Hi Guys,

New here to CL with my 15 IS350 F sport. This will be my first winter with it and wanted to know if anyone had any issues with the car in snowy conditions.

 

I had a 2014 IS350 AWD and now have a 2015 GS350 AWD (same drivetrain). I experienced exceptional snow capabilities in both cars. With a good set of weather-appropriate tires, your IS will handle it well so long as ground clearance doesn't become an issue.

 

+1, in Kansas City we occasionally get heavy snow and did last year, which was my first year with the IS. I just had the factory-fitted Bridgestone all-season tires, and I had no issues whatsoever. Snow mode is not even necessary in slushy or lightly-coated conditions. I'd recommend you get winter tires if you are not used to driving in snow, but you would do well with all-seasons if you drive judiciously.

The all-wheel drive system really does try to help you out. Even on dry pavement, if I do a tight, low-speed turn a bit faster than I should, while hitting the gas, I might understeer a bit, but then I can feel the rear of the car push through the corner. I don't recommend doing so in the snow... but, just wanted to illustrate that the AWD is going to help.

I haven't driven in really deep snow yet. I kinda want to just for fun. We might be seeing some light snow this week actually, so we'll see what happens.

 

You should feel very confident. Last winter me and a buddy used a giant empty lot in the middle of nowhere to see how our cars would handle on fresh snow. I would literally turn the wheel left, get on the gas and the car would be sideways going forward. Then you'd snap it back and catch it, even on stock tires I never lost control. I was going slow, but still very impressed with the handling in snow.

 

As long as you have clearance and and proper snow/winter tires you should be good, even if it was the rwd model.

 

Thanks Guys! Can't wait to have fun with it in the snow

 

How good is the AWD system in the IS compared to something like in the S4? As far as I can tell, the IS sends 70% rearwards and 30% to the front by a transfer case and some kind of gearing or chain system at all times. A hydraulic or electromagnetic clutch pack can close and bring the power distribution to 50/50. This sounds like a really good system to me because the power distribution is mechanical and not on-demand, and is more predictable. Is this true?

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AWD or not you should always equipped with weather-appropriate tires.
The drivetrain system only helps you to move but it's your tires that do the turning and stopping.
Most all-season tires do not perform well in snow like a set of true winter tires.

 

I live in central NJ and we experience snow a handful of times a year. I snowboard very often and head up to the mountains in PA, NY, or VT as much as I can. With-in the first few months of ownership I had the car in just about every hazardous condition you can think of. The AWD system works nicely. I do prefer to turn traction control off while driving in the snow. This gives more predictability in how the car drives. I never use snow mode.

On stock all season's I was able to get the car moving where I wanted it to on road that was a sheet of ice. However around a bend at some point I did have some slippage that caused concern but I quickly recovered and continued on a little slower. We were in PA and it was ice rain on the ground.

I had a pretty rough time on the freeway during a bad storm one day when leaving a mountain. We were coming down the NY through way and a car in front of me got spooked and sent himself into a spin. I was 10 or so car length behind and when slowing down my car spun out also. Thankfully for AWD I was able to keep the car on the road, avoid hitting the guy spinning in front of me and safely stop in the shoulder before continuing back on the road. During this experience I had snow mode enabled and traction control on. Ever since I've turned them off.

It was scary but the car did perform as well as it could given the all-season tires. I drive carefully in the snow. But I drive in the snow a lot and things can be unpredictable.

This year is my first full winter with the car and she's equipped with Blizzak's now. Excited for safer trips to the mountain. We haven't seen much snow on the roads yet.

 

I agree. Take my example of using all-seasons with a grain of salt - temps do routinely get below freezing where I live, but they don't stay there for too long. In addition, most years we have pretty light snow. Where you live (NJ), it sounds like winter tires would be preferable.