First 05 G35x Snow Drive!!

[Neal376]

Woke up 4 am eager to show my dogs the snow, and take my car for its first spin in the snow!!

Well, the system does not seem so smooth, even though it is very effective (car is solid on soft powder). When torque is delivered to the front wheels, you hear this sort of grinding sound, and than some sort of electrical - magnetic - static - interference - pulsating kind of sound (kind of sci fi) well despite the sounds, noises and grinding, it works very well.

I also tried braking hard, the brakes than make that same sci fi sound and pulsate mad!!. but the car stops none the less

I guess it is good to give your car its first snow drive at this time, since you have less of a chance of hitting other motorists

anyother g35x snow trials?

[dholly]

I would venture a guess that the noise when braking is simply your ABS system performing normally, and at least some of the sound on acceleration is likely due to the VDC system. Try turning off VDC and seeing if you get the same noise. As to "grinding", well, that doesn't sound very good to me!
Oh, and my Labs LOVE the snow!

[Neal376]

Well I guess, it was my ABS system after all. It just....REALLLY pulsates hard (like, ouch, my toes)

And I just realised, if I ignore that sound, the system is really smoooooth, and really quick. And after a day of driving, I did realise that the sound must have to do with ABS, since it sounds alot like the ABS self test system.

BTW, it was not a grinding feeling, it was a grinding noise, but maybee it was just snow getting stuck in the wheel well.

I tried the M45 in the snow SCARY.

driving the M45 in snow without traction control is alot like driving in neutral.

Either way, in the G35x, I was able to confidently drive the speed limit or more without felling any real loss of control. Definitly on par with my SUV, if not better.

[Edge]

Like dholly said, try turning off the VDC (and therefore traction control). You should hear a lot less noise if any. I actually would like to know how much noise actually comes out of the AWD unit itself. Can you let us know? I also wonder how well/smooth it works when wheels spin is detected and the clutch is activated. From what you said, it's pretty smooth.

[dholly]

Don't you g35X guys have another console button that has something to do with AWD operation, like the ability to lock into a 50/50 front/rear power distribution vs. auto sensing or something like that? If yes, try switching that off as well and see what happens.

[Neal376]

yea, 50/50, up to 30mph. It also reduces throttle sensitivity, which I really like. However, I still heard the noise from a standstill (if i gassed it) because it may have switched to something more radical like 70/30, maybee 100/0.

I will have to wait for more snow to test it again.

All in all I felt very confident in the snow. If I disregarded the noise, than the system worked very smoothly and solidly. If I turned off the VDC, I had to be extra careful with the throttle, if I gave to much gas to, the car would go nowhere(but would not spin like RWD). And I heard the noise less often when I turned it off.

Maybee the noise is a mixture of ABS, and the ATTESSA. maybee they work together in someway somehow. (I believe in the M45, the brakes are applied when shifting with tiptronics...an example of how infiniti combines two sepereate systems)

This is with the stock all season tires, not snow tires, so i did feel some slip but only if I really pushed it. I def. believe the attessa system was worth it now.

I dont think it is the "all wheel drive" that makes the noise. I would imagine that it is the "auto sensing" unit that is. The

[Edge]

The ATTESA-ETS should be a pretty sweet system. I actually rode in a Nissan wagon in Japan this year, which is built on the same platform as our G. It was equiped with this AWD and has a METER showing how much torque is being transferred to the front. I couldn't figure out the units for the numbers on the meter. What I noticed is that the needle moved about 20% or so whenever the driver went heavy into throttle, even though it was on dry surface and for sure had no tendency to spin any wheel. This makes sense to me since the software could be anticipating a need for engagement under heavy throttle. It doesn't hurt to engage a little. When the snow button is pressed, the needle stays at about that location even when you're not on the throttle. This also makes sense since you may need that in snow even with small throttle input. Too bad, it was summer and I couldn't drive to evaluate the system for its purpose.

What I do know is that such a system could generate some noise. If the rear wheel spins and the AWD clutch engages, there could be some noise. It can definitely be felt on the Explorers that have such a system. (Yes the Ford Explorers have them too. It's not magic. I'm sure the Nissan system is done better, but the principle is exactly the same.) You may still hear some TCS noise even when you shut the VDC off. When the left and right wheels are not spinning at the same speed, the TCS will still activate the brakes to synchronize them, and thus the ABS kind of noise (pretty loud).

Also, 50/50 is actually a myth. When the clutch is fully engaged -- sort of locking the front and rear, most people say the torque is delivered 50/50 front and back. In reality, in that configuration, the amount of torque going to either end completely depends on the traction on that axle. If the front is on dry concrete and the rear is on ice, the torque split is about 100/0. It could be 0/100 in the other extreme.

All that is for fully engaged mode. When the software varies the clutch engagement, keeping some slip difference between the front and the rear, things can be really interesting. Anyone wants to loam me his G35x for some evaluation? I'm dying to find out.

[Neal376]

ahh haa! that explaines the noise. are you saying that the needle goes to 20% FROM 50/50 or from 0/100 (rear wheels)