I know its still some months before the snow flies but
how is the LS in winter conditions
If I buy a California car would it be the same as one from NewYork?

Haha, you'll be in a skating part for sure.

My last year's snow experience was awful. My car was drifting like crazy everywhere. The SNOW mode button helps a lot, especially from zero. But all in all, my LS430xSNOW experience was not a walk in the park.

If you know for sure that you will have to deal with these conditions then nothing can beat what a 4x4 can do.

I use snow tires and found that the car handles the snow better than my two wheel drive pickup. Ground clearance is a bit of an issue with deeper snow, but traction has been fine.

Never go below 6/32's with good all seasons and drive reasonable with good distances. Drove like this 4 years. Snows are your best bet though if you drive when raoads are not plowed. Stand trac trac control help a lot

when the snow flies wintertires are a must here-
I wanted to know how the car drives in winterconditions. Some luxury cars are pigs to drive in winter. Bad starting, overheating, early batteryfailure

Any thoughts on chains???
They seem to be a great option.
Pewag has a great selection for trucks, etc., but I'm not sure how that might work for the LS430?
We have limited exposure to snow here in north TX...

If a good dedicated wintertire does not work anymore, chains will make not much difference On some passes they are mandatory but when you off the pass you are back to wintertires. Maybe not a good time to travel at all under those circumstances
Time to leave the machine at home and use public transit

Engine and car mechanicals are unaffected by heat or cold. Germans got the market cornered on that

I can't imagine with the felt liners and minimal wheel well clearance how chains would work. Xice 3 or Ws80 she will drive like a champ

Plus the pass thru gets all scratched up loading fat powder skis in the LS for knee deep powder skiing, playing on cliffs landing in soft pillowy puffs

I will send you a snowshovel, mittens and an icecraper to clear the windshield

roofrack mon, roofrack !!!
Have you never seen a LS with roofrack?
Check out Thule
Optional trailer hitch and trailer

If you have a nice jack you can get two winter tires(blizzack ws70's for 90 a piece) and spare wheels($50 on craigslist) and throw em on back and be GTG in 20, brah.. This works very well for me in KC. I put my all seasons back on as soon as my street is cleared, which is a big hill. Blizzacks will allow you to climb trees... trees......

I have one and live near Montreal where we gets lots of snow. Been through a few winters with it. My advice - get good winter tires, make sure your ABS and traction control is working and don't drive like a butthole. Seriously, it's not that bad. However, my previous car was a 2WD pickup with a V8 so anything is a step up.

We had winters down to -28C on some days and I never had trouble starting it - a healthy battery helps. I did get some funny issues when it gets really cold including the headlight levelling alarm and the windshield washer spray icing up, but these all disappear when the weather warms up.

One thing I noticed in these cars is the wheel wells are tight to the wheels. They tend to get filled up with snow and ice and make thumping sounds. It's almost impossible to clean them out in the cold. Best way is to park it in a heated garage over night - it will all melt out.

I carefuly chiosel out the snow from the felt shrouded wells. Big plus on cold weather is below 20 degrees she handles like a beast as all the suspension tightens up. Kind of like if ya have Pilot Sports in the summer but even tighter