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The Snow Button


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Driving in the snow this morning was scary to the say the least. A friend of mine who also has a lexus says that you should turn the Snow button on, but to also turn the traction control off? Is this right - and if so what's the reason for that then? Also wish you could turn the ABS off - in the snow it just makes things worse in my opinion. Anyway got to work fine, and now it's snowing again - hope it clears up!!!! All the best to the rest of you in this horrid weather!

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All the snow button does is makes the throttle less responsive so there is less power going to the rear wheels, I certainly wouldn't recommend turning the traction control off especially in the snow, I only ever turn mine off in the summer when it's dry.

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I could be wrong but I would have thought that the only real reason to turn off the traction control in this weather is if it was making things worse by its operation, e.g. suddenly cutting in and actually causing you more problems. I've never felt the TRC actually in operation on my car, so can't really comment further, and I'm not intending to go out in my car until the weather gets a bit better !

The Snow button is very handy in this weather though, in my opinion. And yes, I imagine the ABS is pretty useless in snow.

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I've found that with snow mode on you have to have your foot down more because of the reduced acceleration etc and this gets the wheels spinning more than if it was off...?

I think the whole snow mode thing is extremely basic and does very little to be honest but the traction control although basic as it is does do its job quite alright - its saved me a couple of times from the unexpected slide.

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I've found that with snow mode on you have to have your foot down more because of the reduced acceleration etc and this gets the wheels spinning more than if it was off...?

I think the whole snow mode thing is extremely basic and does very little to be honest but the traction control although basic as it is does do its job quite alright - its saved me a couple of times from the unexpected slide.

In snow you should be driving more gently anyway, I don't understand why you'd just put your foot down harder so as to accelerate the same as if you were in the dry.

I think snow mode is pretty useful personally, blunts the throttle response and thereby helps when things are slippery.

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I've found that with snow mode on you have to have your foot down more because of the reduced acceleration etc and this gets the wheels spinning more than if it was off...?

I think the whole snow mode thing is extremely basic and does very little to be honest but the traction control although basic as it is does do its job quite alright - its saved me a couple of times from the unexpected slide.

In snow you should be driving more gently anyway, I don't understand why you'd just put your foot down harder so as to accelerate the same as if you were in the dry.

I think snow mode is pretty useful personally, blunts the throttle response and thereby helps when things are slippery.

Sorry i didnt make that too clear - i mean from pulling away and going up hills etc...

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Sorry i didnt make that too clear - i mean from pulling away and going up hills etc...

If you're pulling away and going up hills (or whatever) in snow, don't you drive more slowly/gently ?

Errrm im assuming you dont want to hear my answer...

The way i see it is - if everybody is in the slow lane - it leaves the other lane open for me :)

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I've never felt the TRC actually in operation on my car

Never? Doesn't sound like you're trying hard enough :P

Yeah I was wondering the same :lol: . I did feel the back end slide out once on a greasy roundabout, but the TRC didn't kick in. Is it more likely to do so in a straight line ?

Errrm im assuming you dont want to hear my answer...

The way i see it is - if everybody is in the slow lane - it leaves the other lane open for me :)

*puts fingers in ears* la, la, la !

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The way i see it is - if everybody is in the slow lane - it leaves the other lane open for me :)

Then they'll drive past you when you're in the ditch :lol:

The IS with summer tyres is not a car to be going too fast in the snow in - I'm surprised we've not already had loads of people saying they've smashed into something as we usually see that when it snows!

Yeah I was wondering the same :lol: . I did feel the back end slide out once on a greasy roundabout, but the TRC didn't kick in. Is it more likely to do so in a straight line ?

To be fair mate mine would only ever come up if I gave it too much throttle coming away from a junction, I proper lost it once when I was following Norkep and have no idea how I regained control - that was a really greasy roundabout on the way to one of the shows and it zigzagged big time coming onto the straight - I'm not sure what was funnier - the look on my face or the look on the faces of the people on the other side of the crash barrier who were all sat in traffic watching me snaking down the road :lol:

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I've found with the ARBs and lowering springs i have to be driving like a real nob for the traction control to cut the engine. The car will slip quite noticably before the traction control kicks in, but i can't make the car do a 180 with it on.

Most of the time it happens is in a straight line if my foot slips off the clutch pedal by mistake.

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The traction control and snow systems are both poooo in the snow twice I ended up facing the wrong way on monday morning :shutit:

Before I get all the driver error comments I was one of the 1st on the road at 4.30am trying to climb steadilly up a fairly steep hill and quite a few cm's of snow, I managed to make it into the work car park in one piece after passing several ditched motors and lorrys, :unsure:

But when I stopped to let a collegue park in a space that was it I was stuck on the spot going backwards and forwards for a good minute or two whilst all my collegues drive around me in their 4x4s and front wheel drives :blush: but a few pairs of hands got me off the spot and into my space :winky:

Monday was a bad day :blush:

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I've found with the ARBs and lowering springs i have to be driving like a real nob for the traction control to cut the engine. The car will slip quite noticably before the traction control kicks in, but i can't make the car do a 180 with it on.

Thanks, I was beginning to wonder if my TRC works because I've felt the back end go before any TRC cut in. But I'll just assume it works, and carry on driving carefully !

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All I can say...buy wintertyres or drive really carefully. And never cut out the TRC.

We had some snow over here too. Not as much as you guys have at the moment but enough to really ´ice´ up the roads. Had no problems whatsoever. And I didn´t drive like grandma..;-)

Was my first snow experience with the Lex, didn't sleep well the night before hearing all those stories of driving it in the snow. But I feel confident all the way.

So:

Some Dunlop Wintersport 3D, Snow and TC buttons on and weeehhaaa!

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The best traction control is that thing attached to the lower part of your right ankle.... If you need to rely on electronic gadgets to be able to drive without losing the rs end, then you should consider your driving technique... Although I haven't bothered with winter tyres on the Lex, I have fitted Winter tyres to my van.... They make life easier and the vehicle more sure footed even on cold wet roads.

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Driving in the snow this morning was scary to the say the least. A friend of mine who also has a lexus says that you should turn the Snow button on, but to also turn the traction control off? Is this right - and if so what's the reason for that then? Also wish you could turn the ABS off - in the snow it just makes things worse in my opinion. Anyway got to work fine, and now it's snowing again - hope it clears up!!!! All the best to the rest of you in this horrid weather!

The ABS system is designed to make use of all the avalible traction on the surface the wheels are in contact with. It is also designed to prevent the wheels locking up and therefore maintaining steering. I can assure you a car without ABS would be far worse as i had a Ford Focus before this car with no ABS so i know what its like. ABS only ever helps but on ice there is little or no traction ABS or not.

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Well I have been driving an MR2 this week and I can tell you I really miss the ABS of my Lex. You will stop quicker with ABS than without, but the MR2 is better in the snow then the Lex, it just seams to grip better and the tail does not suddenly jump out it just feels safer for some reason.

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