Howdy, relatively new to forum, still waiting for my new ride to arrive. In the mean time I've been binging on the forums. :-) Thanks to everyone for the info they have shared, very valuable to me.

I've read a lot of the forum in the past few weeks. I decided on the AWD, but honestly I think it may be the only model they sell in the pacific northwest.
I did however enjoy reading and researching some of the comments from people that say AWD is not necessary and RWD is essentially just as good in most cases, and better in others.. I was surprised by this initially, but glad I dug into it.
I think there are some strong arguments that RWD is technically a strong option. However, I have come up with 2 variables that I haven't heard people bring up yet wrt the RWD in northern climates, or maybe just the pacific northwest. I thought I'd share those thoughts.

State laws and DOT guidelines:
I'm surrounded by mountain passes. West = Ocean. Every other direction means mountain passes before too long.
There are 4 stages of winter pass traction advisories in our area.

1. Traction tires advised
2. Traction tires required
3. Chains required ( except AWD vehicles with winter tires... chicken dinner)
4. Chains required ALL VEHICLES (Rare and awful)

This is where the RWD vs AWD argument makes a big difference to me. It's not about what the car is capable of. I'm convicted RWD can do a great job. It's about the laws that are enforced somewhat aggressively in some areas.

The RC AWD with winter tires (M+S or 3 Peak Snowflake) is good to go in advisories 1-3 (most common). And fwiw: I'm not taking my RC into the mountains in the rare occasion that they raise to advisory 4. So the AWD with winter tires has me covered. Technically I'm required by law to carry 1 axle worth of chains in the car, just in case. However, I don't imagine I'd ever mount them. I'd turn around if things were that bad. If I had to though, the manual says I'm allowed to.

The RC RWD is a different story in 2 significant ways. One more relevant than the other.
RWD OEM staggered wheel configuration has NO winter tire options available that I'm aware of (tirerack).
This would require someone to buy a second set or wheels, in a different, likely not staggered, configuration, just to get tires that would mount on the wheels. This is the less important issue as it can be worked around with new wheels, but it forces your hand.
Even then, with the best winter/snow tires you can buy, you are required to mount chains when the advisory says Chains Required (except AWD with winter traction).
Manual is more restrictive of conditions where you are allowed to mount chains on the RWD. It's a no go if you have the 4 wheel steering and 265 tires. You probably wouldn't be running 265's at that point because you would have gotten new wheels that had winter rubber for them, but it is still more restrictive. On the RC,

I'd prefer to avoid mounting chains if at all possible. Inconvenience, cost of carrying 2 axles worth of chains, risk of car damage due to low clearance, or chain coming loose. This is a big difference between the AWD and RWD in my region.

I totally get that these considerations may be irrelevant to people in different regions than I'm in. I just wanted to bring them up as I hadn't seen them represented yet, and they might be valid considerations for some people in specific regions. I'd love to have that 8 speed tranny, with the fun of a rear wheel vehicle. In my region the AWD just makes more sense "to me".

Cheers

 

 

I've had 4 Lexus cars, and a few Audi front wheel drive cars (5000) and a Jeep Wrangler (which I bought as a second car because my SC400 would not go anywhere in the snow). I don't know what you have been reading, but a rear wheel drive car will never do as well in snow as an AWD car, even with winter tires. I have not had a lot of experience in mountain passes in the winter, but there is no way I would take a rear wheel drive car on that road.
(This message sent from Ohio, which does not have mountains, but we do have some hills.)

 

While you might be able to "make do" with a RWD with snow tires, it still is not the same as an AWD car, especially if the weather is severe. This is coming from someone who drove RWD cars growing up and in addition to my AWD RC350, I also have a Cadillac CTS-V coupe and a Mustang GT convertible. Both RWD cars.

 

Agree with "make do with RWD". I expect AWD will always be superior in low traction scenarios. Letting the computer choose between 4 wheels to power is always going to be better than only 2 wheels.

Reason I brought it up was to avoid more of the arguments that say AWD is overrated and unnecessary. Ii saw good evidence that RWD on modern vehicles with traction features can be surprisingly competent. Competent, not equal to or superior.

I've never driven a RWD with traction control features, so I can't comment from personal experience. I have lots of experience in RWD cars that lack those features, and with a modern AWD car. Traction isn't even close between those. The RWD is fun to drift around in when conditions and surroundings permit, but it is not fun when precision is required.

 

Nobody is making that argument. RWD cars with "traction features" are terrible in slippery conditions, and mostly just make some adjustments to the transmission. I had several of those cars, and still don't think that the "snow" button was connected to anything at all.

 

The "all season" tires my 2015 AWD F-sport came with are worthless in the snow. Turanza tires are worthless in general though. I'll be buying winter tires next year as it seems snow in Portland is becoming a regular thing.

 

I live in Seattle and can understand the argument of why AWD is better however, there have been very rare occasions on my truck which I've had to engage 4WD (mainly the snow) so I think that a RWD with a LSD will handle most of the weather the PNW throws at us. Then of course I also have the ability to choose cars. Unfortunately for me, there were no dealers in my area that sold RWD so AWD was the only option.

 

First of all, I don't think there is an argument about AWD/RWD - that's physics and science. Each driver can pick what suits his situation. As for not being available, that cannot be the case. It is true that dealers in various parts of the country get more or fewer AWD cars depending on where they are, but a dealer can trade or purchase a differently configured car from those on his lot in most situations. Also, thanks to the internet, you can usually find the configuration you want and buy it from any dealer in the country, and have it shipped to you (that's why your dealer should want to do this for you rather than not get the sale - here he got the sale for a more expensive car than you wanted). Your statement that "there were no dealers in my area that sold RWD" is not terribly credible. If you tried hard (and the $1,500.00 cost of AWD which you did not want is good motivation), and still all the Lexus dealers in WA refused, that's just sad and not right.

 

 

I have had my RC300 F-Sport AWD for two New England winters and I have been very impressed with the grip. I have owned 2 Jeeps in the past ('99 Grand Cherokee AWD and a '92 Wrangler 5-spd manual) I can honestly say I feel more in control with my Lexus than either Jeep!
And by the way my rear wheel drive car stays in the garage covered in the winter.

 

Although we never want to generalize from insufficient data, my experience is the same as grandspt's. I have had 4 Lexus cars: two were RWD (SC's) and two were AWD (RX and RC). I also had a Jeep Wrangler, generally considered the gold standard for mud and snow) to get me through the snow when I had the SC cars. The Lexus AWD cars have performed just as well for me as the Jeep. I also parked my RWD car for the winter, nestled in alongside its Battery Tender, to slowly await the Spring.

 

 

I played in the mountains this weekend.