.

 

Car is fine with snow tires. Have had snows for all of my RWD cars since 1995 and I wouldn't drive without them.

 

I have also experienced the winters with snow tires...

Last year was pretty funny when a pontiac grand prix got stuck and I was fine in the dense snow we had.

Snow tires.

-Anthony

 

fit some bizzaks on there. it works great in the snow, I had it on my porsche b4 and it ran great in the snow.