This is my first rear-wheel drive + AWD drive car. I'm used to front-wheel drive handling on snow.

My first experience of the G35x on snow doing a 90 degree turn felt way different. I could feel the rear-wheels pushing the car and the front swinging, but I'm wondering what is the AWD doing to help??

Should I get more traction on 4 wheels right after that? The only thing I saw was the SLIP light coming on. It did not feel like I had mode traction. I realize that the system needs to detect that there is a slip for it to go to AWD.

VDC was on. Snow mode was off. Winter tires on. Speed was moderate, but fast enough to test slippage.

Any thoughts?

 

It all depends on how to take the curve though... with snow mode off, even at moderate speeds you could be RWD and not even know it, since ATESSA shuts off the front at 12mph.

I'd say if you can do the exact same thing with snow mode on and see what it feels like...

You can tell when the front is working... it's not some inperceptible little nudge or anything like that. The car will let you know that the front is pulling at the same time the rear is pushing... no doubt about that.

But the most important part is to remember that you're not superman... ATESSA is good, but it has its limits. I've gone sideways in this car -- on purpose -- on wet/slick roads. You can feel the car compensating, but it's not like you're gonna be able to take a 90° turn in the snow without slipping.

 

I never had a car with AWD drive either, is there a speed restriction when using the snow button or can it basically be used whenever the roads are slippery?

 

There are plenty of threads on how ATESSA handles on the X with snow on/off, so if you want the technical details, I suggest using the search feature...

Suffice it to say, the car is supposedly 25/75 front/rear at launch up to 12mph, and after that it's 100% rear. If snow mode is on, the car is 50/50 and throttle sensitivity is decreased.

As far as I know, you can turn snow mode on whenever you feel like it.

 

AWD generally does not help turning in snow (contrary to subaru ads). What it does to is help you put power to the ground.

THEORETICALLY it will help you turn better because you can slide and have all 4 tires spinning to push you in a direction (think rally drivers)

 

^^+1