Yeah those were the days- glad to hear Im not the only one getting a grinding noise when the slip light cimes on. just to clarify: Not the abs grind when you put on the brakes and slide, but when you hit the gas and all 4 start spinning and the slip light comes on- then I hear the coffee grinder sound. Maybe Im just kinda freaked out though because yesterday I hit both driver side wheels into a curb while slightly sliding sideways at about 30 mph.. I rashed the wheels up a little bit and it seems like ever since I've noticed the grinding noise. When not slipping it drives fine though- what do you guys think??

 

Well from what i understand. When the VDC light comes on, the brakes do apply on certain wheels using the ABS pump. I beleive my ABS does sound kinda like a coffee grinder, so it's possible it's just the brakes trying to apply.

On my way out of work today in the snow, i'll gun it from a stop and see if i get it.

 

the grinding it the ABS and the AWD fully engaging... it states that in the owners manual...

 

But like he said above it is only when your on the gas. Even when my back tires are the only things trying to spin and my front aren't moving it makes the noise. I wont say its a coffee grinder noise as I don't drink the stuff but It is like a clicking noise almost like an electric arc sound or a second hand making that clicking noise. Its really faint, not near as loud as the ABS sound.

 

I dunno, i just went to a snowy parking lot and gunned it from a stop with the wheel cut. I didn't really hear too much going on.

 

VDC OFF snow ON + empty snowful lot = FUN TIMES

 

Snow on makes the car less responsive.
VDC OFF + Snow OFF + empty parking lot = More Funner Times!1

 

okay i dont get it.. wtf do you want the car TO DO when you gas it in snow/ice.. this car wasnt advertised slip proof.. obviously its gonna slip on ice... the noise is completely normal.. and who launches off a start in the snow?? (unless you were joking/messing around) common sense people...common sense...

 

Easy there...I am sure there are greater things to get hostile about rather then someone describing a peculiar sound that may be of some concern considering these aren't cheap cars we are driving. This is why we ask questions and resort to a forum. Perhaps you could start your own forum "G35 forum no stupid questions, or G35 forum do not address your concerns" For the time being lets keep our outbursts to ourselves.

Now to answer your question "Who launches off a start in the snow??..."any one who enjoys to let loose every once in awhile likes to launch off the start. Give it a try and see if you don't like it, most people rather enjoy it. Why, just go on "Youtube" and type in burn out I am sure you'll find many compilations including some of which in snow.

 

To follow up on things, we've had lots of snow for the past few weeks. Overall, car works well in the snow and is extremely stable on the highway. I had the car in for service last Friday and the dealer looked into things and said that everything is working OK. I still feel as though the TC overreacts and it's annoying so if I want to screw around off the line with other AWD cars i just turn it off and it works great.

Have also been shopping around a little and drove the new G37X sedan and 335xi sedans. The TC on those cars is much less abrubt. You feel the throttle being cut but it's not like our cars where it's lots of throttle, then cuts out almost completely, then lots of throttle, etc, etc, etc. It's more linear and much less intrusive to the overall driving experience so it looks as though they've remapped how it takes over on the new G.

Didn't mean to cause a huge commotion on here, to recap, the car is great in the snow and I have complete confidence if I pull out to pass in lousy conditions, and driving around in deep snow is no problem at all. It's just irritating when there's a small patch of ice/snow (ie, getting onto a main road from a side road), so you get on it, it slips (as it should) but then there's a lag (which is prolly only a second or two but feels like it's forever) when you're on dry pavement but it still won't let you accelerate. Like I said, it seems to overreact but at the same time it's really safe if you're on the gas around a corner...it'll just let you wiggle the rear and it cuts in.

So it's pretty much a double edged sword...safe but annoying at the same time.

 

What tires do you have? And how much tread percentage would you say is left?

 

I've got brand new Toyo Oberve G-02 Plus winter tires (205/65/16). The '05 X's have smaller brakes than your '06 so you can drop down to 16's.

 

Hmm, i would think it would be better than my car because i have all-seasons. Too bad we werent local. We could go dowm to a local snowcovered lot together and compare

 

I sort of thought it would be better too, but like I said and others have said, the throttle response is pretty incredible in the car so that's part of the problem. A tech said that dropping to 16's might make the TC more sensitive but I have no idea why that would matter because they're the same circumference as the stock 17's, any insight? Annoying because they're the ones who rec'd to srop to 16's.

One of my buddies is a huge car guy and has an impreza with winters...we'll go mess around and I'll follow up once he gets back from Cali for Christmas

 

I can't see how the car would know if it has 16's or 17" wheels on if the diameter of the tire remains the same