gugarci

+ 1 , All great points. I have made most of these points myself in my posts in this thread.

Also having driven both on the same roads/streets I can't tell you with certainty the sport suspension does not really feel any harsher than the stock suspension. How do I know????

My wife would be complaining every time we use the car and she hasn't complained once.

chuwontis

So, whats the bottom line. Does the X model add any value in a snow situation? And I Think someone said the awd comes on only at low speed during take off and someone else said its on demand when driving condition calls for it? IE, one of the front tires loose traction. Thanks

Michelangelo

In my experience with my '09 AWD sedan, it is not at all difficult to get oversteer. It acts just like a RWD car most of the time, because it IS a RWD car most of the time.

I got the AWD because where I live it's hilly and they don't clean residential streets very well in the winter. (Hell, they don't clean the main streets all that well either.) I chose the G because the ATTESA-ETS system does the AWD/RWD thing so well.

But when it comes down to it, it's really just a matter of personal preference and what each individual driver thinks is valuable. I drive my family around in this car, so if I am in fact giving up some marginal amount of performance, it's a tradeoff I'm willing to make to keep my kids a bit safer. (Yes, I know AWD isn't a magic bullet--I grew up in Michigan and saw plenty of 4x4s in ditches come February.)

The car is still tremendously fun to drive, so I've got no complaints.

netmag

The X will be better for any snow situation. The only question is how comfortable you feel driving a RWD in snow. Some people are fine with it, others not.

You'll get some RWD people who'll say that they definitely feel the difference and the extra 200lbs of weight makes a big difference. Other people have tried both and say they didn't notice much of a difference at all.

I have to say that I'm very impressed with the performance of the Xs so I personally would have no problem with getting one since I live in an area that gets snow. But that's just me. I understand some people who get these vehicles (especially people who hang out on these internet forums) feel every ounce of performance must be maintained.

For your 2nd question, my understanding is that both thoughts are correct. During normal driving the X launches with AWD then adjusts so that it's shifted towards more of a RWD drive. When slippage is felt, it will automtically adjust the Front/Rear ratio to maintain stability.
When you click on the Snow button that's in the center console that puts the X into a "max protect" mode of sorts where it pretty much forces the front/rear ratio to be 50/50 and also cuts the throttle response to keep you from accidentally launching too fast. So it won't drive like a sports car with the Snow button on but then again when the road conditions are terrible, driving sporty isn't the point. You would use the Snow button when you know it's bad conditions on the road and you want to have maximum protection from losing control.

Anyway that's just my understanding from what I've read. I'm sure someone could elaborate on it better. I've been reading around about these vehicles because I may be buying one soon.

Mike

iTrader: (1)

Yes, the X definitely adds value in ANY low traction condition.

As stated previously, the car is always AWD at low speed. However at over 12 mph, the power is all sent to the rear for improved performance, and fuel economy.

However, the system will immediately send power to the front wheels, up to 50%, if traction loss is detected. It is so quick, that you won't even notice.

You can also "lock" it into 50/50 by pushing the snow mode button. The button also re-maps the throttle so that the tip in is much less pronounced, to help prevent traction loss.

For snow driving, the rule of thumb is:

AWD + snow tires > RWD + snow tires > AWD > RWD.

shumby

iTrader: (3)

the snow button only ups the speed that it drops out of 50/50 to around 20 (cannot remeber the exact speed) then back to rwd until slip is detected. It also starts you off in 2nd gear.

Alex57r

Cool japanese video about ATTESA E-TS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upd-4IP1NXw