I am seriously considering the IS 350 but I am getting a bit concerned after reading about disappointing snow performance. I live in the Chicago area and am curious if it's acceptable with snow tires (perhaps 17") rather than 18"? Also is Luxury pkg better in snow than Sport pkg?

Thanks!

 

It makes no difference what pkg the car has.

This is really simple... get 17" wheels with narrow (i.e. 205) tires (Blizzaks) and you'll be fine. You'll run rings around any AWD car stupid enough to have left summer tires on the car.

Everyone experiencing "bad" snow performance has 255 series rear tires on the car... why they're surprised they're skidding over the top of the snow I have no idea.

 

I too am very concerned about this. My IS should be here in a few days and I already ordered 18" snow tires and 18" wheels.

 

Hmmm, Dont know if the Sport package will be worse. Its lower, which will give it a lower center of gravity, which may help. Doubt that either will make a difference.

IMO, getting 17's + snow tires is your best bet. What car are you giving up for the IS? I know the stock 18" summer tires on the IS are horrible. There was less than 1" of slush on the ground, the car was all over the place. The Snow mode didnt help either.

I wasnt surprised that it was bad, but I was surprised that it was THAT BAD. I was going up a very slight incline, less than most off ramps, the car stopped completely. Turning off snow mode, I was able to slide around until I got up the "hill".

Good thing I have my trusty FWD 3000GT. With 245/40/18's summer tires, the car runs fine in 1" of snow. Although, I do put winter tires on the car now.

 

Forgive my rant, but WHY WHY WHY are people surprised that a car with summer tires on it doesn't go anywhere in the snow ?!@#!@????

Those tires are made to work at a specific temperature and on a specific surface. When they're cold and on snow, they DON'T WORK. It doesn't matter what car they're on. It has nothing to do with the Lexus. It's ALL about the tires.

 

Well if it means anything I have 18" winter tires on my car right now and the one or two times I've had to deal with the snow, the tires performed very well. But then again, I lived in Minnesota for over 10 years so maybe it has something to do with knowing how to drive in the snow.

Winter isn't over yet ...

 

Ken - only after you told me that you were fine with driving the IS350 in the snow did I really consider it. You better be right

I have driven in Michigan snow for 5 years - but AWD and FWD cars. Hopefully I will be OK with the RWD and the blizzaks.

 

Thank you the replies. I concur about having the right tires for the vehicle. For instance, I lived in Munich Germany and it's against the law to not put winter tires there. And there are PLENTY of RWD that get around just fine despite the heavy snow at times.

I am most curious how 18"+snow tires will perform. Then again, may be I should play safe and just get 17" as suggested.

 

Good set of snow tires and inteligent driving and you should be fine. A rear wheel drive with even weight distribution will never be great in the snow but it certainly can be safe and adequate.

 

We get snow in Omaha and I have a Volvo S60R AWD with UHP A/S tires and its great but I've decided to get the 350 becuase of what the car is. My plan is to get 18" snow tires for the winter. I agree with Ken and the others that you should be fine in anything other than a blizzard.

 

I have Blizzak LM25's on the 18" wheels that came with the car. The handling in snow is a bit iffy... Ok.. but take the turns carefully.

I should have purchased 16" or 17" wheels/tires...

 

I wanted to get the 17" but nobody had snow tires for the 17" wheels :\

 

The diameter of the wheels is going to have little to do with snow tire performance. What matters is the tire width. The narrower the better. You want to cut THROUGH the snow, not ride on top of it. The wider the tire, the more of the cars weight is distributed over that contact patch and the more you're going to ride on top of the surface rather than go THROUGH it.

The key is narrow tires. Go watch a WRC snow rally event. They run on about a 150 series tire. Admittedly they also have spikes in them, but the physics holds true regardless.

 

Uh, did you read the rest of the post, I have summer tires on my 3000 and it was fine in the snow. The nitto NT555, followed by Dunlop SP sport 9000s, then Michelin Pilot sports 245/40/18. i was able to drive for years like that. So yes, the drive type does matter.

I dont know why everyone gets their panties in a bunch over it. Drive an FWD car with summer tires, or an AWD car with summer tires. IT WILL BE BETTER THAN a RWD car with summer tires.

 

Yeah, and we all know how fierce VA winters are... driving your car through the winter months on summer tires isn't the same as driving your car through the winter months with summer tires when there's actually snow on the ground

Look, I'm not trying to offend. Obviously you're entitled to your own opinion, but as a New England native, the last advice I'd give anyone is to leave their summer tires on the car if they're expecting snow, AWD or otherwise.

Obviously, regardless of tire type in the snow, AWD > FWD > RWD. But that doesn't change the fact that summer tires offer precious little grip when it's cold and snowy.