Tires or Toyota ABS

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My Lexus has tires that came with the car - Uhh... Not a famous brand. Ironman Imove. But I left them because the online ratings are decent. In dry and wet they are fine. They seem pretty hard and have no sipes (like the LTX for example on my explorer)
When the snow started falling, I tested things out on streets with no traffic, and was able to slide thru stopsign intersections with pretty good stopping distance. (Again, no cars, anywhere, suburban dead end streets).

Now, I want to blame the tires but, is toyota ABS too aggressive in the snow? Also, it is an AWD car with full time center planetary diff, that can lock up, but I'm not really impressed.

I wonder if tires can make such a difference.
 
No siping? I'm guessing that and a compound that is hard in cold temps is the problem.

Can't comment otherwise, I'm sure Toyota uses a different ABS system (and programming) per model. I can't say I've had problems; I usually have snows or a set of RT43's on, and it's just not a valid comparison. [RT43's aren't snow tires, but when I use them in snow, I'm far from aggressive, and don't expect much.]

How old are the tires? I'm guessing not too old, but if they are more than a 2 or 3 years old, it might not be bad money to get a better set of all seasons (if not winter tires).
 
I had Ironman imove tires on my 300. They were straight up dangerous in the snow. But like what you said, they were fine in dry and wet weather. I replaced them with some RT43's which are significantly better in the snow.
 
Tires are everything. Try one of the newer all-weather styles if winter traction is important and you dont want to run winter tires.
 
ABS is purely a function of wheel lock. Wheel lock is purely a function of available traction. Crappy tires=less traction=more ABS activation.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
ABS is purely a function of wheel lock. Wheel lock is purely a function of available traction. Crappy tires=less traction=more ABS activation.

I read that some ABS systems just don't work that great in the snow.
The ABS on the Grand Marquis seems to work much better, the traction control, even though it is RWD, is pretty good in the snow.

I have continental true contact though (about 1/2 tread). Maybe it is the tires though in this case.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14
Tires make a huge difference.

And you should get new ones!


I agree, I may get snows and use these for the summer. I don't think it is the car (this is a 2013 but from what I understand they are very similar):
 
My Tacoma came with factory Dunlops that were terrible in the Dry and Wet, but were dangerous in snow. The lack of traction combined with sensitive ABS would make me not stop at all. I had to leave the truck in gear and just idle up to stop signs. I left them on for a few years but I would pull the ABS fuse every winter.
Replaced them with Michigan LTX and have never had a hint of a problem again.
Money in tires is money well spent.
 
Anytime you see a name like Ironman or Dura🙄🙄🙄 you always gotta wonder just how much Chinesium🤡 is in them. Who puts 5th rate tires on a Lexus anyways? Isn't that some kind of sacrilege . In Albany of all places. Better get ya a set of Blizzaks shoes like I just stuck on my Camry today. Winters just getting started..........
 
Hmm...my new to me Venza AWD, i put on conti wintercontact SI's...my first winter driving the Venza...the abs kicks in pretty quickly when i step even a bit firmly or it senses slipping...im used to driving an 07 Corolla... i do like that the abs keeps me straight but id likely rather not have ABS. Oh well.

What exactly happens? Does the peddle pulsate like the ABS kicked in early? If so, it even happens with my dedicated snows..im learning to brake very gently..lol
 
Originally Posted by ford46guy
My Lexus has tires that came with the car - Uhh... Not a famous brand. Ironman Imove. But I left them because the online ratings are decent. In dry and wet they are fine. They seem pretty hard and have no sipes (like the LTX for example on my explorer)
When the snow started falling, I tested things out on streets with no traffic, and was able to slide thru stopsign intersections with pretty good stopping distance. (Again, no cars, anywhere, suburban dead end streets).

Now, I want to blame the tires but, is toyota ABS too aggressive in the snow? Also, it is an AWD car with full time center planetary diff, that can lock up, but I'm not really impressed.

I wonder if tires can make such a difference.

You can have brakes on your vehicle strait out of Formula 1, best shocks, best suspension, AWD 10 light years ahead of everyone else, but if your tires are bad, nothing of that matters. Brake force is transferred by tires, torque during acceleration is transferred by tires.
You can have all safety features in a vehicle, 100 airbags, blind spot monitors, auto braking, but THE MOST important safety feature are tires!
And yes, your problem are tires, siping or not, compound on those tires is getting to hard duing cold weather.
Get decent tires like Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental, Pirelli etc. You might think after you bought brand new car.
 
Originally Posted by Rolla07
Hmm...my new to me Venza AWD, i put on conti wintercontact SI's...my first winter driving the Venza...the abs kicks in pretty quickly when i step even a bit firmly or it senses slipping...im used to driving an 07 Corolla... i do like that the abs keeps me straight but id likely rather not have ABS. Oh well.

What exactly happens? Does the peddle pulsate like the ABS kicked in early? If so, it even happens with my dedicated snows..im learning to brake very gently..lol


My SIenna is not behaving any differently than any other vehicle. I have Michelin X-Ice Xi2 on it now, and I ahd same tires on BMW X5 in winter. ABS is behaving same, tires are behaving same. Though ESP on Sienna is ridiculously intrusive.
 
Originally Posted by ford46guy
Originally Posted by Astro14
Tires make a huge difference.

And you should get new ones!


I agree, I may get snows and use these for the summer. I don't think it is the car (this is a 2013 but from what I understand they are very similar):


You are going to wear out winter tires in Summer. Next winter they will be more or less useless. If you use dedicated winter tire, use two sets of tires, one for summer one for winter. If you do not want two sets, try Michelin Crossclimate tires.
 
Originally Posted by ford46guy


I wonder if tires can make such a difference.


Yes, they absolutely can. Get some decent tires for the conditions you're driving in.
 
Originally Posted by svhanc
....
Replaced them with Michigan LTX and have never had a hint of a problem again.
Money in tires is money well spent.


Amen!
 
Get a set of tire chains in the mean time, until you can get new tires. See if that helps in the snow
smile.gif
 
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