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Best Preparation For Driving Is 250 In Ice/snow


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Hope everyone had a good Xmas and best wishes for 2010.

I find my IS250 Sport MM (06) to be appalling to drive when there is snow or ice. I think its those 18" sport wheels, combined with a rear wheel drve. I took it to an tyre place today and they say that the Continental MultiWeather tyres on it are "OK for all weather", and winter tyres are not available.

The car simply cannot climb any hill with snow, and is prone to back slide. It is easily overtaken by nearly every other type of car on the market.

I would be grateful for your experiences, especially if you are from NW UK, or Scotland or NI which had a lof of snow during the past 10 days. I got so stranded in my driveway on 22nd Dec.

Is it the tyres? Any recommendations on what I could put on this car to give it more grip in snow and ice.....!!

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Best preparation is to get a bus timetable. I leave mine at home when there's any snow cause I know it's going to be useless. I worked at home on the first day that it snowed, and on another took the bus and walked to go shopping. The only time I took the car out was when the snow was almost gone. It got stuck going up a slight hill on a back road which had some snow left on it. I parked and walked and watched front wheel drive cars make it up the hill easily.

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If you get snow more often over there then as suggested above the only real way is to go for steel wheels and winter tyres, as an alternative try something like the Goodyear snow socks ( quick and easy to put on and not the problems as with chains ).

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Have found my is250 to be essentially undriveable in the slightest amount of snow. it has the majical ability to erase 20+ yrs of driving experience. Nothing works the same as in any other car ive driven in slippery conditions. Best parked when the going gets slippy.

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The only problem we had with our IS250 was reversing out of drive one morning which is on an incline. A couple of mins to clear the snow from around the rear wheels and we were away. Other than that the car was fine on Dunlop SP Sport maxx tyres with the snow button engaged

I did see an SLK 55 AMG trying to reverse out of a flat car park space in Adsa with no luck though!

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Its the combination of RWD; [large] rims and Summer Tyres :(

I like the advice above of leaving the car at home in this weather...I am currently debating to get a set of 17"rims and shod them with proper Winter Tyres. However the cost is a big factor - its not like we get this weather regularly and I do wonder how often I would need to use them...

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I've got to say, this being my return to RWD (and first manual RWD at that) after 3 years, I found it to be a lot less painful than I thought it would be. Maybe it's just that you are used to driving a particular way and to drive in the snow seems alien, but being ultra cautious I've found the car usable; certainly not as chuckable as my last car but the IS is also less powerful so I have a bit more confidence its not suddenly going to spin up a wheel...

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I did see an SLK 55 AMG trying to reverse out of a flat car park space in Adsa with no luck though!

LOL quality that is one BRAVE person :)

I have an SLK 350 and even with that I don't even attempt to move it once snow comes around - add a 5.4 litre V8 and I can only just imagine......

TBH 3rd RWD car I've had and none of them have been even the slightest bit capable in snow/ice - the total lack of Winter tires available in the UK (Even though they are made for other countries) just renders them useless. Short of importing tyres or buying another set of wheels with winter tyres that do fit we seem to be out of options.

Manufacturers claim all year tyres but nothing of the sort; I for one would rather have a good tyre that looses a bit of performance for summer but means I can use the car in Winter.

Have been contemplating another Lexus but as this time I really can't bring myself to go for another RWD car.....have been wondering about the upcoming entry level FWD one though....will have to see what that is like once it arrives!

Luckily the RX is superb in the snow :)

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I did see an SLK 55 AMG trying to reverse out of a flat car park space in Adsa with no luck though!

LOL quality that is one BRAVE person :)

I have an SLK 350 and even with that I don't even attempt to move it once snow comes around - add a 5.4 litre V8 and I can only just imagine......

TBH 3rd RWD car I've had and none of them have been even the slightest bit capable in snow/ice - the total lack of Winter tires available in the UK (Even though they are made for other countries) just renders them useless. Short of importing tyres or buying another set of wheels with winter tyres that do fit we seem to be out of options.

Manufacturers claim all year tyres but nothing of the sort; I for one would rather have a good tyre that looses a bit of performance for summer but means I can use the car in Winter.

Have been contemplating another Lexus but as this time I really can't bring myself to go for another RWD car.....have been wondering about the upcoming entry level FWD one though....will have to see what that is like once it arrives!

Luckily the RX is superb in the snow :)

I'm a bit puzzled about your comment on the lack of Winter tyres in the UK. Plenty of places sell them - most of the tyre fitting places offer them and they are readily available off mytyres.com, blackcircles.com or camskill.com. I was thinking of buying a set but to be honest with the snow button engaged and a bit of care i've had no real problems this year.

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As I understand it, summer tyres are not recommended below 7oC, they are too hard. Another option to winter tyres would be those which are rated better than average in the snow. Tyre Reviews website might help.

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I'm a bit puzzled about your comment on the lack of Winter tyres in the UK. Plenty of places sell them - most of the tyre fitting places offer them and they are readily available off mytyres.com, blackcircles.com or camskill.com. I was thinking of buying a set but to be honest with the snow button engaged and a bit of care i've had no real problems this year.

There are plenty of winter tyres available, but my experience of buying them is that they come in a limited range of sizes and only in higher profiles. I suspect that is deliberate and related to perfomance.

The Conti T830s that I bought were (AFAIK) only available in 15" or 16" and for me that meant new wheels as well as new tyres. I am not unhappy about that because it makes them easier to exchange back when the weather gets warmer, but I can see why someone with 17"+ wheels might say there is nothing available for his wheels.

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Hope everyone had a good Xmas and best wishes for 2010.

I find my IS250 Sport MM (06) to be appalling to drive when there is snow or ice. I think its those 18" sport wheels, combined with a rear wheel drve. I took it to an tyre place today and they say that the Continental MultiWeather tyres on it are "OK for all weather", and winter tyres are not available.

The car simply cannot climb any hill with snow, and is prone to back slide. It is easily overtaken by nearly every other type of car on the market.

I have the 250 Sport MM and to be fair I've never had issues with it getting up a snowy hill until this year, this is probably due to some of our neighbours trying to be smart and clearing the snow only for it to turn into ice in the morning.

As you have a manual when driving in snow specifically up a hill are you using the accelerator? If so don't, try going up the hill using the clutch only and you will see it makes a huge difference. It will be slow moving but slow is good and should get you up that hill, the last thing you want is tyre spin. Also as others have suggested get winter tyres as these make a huge difference and always keep grit/salt at home, it can be invaluable during the winter weather especially when your local council let's you down and doesn't grit/salt the roads around where you live.

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Sorry should have said much smaller selection; lots of recommended Winter tyres for SLK but none are available here; would have to buy new wheels to be able to get some.

What size were you looking for? Camskill have 10 different types of winter tyre in 225/45 R17 priced from £86 each to £120 each. Mytyres generally have a good selection too.

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Sorry should have said much smaller selection; lots of recommended Winter tyres for SLK but none are available here; would have to buy new wheels to be able to get some.

What size were you looking for? Camskill have 10 different types of winter tyre in 225/45 R17 priced from £86 each to £120 each. Mytyres generally have a good selection too.

I'll have to check when home....driving the RX whilst weather still bit crappy.

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I'm a bit puzzled about your comment on the lack of Winter tyres in the UK. Plenty of places sell them - most of the tyre fitting places offer them and they are readily available off mytyres.com, blackcircles.com or camskill.com. I was thinking of buying a set but to be honest with the snow button engaged and a bit of care i've had no real problems this year.

There are plenty of winter tyres available, but my experience of buying them is that they come in a limited range of sizes and only in higher profiles. I suspect that is deliberate and related to perfomance.

The Conti T830s that I bought were (AFAIK) only available in 15" or 16" and for me that meant new wheels as well as new tyres. I am not unhappy about that because it makes them easier to exchange back when the weather gets warmer, but I can see why someone with 17"+ wheels might say there is nothing available for his wheels.

How do you find the TS830s? I have ordered a set of them with 17 inch five-spoke wheels that are good in the winter (not so much snow stuck in them) for my new IS due to be delivered in a few weeks.

Living in Sweden, I don't have any problem driving in the snow, but then my current car is a Saab 9-3 FWD with real studded winter tires. This will be my first RWD car since driving old Volvos in the early 90s. I have tried the IS with real winter tires (Nokian Hakkapeliitta R) and found them to be very good. That tire is a proper "Nordic" winter tire made for snow and ice. The issue with it is that it is not very good on asphalt, which is the surface I'm driving on most of the winter in this part of Sweden. That kind of snow and ice tire is actually worse on asphalt than a studded tire, which is hard to believe. That is why I am going for a "Central European" type of performance winter tire that provide decent performance on asphalt, while not being completely useless on snow and ice (though not as good as a "Nordic" winter tire with or without studs).

Another thing I have found with the IS, apart from it being RWD of course, is that the stability control system is very aggressive. When it senses a slip, it really brakes hard, bringing down the speed of the vehicle quite abruptly. My Saab has a very smooth system that gently stabilises the car. Often, the only way I am able to notice the stability control working is the flashing indicator light.

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My Saab has a very smooth system that gently stabilises the car. Often, the only way I am able to notice the stability control working is the flashing indicator light.

Really, I always found it quite jerky when it kicked in, if it kicked in...

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How do you find the TS830s? I have ordered a set of them with 17 inch five-spoke wheels that are good in the winter (not so much snow stuck in them) for my new IS due to be delivered in a few weeks.

On snow and ice I have found them to be excellent by my standards, but I have nothing with which to make a comparison.

Mine are 15" 195/65 and on a front wheel drive car with a lot less power than the IS250, so your experience may be different.

I have also driven them at up to 70 m.p.h. on tarmac at temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees C and found them to be very good indeed.

I have not yet done enough miles on them to make any estimate of wear.

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I had the same problem with my LS400 - I live in a fairly steep cul de sac and it was impossible to get out of. Bought myself a pair of autosocks a couple of years ago and although I only have had cause to use them three times since, they have been invaluable and I can fly past my neighbours who spend hours digging out the snow. I think they can only be used up to about 30mph but they give loads of grip and can at least get you out. I have absolutely no mechanical skills whatsoever but I can get them on easily. They cost about £60 - got them from a place in Cumbria that I found on the web. If you google autosock you will find quite a few bits of information. They are light and I keep them in my boot over winter.

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Mine is rubbish in snow and ice. The Snow ETC button does nothing much but light up the dash with a "snow" light, which helps remember that I am on snow :whistling:

Got stuck so many times it's embarrassing. Went to turn car around on snow melted street and got stuck straight across the street mid turn. Took ages just to get it back into original spot and then go out in Toyota Estima instead.

Haven't found a way to make the blighter stick to the road. Have a bag of sand/salt and some sticks of wood in boot in case I get stuck again. Took two hours to get it out of a car park before Xmas.

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