Anyone know if its safe to drive the X with snow mode on all the time.. even on the highway? Any negative affects?

 

The dealer told me that I shouldn't drive with it on all the time. They said to flick it on when I need it for hill starts and such. Once I left it on by mistake and was driving on wet pavement and the car made a very loud warning sound that went away once I switched snow mode off. That makes me think it shouldn't be left on all the time. Plus it retards the throttle.

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with it on all the time. It just keeps the car in AWD mode from stops, and retards throttle response so you don't spin the tires as easily. I drive with mine on dry pavement doing 120km/h with no problems. If it was bad to do, there would be warnings on the sun visor and in the owners manual, just like 4X4 trucks have. I find dealers are not car experts. They are sales people.

 

I would not ride around with snow mode on unless I was in deep snow or on ice. It reduces throttle response mostly. Just turn it on when you think you might need it. I have never needed. It is a nice feeling of security to turn it on in crappy conditions though.

 

That is point exactly. I was driving in a really crappy rain storm on a highway the other day and can barely see the car in front of me so I decided to turn on the snow mode just to feel more secure in the car thinking maybe this can prevent an accident.. I was driving around 30 to 40 mph...

 

i agree the sales people are not car experts, but to clarify, i was talking to a tech

 

It's not bad, but you'll probably also get crappier-than-usual gas mileage. I left mine on for a trip home and it was a painful fill up.

 

It does not lock the diff or anything like that. It is just electronic. Agreed, you only need it if driving conditions are bad. But you don't need to keep switching it on and off every time you think you see snow or ice coming up on the road. Some 2WD cars have this option as well.

 

Only having had mine for a few months, just in time for the Halloween storm, I used snow mode if I was actually driving through snow, or on an iced hill. Otherwise, normal.

 

There ARE warnings in the owners manual not to do this.

 

^ This

 

yeah i wouldn't...i have only used mine once..would never want to leave it on 24/7..takes 10 seconds to get to 40!