My car def does not start in 2nd gear in snow mode.

I mean it feels that way due to the decrease in pedal response, but it def shifts through 5 gears all the time.

 

Put your car in snow mode and count the shifts. It will go through all 5 gears

 

Correct. Manual mode does not override anything. It will still feel just as sluggish.

 

^ Yep, you can get full tire spinning power in snow mode and start out in 1st gear..you just have to put your foot down twice as far..
It feels sluggish because your used to ridiculous amounts of power normally..

 

There are only 5 gears, but notice that when the torque converter locks up (and I believe it only does this in the top 2 or 3 gears) the RPM drop and it "appears" like it has shifted again. I think this car has the most pronounced drop in RPM when this occurs (activation of the lock-up clutch that physically links the pump and turbine in the torque converter, effectively changing the converter into a purely mechanical coupling. The result is no slippage, and virtually no power loss. -Wiki)

 

I wouldn't worry about it. These very same components were used in the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R, and I believe ATTESA E-TS Pro in the R33 and R34 used most of the same components as well. If it can stand up to the torture that those cars are built for, I'd say it's pretty durable.

 

I'm still not gonna do it

 

Driving to Lincoln, NE this past Saturday was my first experience with SNOW mode and I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I was on the interstate when it started snowing and by the time I hit the off ramp at about 45mph it was completely covered in snow (I'm from Hawaii and snow really isn't my thing), definitely thought I was going to lose it but I drifted it quite nicely hahaha. I noticed the SLIP light flashing which I thought indicated that the AWD would kick in but after reading a few of these posts i'm a little unsure if it does. Needless to say I got my **** together and put it in snow mode at the off ramp stoplight. I couldn't tell the difference. My back end still kicked out a little when I accelerated from a stop...again occasionally all I would get is a flashing slip light. I noticed when I turn on the G an AWD light comes on temporarily, is that supposed to come on when slip is detected or is that just a light that comes on when your AWD is broken or something? Just curious. Anyway, I made it to Lincoln and back to Omaha fine...AWD or not, driving in the snow sucks.

 

Snow mode only affects your G on takeoff.. all wheel drive in second gear.. then runs normally at speed.. keeps your wheels from spinning in the snow on takeoff... similar to starting out in second with a manual gearbox in the winter.. only in AWD.

 

The AWD light only comes on when something horribly wrong has happened somewhere in your AWD system. The VDC light comes on when you lose traction to one or more wheels, but VDC is a completely separate system from AWD.

The AWD system is always working. Even if you're up to highway speed (and you have 100% of the torque transfered to the rear wheels) it is still constantly observing all 4 wheels. It's not quite as simple as "on" or "off"; it is constantly variable.

It's not literally in 2nd gear, but it drives similarly to how it would feel if you were to start out in 2nd gear. It's just the reduced throttle response that makes it feel sluggish.

 

It's a bit more complicated than most make it out to seem. the AWD is always active. Whether or not the front wheels are seeing torque is another question. But if the car needs AWD (detects slip in the rear) then the AWD system will kick in at any speed.

Usually it's only active on take-off, and the snow button just locks the torque 50:50 under 11 or so MPH (actual number is in the FSM which i'm not going to read right now). Snow also reduces throttle sensitivity so it feels like you have less response so you don't "shock" the tires into spinnin. Normal mode allows a bit of slip on the front wheels at takeoff and full throttle response. You can't use SNOW mode on dry pavement for the same reason you can't use 4WD on a truck equipped with part-time 4WD. The locking of the center dif doesn't allow for the front and rear wheels to have different rotational speeds through a tight corner. In normal mode, the slip allows you to turn. In snow mode, actual snow lets the wheels slip slightly to allow you to turn.

The entire system is complex, but with the right tires it's absolutely incredible in the snow. I've taken mine out in snow deep enough where you'd see my two tire tracks and the middle of them plowed up by the underside of the car because it touched. I run all-seasons too. I ran snows and performance was even better!

If you are on summer performance tires (or cheap All Seasons or bald tires), AWD isn't going to be effective at all.

 

Can't agree more; so many people use AWD without thinking about their tires and it ends disastrously. Aren't issues with tires the number 1 leading cause of accidents? I can't remember where I read that

 

It snowed today in Kansas City and i took my 04 Infiniti G35 x for a spin. I notice that i feel my car slipping a bit and the SLIP notification blinking on the dash after a few seconds

I did not like the response lag between AWD being engaged after the car has already slipped a bit(btw i was trying this out in thee parking lot)

 

How fast were you driving in the parking lot? I'm assuming under 15, so the AWD was probably engaged most of the time already. If you're referring to what happened when the slip light came on, that was most likely the ABS adjusting the wheel speeds to help you gain traction, but I'm only assuming. Can't be sure without actually seeing what was happening.

 

Hi The X Factor,

yes i was between 15-20 mph when i braked suddenly to test vehicle slide. I felt the car slide a bit but not out of control and it regained grip but having never owned an AWD before, i was expecting a faster response

Could it be because Infiniti uses Attesa intelligent awd unlike a subaru or an audi which is 100 % awd all the time?

Regards

AP