Is200 In The Ice

[ebthesned]

Hiya all,

I just thought I would post up a quick question about your IS in the ICE. Mine seems to be unbelievable twitchy at slow speeds. I have tried the SNOW button and this seems to make the car seem worse. I think alot of it is down to this car being the first Rear Wheel drive car I have owned. but i didnt think it would be this bad.

Is anyone else having the same feeling about the IS in the ICE???

Cheers

[Taftik]

Hiya all,

I just thought I would post up a quick question about your IS in the ICE. Mine seems to be unbelievable twitchy at slow speeds. I have tried the SNOW button and this seems to make the car seem worse. I think alot of it is down to this car being the first Rear Wheel drive car I have owned. but i didnt think it would be this bad.

Is anyone else having the same feeling about the IS in the ICE???

Cheers

It can be a bit difficult at first. Take my advice take the car to an empty parking lot and get the feel for it. I think it's down to the TRC system which is quite frankly rubbish. In normal cars you can drive safely with the TRC on and have a little fun when you turn it off. In the IS you can have some fun when the TRC is on and a big crash when it's off..

[rig-pig]

sounds like fun not so what does the snow button do any way ???

[Parthiban]

This has been discussed so many times on here, so if you search for "snow" in the IS forums, you'll find plenty of threads, that are essentially all the same!

It's nothing particular about the IS - its any RWD car on wide summer tyres is not going to behave well on ice. If it's a real problem where you live, it's definitely a good idea to get a separate set of wheels with winter tyres on them to give you better grip.

All the snow button does is it reduces the sensitivity of the throttle, making it easy to pull away using as little throttle as possible. In the autos it also makes it shift up through the gears earlier..........

[ebthesned]

I was just wondering if it was due to being a RWD car. I have just never had the feeling that a car is steping out all the time thats all.

It can be fun yeah but to be honest its not fun when it fully steps out, quite scary though.

Cheers for you response guys.

[maneesh]

What tyres do you have?

How much tread?

What pressures?

When did you last get geometry checked?

[ibby]

Lowering tyres pressure... on the rears

could help with grip'ing the road alittle.

[Chris.S]

It can be a bit difficult at first. Take my advice take the car to an empty parking lot and get the feel for it.

Been there and done that this morning lol, 1st one on the staff carpark this morning

[ebthesned]

I have Dunlop SP Sport 3000's all round and the rears have alot of tread and the fronts are due to be replaced in about a month or so.

Tyre Pressures are at 35p.s.i all round aswell.

I havent had the geometry looked at since buying the car in august.

[swfcdan]

ebthesned, dont worry, the car is rubbish in the icey/snowey conditions unless you have winter tyres on.

good idea suggested, about going into a car park and having a practice.

ive found the best option is to have the snow button on and traction control off, but thats just my opinion.

i would alsl suggest if possible in adding some kind of weight in the boot as the car has a very light rear end

[ibby]

I have Dunlop SP Sport 3000's all round and the rears have alot of tread and the fronts are due to be replaced in about a month or so.

Tyre Pressures are at 35p.s.i all round aswell.

I havent had the geometry looked at since buying the car in august.

Iam sure your REAR tyre pressures are alittle too high

[Rob]

as said above using SUMMER tyres in WINTER does not mix - summer tyres go hard and loose grip in temps of below 7C

[ebthesned]

cheers for the above, I am going to find a nice big car park (without camera's) and have a little play. I think i just need to get used to the way the back-end works because I have never drove a RWD car in these conditions.

I am also guna have a play with the difference between having the SNOW button on and off and also the traction control button. See if I can sort of master the Lexus in the ICE lol......

[Ian M]

I filled up with petrol last night and as I pulled away lost the back end big time, which really took me by surprise. Then I worked it out – I’d just driven past the exit from the car wash and the whole area was one big sheet of ice. I really ought to have spotted that hazard. :iraqi-info-minister:

[Anees]

as said above using SUMMER tyres in WINTER does not mix - summer tyres go hard and loose grip in temps of below 7C

Every year this topic comes up, Rob always gives the best sound advice which hasn't changed ;) Winter tyres are what you would ideally need, but in this country its not really worth buying them unless your in Scotland or somewhere where the snow gets really bad. Rear wheel drive with the proper tyres shouldn't been a problem then :)

I would say that my IS200 was the worst car I have ever driven in the the snow/ice. I found the best thing to do was the turn off the rubbish traction control and then turn on snow mode - that kinda helped - although leaving it at home is a better option

[Rory]

I had a nice drift going on on the way to work on a quiet back road that isn't gritted, I found snow mode did help me but having only been driving 15 months, I tend to be much more careful with the pedals, and I turned snow mode off cos its not as much fun with it on

[ibby]

all snow does it slow the throttle response

[Jarek]

Hi

I'm using mine car in Poland where we have much stronger winters with snowing. My advice is to buy high quality winter tyres. Your problem is typical for RWD cars. As it was adviced try the car on an emty parking with TRC OFF. Don't drive too fast on curves unbtil you learn how it behaves.

Have fun on parking!

Jarek

[GWilso]

35psi is correct..... the manual suggests 32 but Dr Bones will tell you 35 and I have to agree with him

I have Dunlop SP Sport 3000's all round and the rears have alot of tread and the fronts are due to be replaced in about a month or so.

Tyre Pressures are at 35p.s.i all round aswell.

I havent had the geometry looked at since buying the car in august.

Iam sure your REAR tyre pressures are alittle too high

[St3v3_C]

35psi is correct..... the manual suggests 32 but Dr Bones will tell you 35 and I have to agree with him

I have Dunlop SP Sport 3000's all round and the rears have alot of tread and the fronts are due to be replaced in about a month or so.

Tyre Pressures are at 35p.s.i all round aswell.

I havent had the geometry looked at since buying the car in august.

Iam sure your REAR tyre pressures are alittle too high

I think we're saying 35 is best for normal driving, lower will help with grip on ice. :winky:

[ibby]

thats what i said.. above in about two posts!

gee.ee...

[IS300KK]

It's not just ice either. My IS300 has a real issue with wet cattle grids!! Since there are four of these on my journey over a mountain road to work (the same mountain road where BF wrote off his 3 series 2yrs ago, and which is littered with road-side 'shrines') things get a little scary at times. It's really twitchy in bad weather - I woudn't even think of taking it out in snow unless I had some ambulances on standby! Still, at least it has character I suppose.....

All the best

Amanda

[Monster-Mat]

lol, makes me laugh...

i used to have to drive the Monster in Germany on its 18" rims, because i couldnt find narrow wheels to fit winter tyres to due to the brakes.......i managed without much moaning, thats in 3-4 inches of snow...snow i tell thee

the big problem with this country is, a little bit of slippy stuff and everyone thinks there driving up Mt everest.

the best solution, is to buy the 16" rims that came on the GS/IS and fit good quality winter tyres, you will be utterly amazed at the difference in the way the car drives....trust me

in Germany, it is now against the law to NOT fit winter wheels/tyres when the temp drops to 5 degrees

[Bazza]

i drove all the way from the UK to Germany in snow,ice and blizzard conditions

on 18" summer tyres

and had no problems at all

you need to adjust your driving to suit the conditions

[Monster-Mat]

Correcto Mundo Barrie...