Hey guys, I'm new to this kind of car, especially AWD, It was my first snow day driving with the G35X. I feel I'm missing something.

So it snowed the other day and I DID NOT have snow mode on. The VDC is always on. I was told (or so i thought) that this car would automatically sense slippage of the rear wheels and then engage the front wheels to compensate. This did not happen and my rear end started to fish tail all over the place. I then looked down and said to myself "hey stupid, press the SNOW button, it's snowing outside". NOW I got traction and I could feel all 4 wheels doing their thing, no more fishies.

So what I'm asking is: what is VDC? and what is it supposed to do. What is snow mode doing? and what happens if I turn off VDC?

I've been searching through the forums and I haven't found a really clear-cut answer on this.
Thanks guys.

 

VDC = Vehicle Dynamic Control

Think of it as an advanced form of traction and stability control. If the car detects wheel slippage, it'll cut power to that wheel and apply that power towards the wheels that it detects have the most traction. I also believe (but don't quote me on this) that VDC can also apply the brakes to individual wheels to help stabilize the vehicle if it senses that its beginning to drift or move out of control.

As for the Snow Mode, the default setting for AWD is to send 75% of the power to the rear wheels and 25% to the front. Snow Mode changes that setting to 50/50 front and rear. I also believe that the car will send 100% of the power to the rear wheels in the standard mode if you decide to go full throttle. In times where there is no traction, the AWD system will adjust itself accordingly, just putting it in snow mode means that the probability of wheel slippage is reduced slightly.

If you're really stuck in the snow, its best to turn VDC off that way you can attempt to "rock" yourself out (that is, moving the car forwards and backwards until you're free). VDC limits your ability to do this because it'll start cutting power off to the wheels if they're spinning.

Hope this helps, if any of this is inaccurate please correct me. After all, I don't even own a G35x.

 

what he said ^^

VDC will cut power and *pulse the brake on the inside front tire in a fish tail to straighten you out.
go to an unplowed parking lot and try to do some donuts.
get going like 10-15 mph and cut the wheel and gun it, see what happens.
then try it in snow mode.
then try it with vdc off.
it will give you an idea whats its doing.
and also how the car will react in a slide.

 

Is this really true, that by default (good weather), my AWD is consistently giving 25% front and 75% rear, WITH VDC on?

What do you mean by "standard" mode, where you say it will give 100% to the rear? Do you mean with VDC OFF?

So SNOW MODE is essentially forcing the AWD to give 50/50 distribution at all times from what I gather.

Thanks for the info.

 

Snow mode is a 50/50 distribution, as indicated, but only up to 12mph, at which point the regular distrubution (75/25) takes over. The car is essentially rwd until it senses slippage where the awd kicks in.

 

From Winnipeg here; so I can say with confidence VDC overreacts to everything. I remember the first day snow hit the city; and I was freaking out because the VDC kicked in at every stop. Couple weeks later we got hit with another 10-15 C.M snow; so I decided to see how well the Gs performs in winter. I turned the VDC off; and realised how much easier it is to drive the car. The VDC really throttles -vely the acceleration; I used to get honked at all the time because VDC would not let my car move.


As a side note; take your G to a parking lot. On fresh snow; the G is one of those vehicle you know exactly how far it will swing out and how far you can get it before bringing it back in. It is pretty easy to control the G if you lose control; and 90% of the time it doesn't happen. The VDC tends to help with this as it brakes the car before it does this; but this rarely happens; and it is pretty easy to control the car.

VDC is vehicle dynamic control i think; it just applies the brake/limits throttle input when it senses your tires or your vehicle slipping or sliding.

Not 100% on most of my answers; the other responses are alot better.

 

The key here is that Snow Mode cuts the throttle a bit, so you're not sending too much power to the wheels.... at any speed.
If it's snowing and you're G35x is not doing well in the snow, turn the Snow Mode on... what's the question here?

I run my G35x in the snow and ice and with Snow Mode and VDC on, it's almost impossible to loose control.

 

ok, makes sense.

i wanted to know though, if my SNOW mode is OFF, and my VDC is ON, and it's a dry summer day, do I get 100% to the rear wheels (with a G35X)?

with the same situtation, without SNOW mode, do my front wheels ever do any work with only VDC ON?

 

I think the manuel might have that info. Also if u do end up getting 100% to the back wheels and they break loose the front will kick in and prevent you from spinning the back wheels.

 

In the quick manual, the only thing it says snow mode does is lower throttle response. Can anyone prove otherwise?
I would like to know if Snow mode will effect my MPG.

 

"Another unique feature of the G35 AWD system design is the addition of a Snow-Mode function, which reduces throttle sensitivity and fixes initial torque distribution at 50:50, helping avoid wheel spin for smooth starts on snowy roads. At speeds above 12 miles per hour, the Snow-Mode function allows the central computer processing system to take over again, continually monitoring traction conditions and changing the torque distribution as needed."

http://www.nissannews.com/infiniti/2.../awdtech.shtml

The technology in your G isn't any different from the AWD tech of last gen's G35.

 

Great explanations on the AWD & snow Mode applications. That bulletin from Nissan 2004, was also very informative. But I think the Snow Mode also forces the car to start in 2nd gear to help cut the initial loss of traction from start. Correct me please, if I'm wrong. Thought I read that somewhere....