Hello All,

I currently own a 2002 SC430 which is a summer car "ONLY". I'm thinking about selling it and picking up a new IS350C, but would plan to drive this car year round and I live in Vermont. I figure good snow tires, my knowledge or rear wheel drive predictability in the snow, and I should be fine.

Is there anything else I should keep in mind? Is anyone else on here driving their IS***C in the snow?

Thanks!

 

I haven't seen one but I dont see why it wouldn't work for you if you make the sc work.... Very nice cars I almost got one.

 

I don't have a "C" but I drive my IS350 in the snow. It works for me. The one thing that ticks me off bigtime is the traction control. As soon as it finds a bit of tire slip, it pretty much kills the engine power for about 2 or 3 seconds. I have to remember to turn off the traction control when it snows. Seems like a waste, doesn't it ? Hopefully the calibration is different on the newer cars.
I put Blizzaks (255's on the back, 225's on the front) on a spare set of factory rims I have. But I think they are too wide, and I don't get very good traction. Try to go narrower than that.

 

Well I don't see how the IS-C would be any different than your SC in terms of drive-ability in certain weather conditions.

However, the flipside to posting in the IS forum, is that I (and others) probably won't see why the IS-C would be any different than the RWD IS sedan either.

So, I would ask, why wasn't the SC driven in the snow, cause the same rules will likely apply to the ISC

 

The reason why the SC hasn't been driven in the snow is because I have a vehicle to drive in the snow and didn't want to run the car through our salty winters being that it's an older vehicle with no warranty. However if I get a new ISC, then that would be my primary vehicle...so I would be driving it in the winter.

 

It can be done. I drive my 350 in the winter with snow tires 225-45-18 front to back. I do take traction off when it snow and i use the sport mode to use lower gears. Works fine for me.

 

If that's the case then I would just read the opinions from those posting with IS350 sedans that drive in the snow. The vert shouldn't be any different. In fact, it might be a little better cause the ride height in the front is a little higher than the sedan (it's almost AWD sedan height in the front)

 

you need to change tires and drive carefully... it's pretty obvious

 

I don't have an IS-C but my IS350 sedan doesn't do too well in snow though. I'm the second owner and the previous was from Michigan who let the car go after three years. It came with Blizzak LM-25V's which apparently are some of the best snow tires. It was enough to get me through a Chicago winter but it did give me a few headaches though. I think you should do narrower tires though, mine are 255 and sometimes, it doesn't get a good bite into the snow. I'm going to do 245/40/18 this winter to see how that works.

It won't be the best in snow but it'll get you through. Even with snow tires, you might get wheel spin when accelerating from a stop. Also, turning traction off will help once you get the hang of snow driving. Just can't tell you how many times it cut off power in a bad time for me.

 

We have a 2010 IS 350C that we drove to CA in May of 2010. Donner Summit had snow chain requirements so we ended up purchasing a set of cable chains before heading up and over. Aside from very little clearance between the tire and body, I was able to attach the cables and drive about 40 miles on the highway with accumulating snow, but tracked by other vehicles. We had no problems with traction, although we were traveling between 25-30 mph in sometimes white-out conditions. Based on that experience I feel that it would work as a winter vehicle with studless winter tires and reasonable care. My only concern would be for snow packed in the wheel wells.