The G35X gets about 15 around town and around 22mpg on the highway with the average being 19. A RWD G35 will see about 18 in town and 25mpg on the highway with the average being 22. These are averages taken from this site.

Assuming someone drives the typical 15,000 miles a year and paying $2.50/gal, the G35X owner will spend $1974/yr and the RWD G35 owner will spend $1705 or roughly a difference of $270/yr (assuming average mpgs or highway mpgs). If all you do is city driving, the difference becomes $415/yr. So over the typical ownership of the car (about 4 years), the X owner will spend $1080-$1660 more in fuel.

As for RSAs, they're junk in the snow, wet, and dry. Same goes for the Bridgestone Turanzas that are common for these cars. The Z-rated Avon M550s I had were good in the snow until they had about 30% tread and then got fairly poor, however, I was still driving on them last week in 2" of snow and they were within an 1/8" of the wear bars. I just got a set of Falken ZE-329s put on and they were awesome in 3" of super dry and slick snow plus ice we had late last week.

 

I actually feel sturider in my G35x than in my lexus RX300.

Twilightblue, try driving through that water main break flood in Bethesda, then tell us if you survived.... j/k

 

Regarding the fuel consumption, there is really not that much of a difference in acutality since the AWD are primarily RWD, and only kick in when needed. So in essence, in order to experience vast differences, you would have to driving in snow 365 days/year.

 

I know you said that this info is a site average, I still wanted to post. I've had my G35X for about a month now, I reset the Average MPG that came with the car and today I get around 17.4 - 18.1mpg. I do the speed limit during the week (Back and forward to work) and I may push the car a little harder on the weekend. If you always drive according to the posted speed limits, I'm sure you'll be around mind 18's to mid 19mpg. I may try driving the speed limit for an entire week just to test this out...

 

Amazing how poor these cars are at fuel ecomomy for a V6.

I drive 90% highway. My previous driver was a V8 Mustang GT. On the highway i would routinely manage 26-27MPG with 87 octane cruising at 80MPH at 1900RPM

With the G35, i'm getting 22MPG with 93 octane cruising at 80MPH at 3000RPM. My girlfriends '07 IS250 AWD gets 30 MPG highway.


Now, fuel ecomony was never my biggest concern...so it really doesn't matter to me. Yes the RS-A's BLOW in the snow. I won't argue that as i had them on a previous '05 maxima and couldn't make it up the smallest hills, but for some reason my G35x drives VERY well with the RS-A's. Just last night, i was behind 3-4 FWD cars (altima, camry, and Scion TC) that couldn't make it up this hill and were trying to back down. I simply passed them and drove up the hill without the VDC kicking in at all. Scary to think how this car would be with a GOOD set of rubber on it.

 

G35x all the way!!! all the benifits of the RWD and none of its weakness... only slightly less MPG becuase of the extra drive axle... i been averaging ~19mpg city and ~25 hwy @80mph and 93 octane gas... the worst i ever got was 16mpg and that because i was playing with the car.

 

You have to consider motor size, torque converter stall speed, and gearing. The VQ35 is pretty big for a six. The JATCO 5AT torque converter has a pretty high stall speed which makes for strong launches, but poor mpgs. The Gearing of the 5AT is pretty deep and the X comes with the same rear gear as the 6MT, 3.5 vs 3.3 (RWD 5AT), to get that additional 250lbs in motion. All gears offer decent acceleration and when you're on the highway, a downshift is rarely required to make a pass. Like I said, the X really suffers in the MPG department, especially on the highway with all that additional static and rotational weight from the extra diff, 3 extra axles and shafts, and a transfer case.

 

I run with Michelin Pilot Sport Plus 235-45-18 with LSD. This combo. works great. Untill this week when the snow reached 18" deep and the county has not plowed the roads yet!

 

Good post. I wasn't aware of the gearing differences between an X and a 5AT RWD.


Luckily fuel comsumption wasn't one of my criteria when i picked an X to go after. I've been nothing but smiles with the car.

 

You can always yank the AWD fuse and convert it to 100% RWD if you want to set the rear tires a-blaze

 

Like mustang states MPG doesnt concern me either.. i rather drive AWD then RWD.. especially as much as I drive in NJ... My advice if your looking for an everyday ride around an area that experiances heavy rains and occasional snow storms.. your safe with the X... and as far the post about RWD with snow tires is better than AWD with all seasonal goes.. well i'd like to disagree respectfully, my AWD w/ all seasonals made it out of a snow storm last winter.. where as my neighbor with RWD and snow tires.. could not make it out.. thats my personal experiance..

 

All this talk about drive systems and tires but no mention of one key factor. The Driver! Every time we get bad weather here in KS I see more SUVs spun off on the side of the road or stuck in ditches then cars. Going by the logic here they should be the end all solution. More aggressive tires, ride hight and AWD (4wd). Feeling confident in the car will get you nowhere fast without being a skilled or capable driver.

Just cause a car can climb a hill a little easier doesn't mean its going to break better or handle conditions better. Those of you that have used a winter / snow tire know what a big difference it makes. I think thats why Dave mentioned how much better the RWD car would do with them. Its a fact and I would go the same way since I have used both. My lexus GS with winter tires would go anywhere my A6 did just as easy. Twin turbos and AWD in snow was fun though.
Never had an issue with my RWD G with a few tractor weight plates in the back. I take that back... those damn fwd cars seem to get in the way too much.

 

In my opinion the AWD with all seasons is significantly superior to the RWD with snow tires. The following isn't an entirely fair comparison (AWD SUV to RWD G Sedan) but I wouldn't think it would be too terribly far off from an X to a RWD G.

I have a RWD G Sedan with high quality performance snow tires and, although it performs better than a lot of cars, it's no match to an AWD with all-seasons. My other vehicle is an AWD SUV with highly rated all season tires. The SUV is definately the snow vehicle and although the extra clearance is great, the AWD, fundamentally, is much more "sure footed" in fresh snow as well. I slide out less on turns and I can take off at a green with less slip. Climbing hills is superior in the AWD, but the G does pretty good, even on pretty steep hills.

The one area that the AWD is vastly superior is extremely steep inclines. I have a ridiculously steep driveway and have to angle in with the G even on perfectly dry days. When it snows, the frigging snow plow crams the road snow into the base of my driveway. If the gutter area isn't cleaned of snow thoroughly I'm pretty screwed in the G. I can get the front end up but the rears can sometimes sit there and just spin or do the TCS jiggy dance, even if only one wheel is slipping. With the AWD I have the advantage of the front wheels pulling the vehicle beyond the gutter area so that the rear wheels get traction again and creep up the drive with little to no problems.

The bottom line for me is that this is all manageable. I just have to be a little more diligent clearing the drive area. I think the RWD G with snows handles better than most other non AWD cars and the VDC also helps with corner slides and other mishaps. I feel pretty good about driving in the snow with my car and snow tires but, in my opinion, the X is a better choice if you're in heavy snow areas or year round snow and if you're willing to sacrifice a little summer performance. Personally, I like swapping my snow tires and summer UHPs; snow capability is above average and summers are a freakin blast.

 

not to mention that the G35x sits much higher than the non-X ..I was wondering if theres any specific reason behind that..and whether lowering the x would cause any issues

 

It's either due to the front driveline needing clearance, or simply ground clearance when it comes to snow.

AWD/4WD is useless when you hang the bottom of the car up on hard frozen snow. In my recent snowstorms i was driving my X through snow deep enough that i was pushing it with the front of my bumper. You'd look behind and see the area between my tires flat. I was lucky it was light soft snow.

It's one of the reasons i am hesitant to lower my X. I bought it so i can drive through snow, but i don't want to lower it if it hinders it's ability by losing ground clearance.