I have a 2013 G37x. Last winter I thought it was terrible in the snow, so just before this winter I put Pirelli Centrino's on it (since they had good ratings on Tire Rack). Today we had about 8" of snow and I got stuck about 4 times going up hills. The "AWD" light was blinking and I'm pretty sure my front tires were completely locked up, I had the snow mode button on the whole time and my front tires were not spinning. I also turned off the drive control a few times when the car would completely shut the engine down from no traction. Has anyone had these problems? Could there be a problem with my drive train to my front wheels?

I had an 06' G35x and it's climbed those hills with ease.

 

If the awd light blinks then theres a problem. Awd is stealthy in action. My X has champed the snow on oem A/S tires.

 

Yea, the AWD light should not be lit. You would likely see the 'slip' light come on when your wheels are spinning and the AWD is adjusting bias.

 

So I stopped on a hill (in snow mode and also with the drive control off) that was covered in snow and stepped on the gas, it didn't climb the hill. Both times I backed up and I had seen that all 4 tires had spun. I'm guessing that my tires are just horrible.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

That's the link for my tires, there's not much "horizontal" traction to cut through the snow. Does anyone think I should swap them with snow tires for the winter?

 

Still don't understand why people haven't caught on to this...snow needs snow tires!!! It doesn't matter what you drive, AWD, 4x4, Ram, hummer etc etc. if you don't have the tires you don't go, period. An A/S AWD is doable but we're still talking able 50% less safety, traction, braking etc. blinking light means your tires suck and there's no traction. Doesn't mean something's wrong with the car people. OP if you read Tirerack, you read in all the wrong places...





In Germany its illegal to not have a snow/ice tire. A/S is illegal if that tells you something! Read all this...watch the vids! Very scary knowing you're still moving fast when a snow tire has stopped.

Winters vs summers - Nissan 370Z Forum

 

Good video, I'll put some snow tires on it next week. Thanks.

 

I was just gonna tell you the tires are your issue and not the AWD system.

I recently went from dedicated snow's Blizzak LM-25 to Conti DWS and boy what a difference. Snow's are simply better than no-season tires, AWD only helps you get traction for forward movement - all things being equal its just like rwd or fwd for stopping. A new set of tires are cheaper that the deductible for most folks.

 

I haven't had any issues with the AWD on the factory dunlop A/S tires. Even in deep snow and/or hills the car drives great.

 

But it's all you know, you don't know any better. Drive on snows and its like dry pavement. You're not driving as fast, safe, or as well as you would be on snows. It only takes one ice patch, one kid or animal runs out and what you thought was good becomes crap and good bye G37.

 

I did this too. Had WS-60's then DWS for a week and sold them for Artic maxx's on a 09 WRX. DWS didn't touch the two snow/ice tires and those are the best A/S tires you can buy!

 

I don't see any reason to be so rude about my personal choice in tires. Driving conservatively with all season tires is a perfectly fine way to get around in the winter. My car doesn't slide anywhere or get squirrelly at all, ice included. If a kid jumps out in front of my car in the middle of the summer, I still can't guarantee a good outcome. I'd much rather drive cautiously with all season tires then roll around on winter tires thinking I'm unstoppable.

I'm sure I could drive a little faster and follow people a little closer with winter tires, but what good does that do me when the car in front of me is a Mustang with summer tires. Safe winter driving has a lot to do with driving style, I'm sure plenty of people have wrecked their cars with winter tires, likely because they were driving irresponsibly with a false sense of security.

 

This statement about Germany's laws is not true.

http://www.baumholder.army.mil/sites...owTiresLaw.pdf

 

A broke link to a army site? My friend lived there for a year so I have to believe him.

Edit. Yes I'm correct. You need a snow tire. The conti DWS counts since it has a snow symble but not a lot of a/s tires have that so youre very limited in selection. So just buy snows and be don't with it. Keeps summer tires lasting longer too. Pic was written in 8/13 as you can see.

 

The link I posted is not broken, and yes, a military website will tend to have credibility.

I apologize but you are not correct, your article even supports my statement. All season tires are legal. The only requirement is they have the M+S branding. Many all season tires have the M+S branding, denoting "Mud and Snow", the OE tires on the G37x included. Snow tires are denoted by a snowflake (not M+S), the Conti DWS do not have a snowflake because they are not snow tires. They are a good set of ALL SEASON tires, and they are legal in Germany, because snow tires are not a legal requirement. The minimum legal requirement in Germany is M+S branded all season tires with legal tread.

Your opinion is that snow tires are best, and that's fine, but the fact is that snow tires are not a legal requirement in Germany, which you were claiming was the case.

 

I would not go so far as to say that driving with snow/winter tires is like driving on dry pavement. The car will still slide in turns if not done at a safe speed. This may be less an issue with awd than rwd. I have michelin xice2 tires with a good 90%+ of tread remaining. Granted, winter/snow tires (compared to summer only) do allow the car to be drivable in the snow and adverse wintery conditions but it must still be done so with sense.

I am able to take off from a stand still in snow without spinning the wheels so long as I don't exceed the [limited] traction limits. Part of the issue is rwd. Still, I wouldn't trade that for awd for the other 9 months of the year