First RWD LS460 experience in snow coming from several winters in AWD LS460.
03-21-18, 02:43 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
First RWD LS460 experience in snow coming from several winters in AWD LS460.
So we got about 7-8 inches of snow here in the DC area and I got out and around in my new RWD LS460L. As you all know I had an AWD LS460 for 3 years and had an AWD GS350 for 3 years before that, so I had gotten quite accustomed to Lexus' AWD sedans in the snow. They are excellent in the snow, by the way.
My main concern with my new LS460L is that they had to get it from Alabama...so its RWD. Its been about 15 years since I've had a RWD car, and even at that time I also had a 4WD/AWD car. Right now I own no AWD vehicles, first time I haven't had at least one available in 23 years. Thats something I've been a little concerned with, seeing that we have "hit or miss" winters here, I have a job that requires me to work at times in snowy weather, I have young children and elderly family scattered around that could potentially need me in snowy weather. My previous family LS400 and LS430 (which I drove in the snow less than the 400) were terrible in the snow.
I was really pleasantly surprised how well it did. Its certainly not as sure footed as the AWD one it replaced, but it was a lot closer than I thought. Never saw the skid/traction light hardly when driving the AWD LS460, on the RWD car it blinks a lot, but the TRAC system really does an incredible job of keeping the car moving, and the VSC does an incredible job of keeping the back end in check, even when the driver tries to get it to step out. I defeated both systems and saw first hand the impact they have, with TRAC and VSC off the car is dramatically less competent, and downright scary...which is how I remember the LS400 being even with those systems, 20 years less advanced.
I used SNOW mode, and HEIGHT HIGH suspension mode set to COMFORT. High height kept 7-8 inches of snow from dragging the bottom of the car, even when driving through aprons where plowing had occurred and I put the car in several difficult situations. Stopping at the bottom of an unplowed hill with just a few tracks or no tracks and accelerating up the hill. Stopping while already on the hill and killing all momentum and starting again. Accelerating up a hill with left curve. The car was always able to get traction, slow going at times and only once did I need to back down a little to get some momentum and get moving. Full throttle uphill also handled by TRAC. In several of those situations I defeated TRAC and VSC and attempted the same stretch of road again and the vehicle would not move.
Next step was to take the car to an unplowed parking lot where I was able to really see what its limits were, and again with VSC active it was very hard if not impossible to get it to do a donut, with that system off it will do them all day long. Pretty cool.
All of this is on all season Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus tires with about 2k miles on them, so very new. Car was unladen, only passenger was me.
So, I'm not about to jump in it and drive it to western MD or southern WV as I would have in the AWD LS460 without hesitation, but I feel much better knowing that if I needed to get out and around in it, I could.
My main concern with my new LS460L is that they had to get it from Alabama...so its RWD. Its been about 15 years since I've had a RWD car, and even at that time I also had a 4WD/AWD car. Right now I own no AWD vehicles, first time I haven't had at least one available in 23 years. Thats something I've been a little concerned with, seeing that we have "hit or miss" winters here, I have a job that requires me to work at times in snowy weather, I have young children and elderly family scattered around that could potentially need me in snowy weather. My previous family LS400 and LS430 (which I drove in the snow less than the 400) were terrible in the snow.
I was really pleasantly surprised how well it did. Its certainly not as sure footed as the AWD one it replaced, but it was a lot closer than I thought. Never saw the skid/traction light hardly when driving the AWD LS460, on the RWD car it blinks a lot, but the TRAC system really does an incredible job of keeping the car moving, and the VSC does an incredible job of keeping the back end in check, even when the driver tries to get it to step out. I defeated both systems and saw first hand the impact they have, with TRAC and VSC off the car is dramatically less competent, and downright scary...which is how I remember the LS400 being even with those systems, 20 years less advanced.
I used SNOW mode, and HEIGHT HIGH suspension mode set to COMFORT. High height kept 7-8 inches of snow from dragging the bottom of the car, even when driving through aprons where plowing had occurred and I put the car in several difficult situations. Stopping at the bottom of an unplowed hill with just a few tracks or no tracks and accelerating up the hill. Stopping while already on the hill and killing all momentum and starting again. Accelerating up a hill with left curve. The car was always able to get traction, slow going at times and only once did I need to back down a little to get some momentum and get moving. Full throttle uphill also handled by TRAC. In several of those situations I defeated TRAC and VSC and attempted the same stretch of road again and the vehicle would not move.
Next step was to take the car to an unplowed parking lot where I was able to really see what its limits were, and again with VSC active it was very hard if not impossible to get it to do a donut, with that system off it will do them all day long. Pretty cool.
All of this is on all season Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus tires with about 2k miles on them, so very new. Car was unladen, only passenger was me.
So, I'm not about to jump in it and drive it to western MD or southern WV as I would have in the AWD LS460 without hesitation, but I feel much better knowing that if I needed to get out and around in it, I could.
Last edited by SW17LS; 03-21-18 at 02:52 PM.
03-21-18, 03:15 PM
#2
Pole Position
I have found the RWD model to be excellent with snow tires, the traction control system works phenomenal. Now I have never driven it in the winter witho snows - although I shouldn't say that...I have - hence the reason I use snows. But all in all I am very impressed with the car in the snow...and I have driven in deep snow as well...7-8 inches like you and it did fine.
A very underrated winter driving car.
A very underrated winter driving car.
03-22-18, 12:41 AM
#3
Instructor
OP,
Apologies in advance if you may have mentioned this in a different thread, is your current LWB on all-season or snow tires?
I would assume all seasons.
Great review and feedback, thanks for sharing.
Apologies in advance if you may have mentioned this in a different thread, is your current LWB on all-season or snow tires?
I would assume all seasons.
Great review and feedback, thanks for sharing.
03-22-18, 06:32 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
All season tires. It’s in the post 
03-22-18, 06:45 AM
#5
Former Sponsor
Steve,
As I recall, your 17 is NOT an F-Sport? I hear the F-Sports get a positraction diff. I feel like I would prefer posi especially in slick weather. The advantage is, it would tend to get moving, versus just one tire spinning and being stuck. Disadvantage, if both rear tires spin, the rear end tends to follow the road slope. I'd rather have the car get going, than get stuck. I'm a good enough driver to expect the rear not to track if the tires are spinning. Either way, your experience seems like the posi is definitely not a must.I recall that you got the car just a few months ago. You quickly swapped to the Cinturatos right? I wouldn’t think the car would have come with Cinturatos on it.
Excellent post!
Jason Oliver
As I recall, your 17 is NOT an F-Sport? I hear the F-Sports get a positraction diff. I feel like I would prefer posi especially in slick weather. The advantage is, it would tend to get moving, versus just one tire spinning and being stuck. Disadvantage, if both rear tires spin, the rear end tends to follow the road slope. I'd rather have the car get going, than get stuck. I'm a good enough driver to expect the rear not to track if the tires are spinning. Either way, your experience seems like the posi is definitely not a must.I recall that you got the car just a few months ago. You quickly swapped to the Cinturatos right? I wouldn’t think the car would have come with Cinturatos on it.
Excellent post!
Jason Oliver
03-22-18, 06:58 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
It’s an LS460L so no F sport
I quickly added the Cinturatos at about 300 miles.
I quickly added the Cinturatos at about 300 miles.
03-22-18, 08:20 AM
#7
You're brave for going on to test this! I would have been scared that I might have gotten stuck (in your new car!). Thanks for the input. My hubby has been trying to convince me that I don't need AWD in our state (where we just had our one and only significant snowfall this season and basically none last year). But since we don't have any other AWD vehicle in the household, I just want the security. I actually drove to work in hubby's 2001 LS 430 on Monday and came home in the afternoon while it was snowing and before they had cleared the roads and it was a little scary a couple of times, with snow mode on. That said current tires (Michelin Primacy) are about 75% worn and are in need of replacement pretty soon. Nice of you to do this test and give your detailed input to fellow CLers!
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03-22-18, 10:54 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
You're brave for going on to test this! I would have been scared that I might have gotten stuck (in your new car!). Thanks for the input. My hubby has been trying to convince me that I don't need AWD in our state (where we just had our one and only significant snowfall this season and basically none last year). But since we don't have any other AWD vehicle in the household, I just want the security. I actually drove to work in hubby's 2001 LS 430 on Monday and came home in the afternoon while it was snowing and before they had cleared the roads and it was a little scary a couple of times, with snow mode on. That said current tires (Michelin Primacy) are about 75% worn and are in need of replacement pretty soon. Nice of you to do this test and give your detailed input to fellow CLers!
Honestly, after my experience yesterday I wouldn't worry about the AWD here if the right one came along that was RWD. Having had the LS430 and LS400, the LS460 RWD is much better than both of them so I wouldn't let your experience in your husbands LS430 deter you.
03-22-18, 02:13 PM
#10
I live about 20 miles west of Boston, and all but about 4 years I have lived somewhere in Massachusetts. I have never had snow tires on any of my cars (I do put them on my wife's cars).
My LS460 RWD is decent in snow (I have the Pirelli P7's). However, if it is really bad snow, I will take my wife's car so I haven't driven it in the worst snow conditions.
All my other cars through the years were all RWD. Back in the 1970's I had a couple Olds Cutlass models. I have to say they were unbelievable in snow. I don't know what it was about them, but they would go through anything. For those in the New England area, and are old enough to remember, I drove a Cutlass through the snow the night of the infamous Blizzard of '78. It went through deep unplowed snow as if I was driving a tank.
My LS460 RWD is decent in snow (I have the Pirelli P7's). However, if it is really bad snow, I will take my wife's car so I haven't driven it in the worst snow conditions.
All my other cars through the years were all RWD. Back in the 1970's I had a couple Olds Cutlass models. I have to say they were unbelievable in snow. I don't know what it was about them, but they would go through anything. For those in the New England area, and are old enough to remember, I drove a Cutlass through the snow the night of the infamous Blizzard of '78. It went through deep unplowed snow as if I was driving a tank.
05-25-18, 04:31 AM
#12
I have found the RWD model to be excellent with snow tires, the traction control system works phenomenal. Now I have never driven it in the winter witho snows - although I shouldn't say that...I have - hence the reason I use snows. But all in all I am very impressed with the car in the snow...and I have driven in deep snow as well...7-8 inches like you and it did fine.
A very underrated winter driving car.
A very underrated winter driving car.
05-26-18, 12:50 PM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
We had two "Perfect Storm" winters in a row here (we normally see little, if any snow in this part of Canada. ) With dedicated snpw tires, my RWD LS performs flawlessly.
05-26-18, 12:52 PM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
I live about 20 miles west of Boston, and all but about 4 years I have lived somewhere in Massachusetts. I have never had snow tires on any of my cars (I do put them on my wife's cars).
My LS460 RWD is decent in snow (I have the Pirelli P7's). However, if it is really bad snow, I will take my wife's car so I haven't driven it in the worst snow conditions.
All my other cars through the years were all RWD. Back in the 1970's I had a couple Olds Cutlass models. I have to say they were unbelievable in snow. I don't know what it was about them, but they would go through anything. For those in the New England area, and are old enough to remember, I drove a Cutlass through the snow the night of the infamous Blizzard of '78. It went through deep unplowed snow as if I was driving a tank.
My LS460 RWD is decent in snow (I have the Pirelli P7's). However, if it is really bad snow, I will take my wife's car so I haven't driven it in the worst snow conditions.
All my other cars through the years were all RWD. Back in the 1970's I had a couple Olds Cutlass models. I have to say they were unbelievable in snow. I don't know what it was about them, but they would go through anything. For those in the New England area, and are old enough to remember, I drove a Cutlass through the snow the night of the infamous Blizzard of '78. It went through deep unplowed snow as if I was driving a tank.
05-28-18, 06:29 AM
#15
Thought I'd chime in super quickly, this past winter we got a few days where we got 10+ inches of snow (I believe the total for one of the days was actually around 20 inches). Drove my LS through that much snow (on purpose and for fun) with just all season tires and the car was great. The main key was not to stop and keep momentum going and your chances of getting stuck were practically zero. Even if you did end up stopping (intersections) traction control did an admirable job to get you unstuck. The few times traction control failed I turned off both traction control and VSC (or sometimes just traction control) and just powered through. The only downside was the fact that I was practically plowing the street especially since I don't have air to be able to raise up my car. Next winter I'll definitely be getting winter tires though.
I should mention that during the snowfalls I'd go out driving just for fun especially since the snow was fresh and I'd drive with traction off but VSC on to prevent the car from slowing down too much in case of slippage but keep me straight in case I started going sideways for some reason. I would not attempt this the next day after the snow had a chance to harden since you'd probably be scraping things at the bottom of the car and you'd potentially end up needing a new bumper as well. Plowed intersections are also brutal when coming from an unplowed street and are the places where you have the highest chance of getting beached. If you like to have fun, turn off both traction control and VSC and you'll be drifting with an unbelievable amount of control believe it or not. Since there's so much snow, and all you're really doing is spinning tires you're not moving all that fast, the snow provides a lot of resistance in case you mess up and spin out preventing you from hitting things.
The other tip is always drive in snow mode (eco in other models) when you're driving in snow. It greatly reduces the amount of wheelspin and gets you going easily. Also trust the traction control system and don't try to fight it. A lot of the time it'll figure out how to get you moving, just give it some time. Traction control and VSC on the LS are absurdly good and downright magical at times.
Here's a video of me keeping up with an A4 Quattro https://photos.app.goo.gl/kzM4OXf3I7buVGJD2 The snow might not look like a lot from the video, but trust me it was a lot. This was also from one of the less snowier storms we had.
I should mention that during the snowfalls I'd go out driving just for fun especially since the snow was fresh and I'd drive with traction off but VSC on to prevent the car from slowing down too much in case of slippage but keep me straight in case I started going sideways for some reason. I would not attempt this the next day after the snow had a chance to harden since you'd probably be scraping things at the bottom of the car and you'd potentially end up needing a new bumper as well. Plowed intersections are also brutal when coming from an unplowed street and are the places where you have the highest chance of getting beached. If you like to have fun, turn off both traction control and VSC and you'll be drifting with an unbelievable amount of control believe it or not. Since there's so much snow, and all you're really doing is spinning tires you're not moving all that fast, the snow provides a lot of resistance in case you mess up and spin out preventing you from hitting things.
The other tip is always drive in snow mode (eco in other models) when you're driving in snow. It greatly reduces the amount of wheelspin and gets you going easily. Also trust the traction control system and don't try to fight it. A lot of the time it'll figure out how to get you moving, just give it some time. Traction control and VSC on the LS are absurdly good and downright magical at times.
Here's a video of me keeping up with an A4 Quattro https://photos.app.goo.gl/kzM4OXf3I7buVGJD2 The snow might not look like a lot from the video, but trust me it was a lot. This was also from one of the less snowier storms we had.
Last edited by enoch861; 05-28-18 at 06:37 AM.
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