Trocks797

Good morning all. New 2008 GS350 AWD owner here. I love the car and have never loved a car so much before! Although, the seat warmers could get warmer!

Anyway, know that I have used the search feature before posting, and I am still left with a few questions.

I live in Louisville, Kentucky. We see all extremes as far as weather goes (11 tornados last year, 3 feet of snow a few years ago). I just traded my 2011 BMW 328i for p***-poor traction in even rain, and I know the 350 will be far better.

Anyway, my 350 AWD has brand-new all-season tires. Last night in the rain I couldn't even make the car get wobbly. It's great. But I do have some questions about what's going on in the cars brain.

I read that my car has a 30/70 front/rear power distribution. Is this correct?

How does the AWD work? Does it send all power to the rear wheels until it needs to send 30% to the front? Does it adjust power distributions for turns?

And finally (the biggie):

Which vehicle management system do I have? I read several posts here and here about how RWD vehicles with VDIM are better than AWD w/ VSC vehicles in many aspects (especially turns). The first link has a video that shows how VDIM makes the car insanely stable in snowy conditions.

So I came away thinking my AWD 350 may not, in fact, be as stable as, say, a 450h in snow (besides acceleration). Then I read on the Lexus website that my 08 AWD does, in fact, have VDIM as a new standard feature for 2008. I was always under the assumption that only the 460, 450h have ever been graced with VDIM, and when someone here asked the same question, nobody said whether the 350 AWD does or does not. Is the Lexus website mistaken or do 08+ 350 AWD's have VDIM? I seem to remember a VDIM light in my mothers 07 RX 400h (can't be 100% sure), something not present in her 2011 RX350. Should I have this light in my 350 AWD if I do have it? If the 08 350 AWD does have VDIM, it seems that it does have the best traction in the GS line.

Thanks for any help!

Tyler

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Well I know that in my old RWD with VDIM did pretty good in the snow although I had some extra weight due to the battery the car held its ground. The VDIM seems to only be in RWD cars its in my view like having AWD. The AWD systems has two transmissions if I'm correct to drive all four wheels so it basically allows for better traction hence the reason you don't need the VDIM. I believe someone posted a video about VDIM pretty good video not sure where it is.

PS:its' 70% rear and 30% which is correct.