Lexus ES 350 in the Snow

rmcneice

I've been researching this vehicle and am close to a purchase decision. But one of my business associates said he had an ES in the past (but it might have been an earlier model year before the redesign to the new 350), and it was very bad in the snow. Said he slid right through an intersection.

Now he lives in New Hampshire where there is mucho snow. I live on Long Island where there is snow, but not all season long. I still will need to drive in it though, so the ability of the car to stay on the read is important to me.

Any experiences good or bad?

Thanks,
Bob

twq83

Bob,

Your friend is a Nut ........... he must be talking about a very older model since the 2007 ES 350 FWD gave me no problems last January when we drove up to Vermont ( from VA, Thru PA and NY) to go skiing. There was only one small incident the whole trip and it was about 3 miles from the resort going down hill to party in town. It was about a 14% grade and the rear wheels began to slip. My buddy freaked out and started yelling "Hit the Breaks"!!!! I ignored him and 1/2 a second later the VSC kicked in and the ES dug-in and straightened herself out without any assistance from me ......... I mearly let up on the gas and the vehicle took over. My friend asked me how I managed to do that. I said I didn't do anything the car did and he called me a Liar. To this day he still believes I did something to right the ES but I didn't.

As long as you don't lose your head the ES will take care of you in all situations!!!

Happy ES'ing ........

music4kp

That is an excellent story. I now love my ES even more and feel a greater sense of peace knowing that my car will take good care of me in an unlikely event. This car is truly a no-brainer...it practically does everything for you.

wwest

When it's time to go..., accelerate, get up and going from a stop, due to engine weight bias FWD will be a lot like having AWD/4WD. Well, maybe that's too strong, but certainly better than any RWD of equivalent weight, power, etc.

On the other hand if you suddenly find that directional control is being threatened by adverse roadbed conditions you might find yourself wishing for a RWD vehicle.

FWD drivetrains are currently going through an evolutionary phase wherein the manufacturers are rethinking the dynamics of the automatic transaxle shift pattern and seemingly dropping manual transmissions from the product line.

Read the owners manual section regarding engine compression braking, lack thereof, to see what I mean.

rmcneice

Thanks for the confirmation everyone. Your explainations make total sense to me, while my business associiate's story did not. He is still a devout Lexus owner - moved up to the bigger models. But I just couldn't accept his story about the 350. It must have been a different/older model several years ago.

I agree that the 350 looks like a no brainer purchase. I really like the car, all its amenities, and it drove better than an Infinity G35 AWD in my hands. A bit softer overall but more like I am used to with my '96 Infinity I30 front wheel drive car.

Thanks,
Bob

wwest

"Said he slid right through an intersection"

"ES...very bad in the snow..."

If the second statement is the result of the first statement/incident then I would ignore your friends input altogether.

Except for maybe brake failure or poor tires sliding through an intersection is more likely the result of poor judgment on the part of the driver than problems with ANY car model. On second thought brake failure is the ONLY exception.