Lexus team living in the Snow Belt ,

I've searched your archives for recommendations for the driving the GS4 in winter conditions. I can appreciate the fact that snow tires are mandatory, but I was curious about a few other things:

For those in the snow belt with snow tires, did you add weight in the trunk to get around? How did it work?

Did you "shelve" your GS4 and pull out a winter beater when it got really funky , or did you stay with the GS regardless?

Living in Central NJ, I'm not expecting to be hit with another year like the infamous '02-'03 winter, but I saw FAR too many M-B's and Bimmers stuck on hills or in snowdrifts last year.....

Many thanks.

AJ

 

Hello AJ,

I am also in central NJ and braved last winter with my trusty GS! I had winter tires and things worked out fine. Just take things slow and you'll never have any problems.. or at least I didn't. The only weight I added to the trunk was having my spare, bookbag, and umpiring equipment in there. It was plenty to keep things stable. If you budget allows for a winter beater, then by all means go ahead and get one. But, if you prefer not to, like me, just be careful and take things slow and all will go well.

-Anthony

 

AJ - welcome to ClubLexus and thanks for searching through the old posts. With the winter we had last year, there are a LOT of them out there. Might be worthwhile making a sticky in the GS forum once we get near the cold months.

 

I live in Pittsburgh, PA and my GS took a beating last winter. The first thing I did this past spring was get a little nissan as a beater for this coming winter. I don't want to have get my hood repainted again next spring. Those damn salt trucks are killers!!! Good luck.

 

i have a 03 Taurus as my second car, if you have mods, I would suggest you pick up a beater (something cheap and FWD) if you can. My car is TERRIBLE in the snow (with the rims at least)

 

I also live in Central NJ (Somerset County), and have found the GS to be very scary in the snow! I have Nokian snow tires which have been rated the top and my Lexus dealership even had them, but even then the GS is not a good performer in the snow (it really isn't inteded to be). Even when there is a good amount of on the ground I find the GS scary to drive (only really bad when accelrating from a COMPLETE stop and when switching lanes on the highway, it feels like the car is slipping into the lane). The GS is my dad's car, and he has no interest in buying a beater of any sort, but if it was my decision I would probably get like an older Nissan Pathfinder for the winter months.

 

RWDs such as Mustangs, Z38s, Vettes disappear in the winter here and that hinted me not to dirve my GS4 during the snowy winter unless the roads are clear. I drive my FWD vehicle majority of time during the winter. Get a set of snow tires if you must drive your GS during the winter.

 

I drive a beater in the winter as well. A few years ago when I had my GS300 I had blizzak's and a bag of salt (have a water softener) in the trunk and the car ran great in the winter. No problems getting around. The snow tires made a world of a difference compared to my all-season.

 

I live in Chicago. Car is fine with snow tires - I have the Blizzak LM-22s. I would also look at the Dunlop WinterSport and stay away from Pirellis.

Do NOT add weight to the trunk.

Doug

 

doug, what size tires are you running in the winter? i want to do blizzaks but i'm not sure if i want to go 16 or 17" wheels. we get more blackice than snow here in seattle area and i think 17" might be better on ice. on the other hand my 17s are chrome and i've heard snow, ice and salt are bad for them. thanks ivan

 

Hey Ivan - long time no talk.

You are correct, chrome and salt are bad. So I picked up a set of stock 2002 17" rims (with RE030 tires) from Steve G at Carson Toyota - silver of course not chrome.

So my Blizzaks are the OEM tire size (235 17 45 ).
Remember this
1. The skinnier the tire the better the traction. This applies to snow and I "think" maybe ice. Check with tire rack to be sure.
2. The Blizzak WS-50s are the best snow/ice tire out there. But the dry road feel is terrible. They say they are like driving on marbles.

The above said, if dry road performance is important to you, consider one of the sportier tires that give up some snow/ice traction but have better dry performance. The Blizzak LM-22, Dunlop WinterSport M2, and Pirelli Snowsport all fall into this category. I had the Pirelli Winter P210 tires on my BMW and they were terrible in the snow/ice. I now have the Blizzak LM-22s and they are much better with about the same dry road handling as the Pirellis. I have never heard a bad thing about the Dunlop WinterSports and they are cheaper than the LM-22s. I just checked tirerack.com and sure enough the Dunlops are actually rated better than the LM-22s (at the time of my purchase, it was the opposite).

Last but not least, looks like Dunlop has a new WinterSport M3 out as well.

Good luck!
Doug

 

I live in Central NJ (Somerset) and drive 40 miles each way to work in my GS3. Since adding Bridgestone Blizzaks (215/60-16) two years ago - and remembering to hit "SNOW MODE" on the transmission each time I start the car in bad weather - I've had no issues.

Without the snows - using Dunlop SP Sport 5000s (225/55-16) - the car is scary in the snow - but still good in the rain.

 

What happen if you put weight in the trunk?

 

I grew up in Essex County, NJ; and then lived in Syracuse NY and Rome NY after that.

I'd say you could add 50 pounds in the trunk without any problem. But, I'm convinced the biggest factor though is driving technique. Even more important than FWD/RWD and snow tires. You have to learn to accelerate and apply the brakes very, very slowly; how to recover from skids; and how to rock the car to get started.

I've seen people commute every day from the countryside outside of Rome NY (real snow country) in RWD cars without snow tires without any problems. That and personal experience cause me to believe it is mostly driving technique. On the other hand, in the Washington DC area where I now live, people go nuts when it snows even a little bit and 4WD cars and trucks slide all over the road.

 

Remember, normally in snow, accelleration is not the problem, it is turning and stopping. Adding weight to the rear end of a car hurts both of these.