Hello,

I recently purchased an 08 IS-F, starfire with black int, and have completely fallen in love. Amazing vehicle that few cars on the street can match. My question is about driving in the winter. I had an 06 GS430 which was not great in the snow with all season tires. I have read this car is not good at all. Has anyone driven with snow tires or all seasons? Or, should I just park it and drive the beater. Not sure I can go 3 months without driving the Lexus. Any input is greatly appreciated before I invest in winter tires and wheels.

Thanks,

Bruce

 

There have been a few members that have put on winter tires. They seem to be ok in the winter as long as you drive to what the conditions are. One member on the east coast and one in Canada drive in the winter with winter setups. I am in MN and plan to purchase an ISF and drive in the winter as well with the right set up.

 

I drove my IS-F all through the winter last year in Calgary, Canada, and it was fine. Just make sure you get some good winter tires and you're laughing. I was very impressed with how the car handled the snow and ice.

 

Although it is not recommended, it is driveable in the winter; the 'snow' mode helps on slippery surfaces. The rims and a good set of winter tires are expensive though... I'd personally put the more or less $3000 you'll be investing in winter tires and the hassle of finding a place willing to install them, on a winter beater. You get the save on winter tires, have a little fun during the winter months and keep your car's original finish...

Unfortunately, this isn't upscale enough for most owners.

 

Not risking it for Vancouver weather and its "We plow the roads when we feel like it and when we do we put on a 2" layer of salt" -snowy days.

The F is going into storage this November and out comes my old Honda until Springtime. Kinda ironic since the Honda was my baby and that was the one I stored during past winters. That changes this year now that I have the F...

 

'98 Honda Civic = best winter beater. It's a POS but damn is it fun.

 

with stock tires it sucks. with my blizzaks it's great. any car with summer perf tires is going to be bad when the temp gets low. my rs4 with stock tires was not drivable in snow either. with snow tires it was awesome.

 

Agreed!

Mine was just fine in the mountains with the Blizzak LM 25 V's. I picked up a set of 18" OZ Ultraleggerra's with tires for around $2200 from TireRack. I was also surprised at how well it handled in the winter and I drove it through everything....though we do have a pair of SUV's for when it gets really nasty.

 

Yeah I'd have to say that if you don't have anything as backup for when it gets real nasty it'd probably be best to get a beater.

 

Last winter I drove fine through the snow with my 19" Blizzak LM-25's Excellent snow tire. I wouldn't go into anything deep, but these did their job. I probably would have crashed my car without these tires. I bought an extra set of wheels with TPMS to make the swap easy. I'll wait another month or two before swapping my summer tires to the winter wheel setup. This is my car with my snow tires.

 

Why is the tmps important on a set of snow tires and wheels? sorry if it's a stupid question

 

As I noted in this thread, the F is very stable in snow with the Blizzaks. I get 140" average annual snowfall where I am and the plowing is lousy, and even kept the OEM RE50s on until January (although as I like to say, that is more a testament to the F's stability and my stupidity than my driving skill). With the Blizzaks, driving is very comfortable. The only concern that I have is getting stuck due to the low ride height although that was never a problem for me.


*shrug*, I recommend it...


I'll admit I considered this, but the thing is that the F's strength is that it is such a good daily driver, so why bother? It's way too much a compromise in that sense to justify getting a beater. If you're going to get a beater, you might as well get a much less compromising performance car (that is also much worse in snow) than the F.


You'll need a set on the snow tires unless you want to keep reinstalling them every time you swap tires... which would be certainly not recommended.

 

^ Or I guess you could live through the winter with the in-dash warning.

 

Hey Hey Hey, I just picked up a 96 civic ex 4dr for beater and I love that thing, Hehe, I swapped out the little sohc motor for a dohc motor and its alot funner with 170hp....

 

I can't imagine driving my IS F in the winter, especially subjecting it to the salt they throw down.

I'm in Massachusetts. I bought an '02 Blazer beater that I will run full time in the winter. I also use it for running into Boston. The roads there would destroy my F's wheels.