Hello. I'm new to the forums and had a question. I just bought a 2002 IS 300 and it's also my first rear wheel drive car. I had a honda civic before hand. Now the question. When it's raining outside I tend to lose traction when I try to accelerate through a turn at slower speeds. Like getting onto an on ramp I try to give it some gas before I straighten it out and the back end kicks out and I gotta get outta the throttle to gain control again. Coming from a front wheel drive car with minimal horsepower to this rear wheel drive car with 215hp I thought it'd be a little different but it concerns me. The tires are about 70% tread also.

Is this normal with IS's being rear wheel and all? Do you have to reserve "jumping on it" til you straighten out? I'm new to horsepower so this might be a norm but I just wanted to check.

Thank you for your time,

Jonny

 

it's definitely different from fwd, very different actually. i think maybe your car doesn't have lsd, that's why when you accel when wet outside the inside wheel will lose traction

nothing much you can do about it (stock wise) except maybe better tires

 

Welcome to CL.

It's probably your tires. I'd bet your car has the standard low-profile hi-performance 45-series 17" dry-weather tires....also known as a "summer" tread. These tires are great on a SMOOTH dry surface but aren't worth a damn in rain and snow....and ride stiffly over bumps. That is why 16" 55-series all-seasons were offered from 2001-2005 as a no-cost option....and why I got them on my IS. Even WITH all-seasons, and ABS/ traction control, the rear-drive IS is just not a very good car for low-traction surfaces...it is one of the car's weaknesses. You can minimize the tendency for your car to slide in rainy corners by getting a good rain tire like the Goodyear Aquatread or Michelin Rain-X if the tire shop can fit you in their sizes.
This is also one of the main reasons why Lexus now offers an AWD IS250...I would look into it.

Henry ( rominl ) is also correct that the lack of a limited-slip-differential doesn't help things either. The AWD IS250 helps make up for this deficiency.

 

thats half the fun of RWD! lol ... yeah my IS sucks in the rain, wouldn't dream of driving it in snow, i usually tun the traction control on, and take it home to grab another car he he he