ok.....

we've had 20 inches of snow in NYC starting last sunday.

i'm currently driving a 2006 g35x.

i have to say, although i get better traction than my uncle's avalon, i am quite dissapointed at my car. i got stuck in snow so many times it's not even funny.

i can't even get out of my driveway at the moment.

i noticed when i got stuck, even with snow button on i was only spinning 2 wheels (rear wheels). WTF? then i tried with vdc off, not a good idea. i was spinning even more.

now, my understanding is that the attesa system in our cars will give up to 50% of torque to the front wheels up to a speed of 20 mph when the snow button is on. how come my car was only spinning the rear wheels?

 

first question you should ask urself is do you have snow tires... cause thats what make a different.

 

We got 19" in my area. I was out all day and night in my 06x...without a issue at all. I would actually try to get the car stuck and fail every time. I didn't even need snow mode...and I am on all seasons. I was driving up unplowed hills with a 30* angle with no issue. This car really impresses me in the snow


If from a dead stop, only the rear wheels are spinning, then you have a mechanical issue or some other issue. From a dead stop, with the snow mode on, all 4 wheels receive equal torque, so the front wheels definitely should have been turning in that situation.


But to answer your question.

Snow mode off, from a dead stop, torque is distributed 75% rear/25% front. Above 20 mph it begins to shift to 100% rwd. The computer at any time can change torque split from anywhere between 50/50 to 100/0

Snow mode on, the transfer case is locked like part time 4wd for a 50/50 split. All 4 wheels should turn the same. Around 20mph (or was it 11mph) the computer starts to reduce torque to the front wheels until it is at 100/0 like normal mode. Computer can kick in 50/50 at any time if needed.

In both modes, with all 4 wheels off the ground, all 4 wheels should spin from a dead stop.

If you are sure only the rear wheels are spinning, there is an issue. The fronts turning are very noticeable as giving gas with the wheel cut slightly would kick up some snow from the fronts that I could see. Did this in normal or snow mode

 

Check your AWD fuse. Some people will pull it out to turn the car into a heavy version of the RWD. Or it might be blown. It could explain why only the rears were spinning.

Check your current tire tread depth. Anything near or below 6/32's would hamper snow performance.

Winter tires make a huge difference as others say. We had a 26" snow storm here in MN a few weeks back and my 2004X ate right through it. Snow mode and Blizzak's on the winter tire setup. My car even performed better than the wife's Explorer SUV in the thick stuff! We used my car to get carryout instead of her SUV because driving unplowed roads was safer in the G!

 

The amount of snow we got, AWD or not you won't get anywhere with all seasons. I got stuck in a Nissan Murano, with winter tires i would never get stuck with winters on.

 

So much snow...

 

if anything is wrong with the AWD system the 'AWD' light should illuminate, including a pulled fuse. also, i don't believe the 05-06 X's had a fuse for the AWD system

 

you might have a RWD sedan...

 

Yeah something aint right...you'd have dash lights if there was a problem with the system. Fronts should be spinning too.

 

Says he pressed the snow button, so I assume it really is awd. Would suck if his awd car was really rwd. Maybe the awd bulb is burned out? Does it light when the car is first turned on before cranking?


But something is not right if the awd light is not on, and the fronts are turning. Last time I had the car on jack stands, I put it in drive just to see...and all 4 wheels definitely turn from a stop.

 

Too much snow and the city did a horrible job cleaning it up.

 

Been on the news here too....what did they do? Not plow complete roads? How did that happen?

 

turning the VDC off when stuck in snow is actually better than having it on, that way both your wheels start spinning and digging into the snow ,if u hit the gas hard enough of coarse to lock in the other wheel if u have a VLSD differential, VDC turned on will have one wheel break and only the other spin, this is on a RWD sedan i don't know if its the same for the AWD model

 

I was plowing thru over a foot of untouched snow with VDC on, snow on, and well worn all seasons with no problem. I'm very impressed with the performance of the X sedan. Makes me wonder how much better it would be with a set of snow tires...

As it was said, if only two wheels were spinning, then you a problem. Plus 20 inches is probably pushing it for these cars, you need some clearance, maybe lift it on some 26's?

 

Im not into politics and such but even a 10 yr old kid could notice that Bloomberg did a horrible job. There were streets in brooklyn that havent been touched for 3 days. Around where I work a plow wasn't seen for 2 days. It was a disaster. Literally and I mean literally every side street I saw had a car stuck in the snow. Only roads that were clear were blvd's and known avenues.

There were 3 cases were 2 elderly people died and an infant died because emergency could reach them. In once case emergency personnel didn't show up for 9 hours and the other 4 hours. Trucks, police cars, fire trucks were stuck. It was insane.

I have a friend who was stuck in brooklyn for 24 hours in his car, he actually made a video and posted it on Facebook.

A sanitation worker said that this was the worst clean-up plan he has seen in his 7 years working and on top of that they were short 200 workers.