Chicago finally got enough snow to coat the streets! I've had my X since April and put new Michelin X-Ice Xi3 tires on since December 1 and there hasn't been any snow until today. Super excited to see what the car can do, I took off early to beat some of the morning rush (and the morons who can't drive in snow). I pulled out of garage and put the "SNOW" button on. Car pulled away fine through the alley and onto the street. I took it easy since the car was still cold and wanted the fluids to get to temp before I really tested it.

Pretty much the entire drive to work (18 miles) I saw the SLIP light flicker when I gave it just a bit of gas. I even kicked the back out a couple of times. Took it to an empy lot for a little Drift-DOOOOOOOO, and it did handle pretty well.

Now, I came from FWD biased (Volvo) and full time AWD (Subaru) cars, so I knew the car would handle differently. It looks like I need to be a bit more careful with this car than I would the Volvo or Subaru. With those cars, I could blast through a turn in a foot of snow with no problems. If I did that in the G, I would probably spin out.

Anyhoo, just wanted to share my first snow experinece with the G. Can't wait for lunch to take it back out again!

Happy Friday!

Lew

 

from what I noticed if you don't turn snow mode on it fish tails a lot in the snow I guess its cause its rear bias. But you'll be fine with a G through Chicago winter. I live in calgary which gets LOTS I mean LOTS of snow, and I have pretty worn out all season tires, and it's solid even with those.

 

Glad you enjoyed it, the snow mode locks to car into 50/50 awd mode much like the suburu and reduces throttle sensitivity while without it the computer decides where to send the power. Iv had loads of fun in snow mode with my FX with moderate level all season tires without any problems but it does have more ground clearance

 

This is about my 4th winter with my '07 G35X and I've never had a problem, no matter what. I actually never use the "snow" button just because I've never felt the need to. It's equipped with Michelin Hydroedge all weather tires. (actually, my last four cars have all gotten this rubber.) Ice, deep snow, light snow or rainey sleet. Don't matter. I think alot of how any car handles in the snow or anytime, for that matter, is dependent on the driver and not the driven.

Mike

ps...Boston area of New England

 

It only locks the car in 50/50 mode below 12 mph, I believe, which wouldn't really apply much since very few of us drive 12 mph in the snow.

https://g35driver.com/forums/v36-gen...-all-time.html

 

AH! Thanks for that. I thought it was 20mph. Yep..Had fun and was able to get to work before a lot of the accidents started on the highways and locals. I've concluded for me; Snow mode needs to stay on, be a little more gentle on the throttle, and take turns slower when there is traffic. Our AWD seems to be more of a performance based system, not a utility based one like on an SUV or Wagon so seeing the SLIP light will be common occurrence when driving in the snow. At least for my driving style.

 

^^^^ Interesting thread. Most people (including myself) have no clue what all these fancy buttons do in our cars lol. Thanks for posting. Although I don't even drive my car in the rain, much less snow, so I don't know why I care anyways

 

Yea same my all season tires were almost completely bald but even still it made out pretty well with the snow button on. Can u believe though, someone asked me once if they turned the button on would it snow......

 

Got lots of snow today and headed to stock up on food after class...

The G35X is VERY tail happy! Give it a little gas and the tail spins out until the traction control kicked in and saved me. It was fun, don't get me wrong.

There was a huge hill on the drive home and the SNOW button worked great. I didn't have the tail kick out as much and I got up the big hill just fine.

If I commuted more, I don't think I would have liked the X in snow though. Audi's Quattro or Acura's SH AWD probably would have felt more secure due to the front wheel drive bias.

 

In my state, all traveling is banned and if you are caught, you will have to face a $500 fine or go to prison for a year...crazy right?

 

I heard about that. Massachusetts right? Any car on the highways after 4PM was to be ticketed! Crazy but I think it saved a lot of lives.

 

Yeah, it was Massachusetts...the ban is still in effect right now.

 

I drove out to buy some snow pants for an upcoming adventure and the end of my road is unplowed. I drove to it and got stuck The VSC kicked in and killed the throttle and I was going no where.

Definitely a ground clearance problem which is understandable. I just backed up and turned off VSC and turned on Snow Mode and just ran right through the pile of snow.

There was a cop just sitting in his cruiser laughing at me.

 

Be careful, the undercarriage cover can get easily damaged when you run over snow like that. It happens quite often to our cars. The plastic cover piece gets ripped and torn easily.

 

Throw some dead weight in your trunk if you want to get the rear end to gain more traction push it up against the seat as close to on top of the back wheels. I'm not talking a 20lb bag of salt, it needs like 100-150lbs+. It makes a world of difference.