Hey all, just wondering how active the traction control on the X's is when driving in the snow. This is my first winter with the G. I've got 4 new toyo G-02 plus winter tires and find that it really doesn't take much to get the electronic nanny to kick in and limit the throttle, etc when accelerating off the line.

When I turn VDC off the car will really jump when I get on it but just light to moderate throttle off the line causes the VDC to kick in and it barely feels better than a two wheel drive car when accelerating. In the summer, if the rear tires were on gravel and fronts on pavement, I could hear a fair bit of gravel getting kicked up and the tires slip a fair bit before the slip light would come on and limit the throttle, etc. Is this normal?

When I trest drove on '06X last winter I don't remember this happening....I remember it being a tank in the snow off the line with all seasons and was pretty much on par to my Dad's A6 2.7T quattro in terms of traction.

I'm wondering if my awd system/vdc system isn't working quite right. I'd really appreciate to hear about how active your VDC is during the snow/ice. Thanks.

 

Did you put it in snow mode? I went out in mine today and it went just fine. The slip light came on and it made some crazy noises but it still went really well.

 

Ya, tried it in snow mode. I wasn't all that impressed, like I said it seems as though the traction control system is really intrusive.

 

This is my first winter with my 2005 G35x - I came from a 2002 Audi A6 2.7t also. Your right it does seem to engage often (obviously make sure your in snow mode). My Audi had more weight which did seem to make it better in the snow. Remember the G is more of a sports sedan (rear wheel feel). Audi has been doing all wheel drive along time - I would expect that . I think we will both be pleased with the relibility of the G over Audi. BTW - just had our 6th snow fall for the season (WI)

 

The snow mode actually limits the throttle response in the car technically making it slower. While in snow mode the center diff is locked 50/50 front rear up to 12 m.p.h. and the drive by wire becomes more delayed to keep the tires from spinning while starting.

 

UPDATE: We got a fresh dusting of about 7cm of snow last night. I was up really early helping my wife get ready for work this morning and took the car out to play in the snow after she left before the plows came out. Decided to do some comparisons so drove over to my parents' place (unfortunately scared the crap out of them as they were sleeping and thought someone was breaking into the house, lol) and took out my dad's '03 A6 2.7T with pilot alpins and my mom's '08 Mariner with oem continental all seasons...under the same conditions.

Turns out I've been being a jacka** with the car and it is indeed on par with both other cars!!! Part of the issue is how responsive our cars are on initial tip in. Anyhow, yes the electronic nanny isn't hard to kick in but the exact same thing was happening with the audi and mariner under the same conditions so it was more an issue of unrealistic expectations and a bad memory from my initial drive with an '06 X. Just thought I'd let everyone else know. Looking forward to the 20+ cm forecast for this Tuesday!

 

Oops, hope they weren't mad at you

I have driven the past 2-3 winters with 5MT Subarus and never had a problem, in fact it was rather enjoyable. Yesterday morning we took out our automatic Forester XT and it's *** was sliding all over when you initially gave it gas. The autos don't have the full time 50/50 split like the 5MT's do, so it was trying to transfer the power and felt kind of like a RWD car b.c you had to counter steer the slides.

I was wondering how the G would stack up, and honestly it made me feel a lot more confident in it then I was before. It does make all kinds of noise from the ABS, and the slip light/snow mode makes the engine sound funny when it is trying to get traction, but it just goes. I felt like I got farther without snow mode on when I went from a stop, but the snow mode takeoff felt more stable. So all in all, just like you, I feel pretty good about what it can do.

 

I loved my x in snow on stock 17s and no drop

This year on g37 19s summer tires and almost 2 inch drop, I'll see how Ill do, But I know It was great in snow.

i only drive with VDC off so, I dont even remember how it feels when traction kicks in, sometimes it kicks in too early. even when u have full control of the car which sux for havin fun.

Believe one thing tho, RWD based awd is still really good for doing donuts

 

when the slip light came on did it make noises? I was driving in the snow today and when the slip light came on it made a crazy grinding noise... is that what yours did??

 

I don't have an "X" but mine makes the same slight grinding noise. Like the noise you get when you were a kid putting playing cards on your spokes ha...those were the days.

 

if our g is in snow mode does that mean its on 4wd all the time?

 

Only till a set mph which has been said to be between 10-14mph, no one really has a specific answer. It also cuts throttle response to help control traction along with TCS and VDC helping out.



Mine did this when I hit the brakes on snow/ice , pretty sure it was ABS was freaking out. The main thing I noticed is that when Snow mode is on and it limits throttle up to xMPH and then stops limiting, if the wheels start to slip then the Slip light comes on and trys to help out. That makes the engine noise sound all crazy b.c it goes from partial power to full power back to being cut again when the Slip light comes on. So its like rrrrrrRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrRRRRrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRR when it finally lets you go. LOL

 

Only time i get my slip light to come on in snow mode really is if i get aggressive and try to spin all 4 wheels off the line


But seriously, driving around in the snow, i get the light very few times. I also get the grinding sounds. It's the ABS system. I've driven many ABS cars and the G35 sounds like holy hell is taking place under my right foot when it's active. But it works well

 

Yeah I only got the slip light b.c I was flooring it in the snow pretty much. I wanted to see what it would do and that is the result. Other then that I never really saw the slip light either. I do agree that the ABS sounds like holy hell but it does work really well too. I actually find the amount of noise it makes to be kind of amusing to be honest.

 

Grinding in the G is really intrusive with the ABS but mine doesn't make any noise when traction control kicks in.

As the OP said, I've found that usually the problem of the tires breaking loose is tied to the responsiveness of the throttle when compared to other cars. I light foot goes a long way.

In a Maxima 5m (prior to my Gx) I had to be careful not to come to a stop on an uphill grade for fear that I could not get started again. Plus it was so bad in the snow that reversing and turning around after getting stuck on an uphill grade was really scary. I was never sure the car wouldn't just start sliding sideways down a hill while moving only a few mph.

So the G is much better than that but it is important to remember that it is still a sports sedan on wide tires (I haven't put Winter shoes on mine). It's sure footedness getting started from a stop in comparison to competitive RWD cars should not fool you into thinking it grips that well cornering or stopping in the snow. It doesn't.