Hi. I'm looking at trading in my 2006 RX 400h for the HS 250h because of the mileage, but I'm concerned about driving it in the snow. How good is the 250h in the snow. We live in Utah and we get a fair amount of snow in the winters. Even though, we have adequate snow plows and the roads are salted, I tend to leave early in the morning for work before the plows hit the roads and, I want to make sure I'm not stuck or sliding everywhere! Of course the dealer says it's great in the snow but, I think he is looking for a sale. We had a 2002 ES 300 and I thought it was terrible in the snow especially when going up small hills. Any thoughts or opinions?

 

OKAY you and me both thinking of the HS250h for mileage. Also could you go from driving a RX to a sedan??? I had the HS for a loaner Thanksgiving holiday Wednesday to Saturday liked a lot but SNOW the All Wheel Drive paid off for me several times. Last year I spent over an hour driving home a 20 minute trip may just buy the RX out.

 

There is no replacement for AWD, fwd and snow tires are a great combo but once hilly terrain is involved AWD is a must. I would say look at the new RX 450h, it gets the similar MPG as the HS but it can handle the snow also the HS250h's looks are questionable.

 

HS is FWD not AWD - sounds like it was OK in the snow for you??

 

probably will be better than your old ES300 in the snow, but obviously no match for the RX

 

Hi, Does anyone put snow tires/ winter wheels and tires on their HS250h? I'm thinking of buying these MSW 17x7.5 offset 45 with bridgestone blizzak ws70 215/55/17 for only $300 on craigslist. So I'm curious will the 45 offset be an issue? I have a premium with the 18" Goodyear sport tires which are not good in the snow/ice and i live in PA. My research shows that both the oem 17s and 18s have an offset of 38. I'm just concerned if there will be enough clearance between the wheel and caliper ect... Does anyone have any experience with running wheels with a slightly higher offset like 45?
Thank you!

 

Welcome to CL. I have some answers, but you should do some searching on the term offset as this may have been covered.

The wheels may fit if the bolts spacing is the same (5 x 114.3 mm) but you will need hub adapters as Toyota/Lexus are 60.1 mm hub centric. You have to use them or the wheels will not be centered and will vibrate etc and be un-driveable. That is your first hurdle. If the wheels have hubs smaller than 60.1 you cannot get adapters to work. If larger you need to know the size to buy adapters, which are available on eBay etc.

The tire size is really close overall to the stock size so it should not make much speedometer error or affect mileage much. See this https://tiresize.com/comparison/

The offset should work as the wheels will only be 7mm closer to the brakes etc. See this http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Wheel-Offset-Calculator# I would test fit the wheels.

It is a great price if the tires have excellent tread and the hub is big enough to fit an adaptor. I do not know how much adaptors cost but would guess under $50.

 

Great post !!
Lots of good info. Thanks.