Originally Posted by JohnEnglish

Right but it has to be updated for any production changes (i.e. switch from 3.5L V6 to 3.7L V6), it has to be supported, and it's something else that can go wrong. By eliminating that feature that's one less thing that can malfunction.

Originally Posted by devil2k

Torque is the same. They would've programmed it to distribute the percentages of the power anyway so the difference shouldn't matter. It's a same AWD system, Attesa E-TS I believe. I've been driving with the snow mode on / off this winter and I can say the car definitely understeer when the snow mode is on.

Car companies make their AWD more and more sophisticated generation by generation. They don't go backward to save money because it's not saving them money. Cost of software improvement, when spread over so many vehicles, can be considered free. It would not cost anymore than reprogramming the 7AT for the TSB.

Originally Posted by devil2k

If I remember correctly...

Snow Mode On:
Throttle response is retarded. It does not start in 2nd gear. It locks the power distribution to 50/50 until it reaches a certain speed (a bit less than 30km/h).

Snow Mode Off:
Throttle response is normal. It locks the power distribution to 25/75 until it reaches a certain speed (a bit less than 20km/h)

Whether the Snow Mode is on or off, the VDC will try to correct wheel spin. Snow mode tries to prevent it by reducing throttle and give front/rear equal power. However, after that certain speed is reached, the car will still transfer most if not all power to the rear wheels just like when snow mode is off, but at a higher speed.

It's pretty straight forward. If the pavement is icy or has snow on it, turn it on. If the pavement is dry or you're a confident driver, turn it off.