Michael_in_DE

So how are these AWD cars in the snow?

And has anyone had the AWD cut out on them? (manual says if it gets too hot the AWD will cut out)

RMB5190

iTrader: (2)

I'm just to the South of you in MD. The G eats snow and ice all day. I have a super sh!tty pair of tires on 17s and I never once flinched; let alone slid. TCS + 'snow' mode really gears you down and keeps you planted.

Now that I think about it, my brakes crapped out on me as well but made it through that winter driving 120 miles round trip every day for work.

zer099

iTrader: (2)

The only time i have heard of the AWD cutting out from heat was in during a second or third back to back track session with 20 minute heats. So i think as long as your not cutting up the back roads at 90+MPH for an hour straight in the snow you will be fine.

When it does cut it goes to full RWD and your AWD and traction light will flash until it cools down and reengages, just FYI.

Kris9884

iTrader: (3)

I was also wondering how it handled the snow/ice since I'm moving to Idaho this Spring. I thought about getting a sedan X as a daily in place of my RWD Lexus daily. hmmm

Epiphany

It's perfectly fine in the snow. I've never had it cut out and that includes driving through 3"+ of snow or having fun in big open areas covered in ice. You'll never have a problem under any normal conditions. The AWD isn't the greatest out there for actual winter use, but for 99% of the time it's just as good, they all help you get up to speed from an icy stop light.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Also if you plan to run staggered wheel/tire sets, the AWD light may come on if your front to back variance is off by more than 1%, so be careful there.

Victory

I have no complaints about the AWD in this car, even in relatively deep snow with all-seasons. Just put it in snow mode and go. Some may say it's not as good in snow as other AWD systems, but frankly, I prefer the rear bias.

the overheating protection is mainly for the track

NealP

I haven't noticed it "cut out" then again I don't know how I would notice and I never knew that was a thing. Coming from a Subaru, which was full-time all wheel drive, I can say the G AWD system isn't as good when it comes to driving in snowy/icy conditions. Mostly because it only goes into AWD when you start slipping. Sure, it has snow mode and that'll help to get you moving but as I understand it, it just lowers the RPMs so you don't sit there and spin your tires. I noticed a big difference when I got my G and it convinced me to get snow tires for the first time. It's a bit unnerving the first time you go to turn in the snow and the car starts slipping before the AWD kicks in. I had all-season tires on the Subaru for the 8+ years I had the car and never thought I needed snow tires since I always felt in control. Obviously it's still better to have an AWD G in the snow than RWD and if you've never had an AWD car you'll probably notice an improvement. Having said that, I'll still take the look and performance of the G over my Subaru any day even if that means I have to run snow tires for a few months.

Michael_in_DE

I too come from a Subaru, which got me addicted to quality AWD, so I then bought an Audi. Snow was my bi#ch. Now I'm getting a bit nervous with these comments. Thanks for the heads up Neal. I'll have to price some snows.

maGorheadrush

My G is a beast in the snow! I live back a 1/4 mile+ driveway in the woods (MD). It’s a private drive so we’re responsible for removing all the snow ourselves. To make matters worse, the last 200 yards is a massive hill that people riding bikes typically opt to get off and push because it’s that steep.

First night it snowed after purchasing my G I obviously wanted to test its capabilities a bit. Brother and I went out for wings and came back to 4-5 inch of snow. Drove up to the hill with some momentum, got about half way, and the car started spinning the tires a good bit. Eventually, about half way up the hill we no longer had momentum and seemed to be stuck. My brother got out to push, I floored it, and realized none of the tires were spinning even though the engine was revving. We were going nowhere but backwards. It then occurred to me that the TCS was cutting power to all 4 wheels because it had that little grip. I turned off the TCS and floored it. With that, my brother got a face full of snow and had to walk the rest of the hill but the G had no problem making it the rest of the way. This was on the stock all season tires which most will agree are quite terrible.

NealP

No problem. Snow tires will be a good investment. I went with blizzak ws-80s and haven't had any issues. Maybe some day I'll get a set of wheels to mount them on so I don't have to swap them twice a year. Good luck!

Ryne

iTrader: (12)

I had an AWD G37 with the stock Dunlop all season tires and it was one of the scariest winters of my life. I ended up putting DWS tires on the G car and it was a noticeable improvement, but still unnerving at times. My car before the G was FWD with Continental DWS tires and I never had any major issues. My current 435i is RWD and has Michelin snow tires and is a tank. My fiancé drives a TSX and I put Blizzak WS80 tires on that; it's unstoppable.

TLDR: It doesn't matter which wheels are driving the car, it's the tires on them.