bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Thanks all I wasn't able to drive the car because there was to much snow almost piling over the car. Thanks I was really wondering if this car could handle the winter we had.

mehran888

Hey folks, wanted to give my few cents as I've had experience with a few cars over the past little while. With respect to how it "goes", the car feels like a tank. It's much better than my dads 4Matic CLS550, and in some ways I actually found it almost as impressive as my mom's LX570 (albeit a totally different car). I have the AWD, but with the cruddy Turanza all-seasons. Surprisingly the Turanza's don't disappoint as much as I thought they would (given my fair-weather experience). The car also seems to go just as well as my wife's EX35, I would suggest even slightly better. With respect to stopping, I don't feel as comfortable as I do in my wife's EX35 (which has pretty weak brakes), but that could also be the Turanza's.

I actually felt guilty driving my car in the snow. Because it felt so much like a tank, I probably wasn't as careful as I should have been. Overall, very happy with my car and looking forward to getting some winter tires down the road.

sydtoosic

did you feel the difference when you put it in snow mode?

InfamousQ

I wouldn't advise driving in snow that's 6 inches or more on all-season, you won't get stuck if you disengage traction/stability, but the stopping distance will be greatly reduced & at highway speeds, handling may become less predictable.

With winter tires, the car is very stable & handling is predictable, which leads to over-confidence & even carelessness. Driving in manual mode on Sport+, (down shift to change lanes/high speed turns/decelerate), as well as left foot braking (may take practice) in heavy traffic conditions, provides extra stabilty & control in adverse conditions.

If traction/stability kicks in too much & the vehicle is still stuck, one can always fully disengage & let all 4 wheels claw itself out. The AWD is good enough that it should be able to claw itself out without having to disengage traction/stability.

InfamousQ

When snow mode is engaged, power distribution becomes 50F/50R instead of the normal 30F/70R, which results in a loss of power, & increase fuel consumption. Transmission shifts becomes slower, & the engine output is reminiscence of Eco Mode. The trasmission starts off on 2nd gear, when accelerating from a stand-still, usually.

My sales rep called snow mode, "granny mode"

axiom00

Hi InfamousQ,

Just wondering what you have your winter tires mounted on? Black steel rims or the stock rims?

Thanks.

mehran888

Sorry Syd, just realized I never responded here. The only difference I notice with snow mode is that the throttle is more cautious (ie. you have to put more pressure down to go) . I don't think it made a difference to the traction control, and while I think it might have made a slight change to the front/rear split... I couldn't really confirm.

From a standstill, if I was in a "slippery" situation, turning off/on snow mode didn't feel to make much difference (aside from the more conservative throttle).