The AWD thread

Even with my top of the line snows and AWD my butt will slide a tiny bit when going from one type of traction to a completely different type of traction. However this slippage is massively better then any other car I've driven. It's just a slight...correction... would be a good word. The rear grips and I'm back in a straight line.
I have no fear of my butt swinging way around. The AWD grips and I'm in complete control after the minor slide. And I mean very minor. My FWD would probably 360 in that situation.
@bmninada I don't use my AWD as a means to go faster on shittier roads. People that do that wind up in ditches. The big advantage for me is being able to go over snow I couldn't otherwise without losing traction. I have complete confidence that I'm not getting stuck on the 1 foot snow pile in front of me, like I certainly would, and have, in my previous FWD car. I have no fear of climbing a snow covered hill in my AWD. But AWD won't help you take an ice covered turn any faster which is why you should not go faster then you would in any other car.
 
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I need to understand something - when you guys say CX-5 drives well in snow - how do you determine "Drive Well"? As for me - as you can see I drove sparingly and for me the ability to drive thru deep snow is good enough. But in reality - let's look at this scenario and then tell me what's good:

Usually, after a snow fall, the main roads are quickly cleaned up while the arteries aren't. In a relatively small city these arteries can accommodate around 4 cars side-by-side and now they are snow packed. When driving thru them at what speed would you drive and not see any slippages/adverse conditions and effectively thus declare that the car's AWD system is really good?
Taking this a step further - within 1 day or 2 when these roads are more traveled those black stripes appear and usually the cars travel thru them - now it may be in those smaller roads or a state road doesn't matter. Once again - at what speeds it'll be considered great?

I see folks driving their puny little cars thru such roads and driving between 5 mph to 15 mph with zero problems. If someone drives at that speed a CX-5 and suffers from zero slippage and reports here that AWD system of CX-5 is awesome then that makes no sense.

This is a question I always bother myself with. In such roads safety is important but depending on the car I drive and the tires I have - can I push myself to higher speed perhaps? Currently I stick to max of 15 mph thru such roads but I have a feeling I don't do justice to my CX-5 as it can possibly handle higher speed with no issues.

Let's keep the condition of tires out of this discussion.. Assume it's the standard OEM all season tires (that's what 95% of folks use anyways).

With OEM Toyo tires. Here is an early morning slushy, icy commute to work. I feel secure and planted with the CX5 that is comparing this with my RAV4 Limited 2010 V6.

https://youtu.be/fxtyMn7Yzog
 
@bmninada, It is not a question of how fast you can go in snow and ice conditions, it is how sure footed the car is and how confident you are in maintaining the stability while driving it. The biggest concern in snow and ice is not the speed but how quickly you can stop in case something or someone ends up in front of you.

Years ago in a 4wd Montero Sport I was driving on a two lane highway in just over a foot of snow during a storm. The speed limit is 50 mph but I was doing 30 which I was comfortable at. Going around a corner a Honda had slid off on my side and another car had stopped to help. I took my foot off the gas. A man got out of the second car and immediately fell right in the road way about 50 feet in front of me. I swerved to the left since there were no incoming cars and just missed that guy. Had I been going faster I do believe I would have hit him.
 
@bmninada, It is not a question of how fast you can go in snow and ice conditions, it is how sure footed the car is and how confident you are in maintaining the stability while driving it. The biggest concern in snow and ice is not the speed but how quickly you can stop in case something or someone ends up in front of you.

Thank you. I had a 2WD Toyota Corolla which I used to drive at around 20 mph max. Now that I have a AWD CX5 I feel I can push it to 30 or perhaps 40. But feel scared doing so in case the car starts to slip. So - what will happen for example when there might be an understeer or an oversteer? How will CX5 AWD system help me ... is what I am also eager to find out.
The general rule is let go of gas and brake and then slight and DELIBERATE corrections to the steering INTO the slide direction in order to correct the slide. With oversteer, what I faced was the pendulum effect with my 2WD Corolla - which ultimately led to a 360 but thankfully no accident.
 
Keep your speed down, 4wd will do nothing when you want to stop, in fact the extra weight of the awd will probably increase the stopping distance.
 
We had a lot of snow around in last week or two but it hit above 0 C a couple days ago. I was driving around all sorts of newer/in construction subdivisions yesterday house shopping (read: unplowed, combined with huge drifts still, and big ruts of wet, heavy snow, with a combo of ice still underneath, and yet frequent slush puddles. Just gross.)

My new CX-5 (AWD and Michelin X Ice winters) performed beautifully where a day or two before I was repeatedly slipping and spinning and getting stuck temporarily in my old FWD Mazda 3. It just felt very stable and responsive.
 
Drove my 2017 GT in the snow for the first time and did not have the best AWD experience. Had plenty of rear wheel tire spinning and back of vehicle slippage when making turns from poorly plowed side streets onto main roads. And when turning into side streets with snow from plowed main streets. Car didn't spin out of control but did not expect the slippage I felt, Is this normal for the CX-5?.

Are you using winter tires or just all seasons? Wheel slippage is normal if on icy/snowy roads and depending on the power-throttle input (even on winter tires) unless you are on studded winter tires. The AWD will send power to all 4 wheels as necessary but it doesn't mean there will be no slippage as this all depends on the road conditions however this is where the advantage of AWD will come vs FWD...
 
I need to understand something - when you guys say CX-5 drives well in snow - how do you determine "Drive Well"? As for me - as you can see I drove sparingly and for me the ability to drive thru deep snow is good enough. But in reality - let's look at this scenario and then tell me what's good:

Usually, after a snow fall, the main roads are quickly cleaned up while the arteries aren't. In a relatively small city these arteries can accommodate around 4 cars side-by-side and now they are snow packed. When driving thru them at what speed would you drive and not see any slippages/adverse conditions and effectively thus declare that the car's AWD system is really good?
Taking this a step further - within 1 day or 2 when these roads are more traveled those black stripes appear and usually the cars travel thru them - now it may be in those smaller roads or a state road doesn't matter. Once again - at what speeds it'll be considered great?

I see folks driving their puny little cars thru such roads and driving between 5 mph to 15 mph with zero problems. If someone drives at that speed a CX-5 and suffers from zero slippage and reports here that AWD system of CX-5 is awesome then that makes no sense.

This is a question I always bother myself with. In such roads safety is important but depending on the car I drive and the tires I have - can I push myself to higher speed perhaps? Currently I stick to max of 15 mph thru such roads but I have a feeling I don't do justice to my CX-5 as it can possibly handle higher speed with no issues.

Let's keep the condition of tires out of this discussion.. Assume it's the standard OEM all season tires (that's what 95% of folks use anyways).


The way I treat it is like winter tires vs all season tires...doesn't mean you are on winter tires then it gives you the edge to drive faster vs all seasons however your margin of error and safety is increased when on winters. Same with AWD...doesn't mean you will drive faster than FWD vehicles but rather it increases your margin of error, handling and safety. Even if you're on AWD but drive like a turd during icy winter conditions then likely will get into an accident and doesn't help you brake any shorter than FWD vehicles...just my 2 cents
 
It's important to remember AWD helps you with traction when accelerating. It does not help you grip a turn better. If your tires lose traction, there's no more traction coming from the AWD. Period.
ChrisTopHers video is really only relevant at 2 points regarding AWD: when he enters the snow lane, and exits the snowy lane. Everything in between? That's just a good set of tires and a confident driver. A FWD CX5 would have performed exactly the same. But entering that lane, there is slightly less chance that his butt will swing out.
 
All, thanks for the input here, especially on what to expect from AWD when turning. However to put to rest thoughts that AWD may not be operating to spec in my vehicle. Is there anything I can look out for that tells me when it’s engaged? For example, certain sounds or should the tcs/dsc light briefly flash?
 
The way I treat it is like winter tires vs all season tires...doesn't mean you are on winter tires then it gives you the edge to drive faster vs all seasons however your margin of error and safety is increased when on winters. Same with AWD...doesn't mean you will drive faster than FWD vehicles but rather it increases your margin of error, handling and safety. Even if you're on AWD but drive like a turd during icy winter conditions then likely will get into an accident and doesn't help you brake any shorter than FWD vehicles...just my 2 cents

Agreed!

If more people thought like you, there would be a temendous decrease in the 4x4 winter tired trucks lining the ditch along Alberta Highway 2 in a heavy snowfall! You know, same one that blew past everyone going less than 20km over the speed limit a few minutes earlier.
 
Agreed!

If more people thought like you, there would be a temendous decrease in the 4x4 winter tired trucks lining the ditch along Alberta Highway 2 in a heavy snowfall! You know, same one that blew past everyone going less than 20km over the speed limit a few minutes earlier.

Locked center diff part time 4WD vehicles like in some big pickups really do poorly on snow and ice once they bring the speed up. Handling is terrible with understeer at the extreme. I very rarely lock the center diff on my GX (only off-road slow crawls in extreme conditions).... GX uses a full time mechanical torsen based center diff and feels very planted on the snow and ice like the CX.
 
Don’t forget that most rally cars are AWD because they do handle better. Couple that with the brain on the CX-5 and it is able to take things up a notch in combination with the VSC. It can use the transmission to pull the car in line under certain conditions. It will not defy the laws of physics if somebody gets over ambitious.
 
All, thanks for the input here, especially on what to expect from AWD when turning. However to put to rest thoughts that AWD may not be operating to spec in my vehicle. Is there anything I can look out for that tells me when it’s engaged? For example, certain sounds or should the tcs/dsc light briefly flash?
No. The TSC is different and will flash when you lose grip.
 
Dont forget that most rally cars are AWD because they do handle better. Couple that with the brain on the CX-5 and it is able to take things up a notch in combination with the VSC. It can use the transmission to pull the car in line under certain conditions. It will not defy the laws of physics if somebody gets over ambitious.

In other words, Anchorman is politely contradicting those who say that the AWD doesn't improve handling in the snow. It is a tool for improved vehicle dynamics through intelligent algorithms. But better to believe that it handles the same, than to think it gives license to pretend there isn't snow and ice.

There are conditions under which none of the tires will gain purchase, even if one could isolate power to exactly the one desired. In this case, AWD won't help. Then there are many other cases in between where AWD does, or could be helpful beyond just allowing acceleration. Mazda seems pretty clever with trying to eke as much value and function from the tools available to them. They're also generous with sharing information about it. It's one of the things I really like about the company. They're generous with tech info, wish they were the same with vehicle introduction plans.
 
In other words, Anchorman is politely contradicting those who say that the AWD doesn't improve handling in the snow. It is a tool for improved vehicle dynamics through intelligent algorithms. But better to believe that it handles the same, than to think it gives license to pretend there isn't snow and ice.

There are conditions under which none of the tires will gain purchase, even if one could isolate power to exactly the one desired. In this case, AWD won't help. Then there are many other cases in between where AWD does, or could be helpful beyond just allowing acceleration. Mazda seems pretty clever with trying to eke as much value and function from the tools available to them. They're also generous with sharing information about it. It's one of the things I really like about the company. They're generous with tech info, wish they were the same with vehicle introduction plans.

I would say that’s a fair assessment and it’s one area where they can never offer quite as much to the FWD buyers.
 
For us Northern Hemispherians.
A lot of pairs in different threads about AWD. How about a dedicated thread?
Do you love it? Do you not?

Sitting at the coffee shop right now. We got hammered yesterday and overnight by Winter Storm Chloe.
I can't believe we name Winter storms now.
Anyway... Got up a little early today. Woke the kid up. Made him breakfast. Went out and dusted off 6 inches of snow on my car.
We left 15 minutes early to get to school.
Ha. Took me like 3 minutes longer. After I drop him off I start hitting a few side streets on my way to the coffee shop...because I have time to kill now since I got up early. LOL
I'm aiming for stretches of road that are untouched. The CX-5 just plows right through like a happy dog. "What next buddy?" Wag. Wag.
The AWD on this thing is no joke. I feel like I'm driving a tall snowmobile....

Loved this post and have gotten many miles out of the wag wag part. The now refers to our CX5 as the Wag Wagger.
 
What MPG is everyone getting on their AWD?

We live in SoCal so we’ve got hills but not climbing mountains everyday. Looks like we’re averaging 19 MPG. It’s brand new with around 1K miles.

‘17 GT Premium
 
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