[cloverleaf]

I have been wanting to get the AWD but they are very hard to come by in Florida where I live. All the salespeople are telling me that I don't need AWD in Florida but I thought that it might be better in the heavy rain that we often get in the summer in terms of traction and hydroplaning. I would love to hear somebody's thoughts and opinions in terms of which is better and is it worth waiting for the AWD.
Thanks.

 

[jugdish]

I live in WI and would rather have saved the $$$ and got the front wheel drive, but all that is available up here is AWD. My experience has been that AWD or 4 WD for that matter does not matter as much as the tires on the vehicle. I had a Lexus GX470 that was AWD and I could lock the differential to make it true 4 WD. It originally had Bridgestone Dueller tires on it, and no matter what, I was slipping, sliding in the winter and hydroplaning in the summer. I took those off in under 20k miles and put on Michelin Cross Terrains and the problems went away. Same thing with my wifes Sienna minivan (which is only FWD).... Came with crappy Good Year tires, and she had no winter traction in light snow, and terrible wet road performance. Switched out the Good Year for Michelin latitude touring (which came on my JX) and the difference was night and day. Her traction in the snow was not far behind my Lexus and wet traction was excellent. So.... IMHO, save your money and go with the FWD.

As a caveat, I don't think that the AWD on the JX is that intelligent, as I still get some tire slip in the front wheels if it's wet out and I floor it.....

 

[cfrp]

If there is no snow the FWD is fine. Even in snowy conditions the Infiniti AWD system is FWD biased. Like said above it's not the best AWD system. Snow tires is the most important factor. If it doesn't snow, the FWD is fine.

 

[JX35MD]

The JX start out in AWD from a stop. As you accelerate beyond a certain speed (20 mph?), it goes into FWD. When there is any slippage in the front wheels, then up to 50% torque can be sent to the rear. The snow mode still works the same, but the initial torque given to the wheels from a stop is lower to decrease the chance of slip on snow or ice.

 

[wheeling]

The JX start out in AWD from a stop. As you accelerate beyond a certain speed (20 mph?), it goes into FWD. When there is any slippage in the front wheels, then up to 50% torque can be sent to the rear. The snow mode still works the same, but the initial torque given to the wheels from a stop is lower to decrease the chance of slip on snow or ice.

Where did you get this information. I've been trying to find out if the AWD will be kicking in when you start the car. But could not get any information on this. If this proven to be true, AWD is definitely the way to go.

 

[JX35MD]

Where did you get this information. I've been trying to find out if the AWD will be kicking in when you start the car. But could not get any information on this. If this proven to be true, AWD is definitely the way to go.

http://www.infinitiusa.com/jx/key-f..._Features#feature=intelligent_all_wheel_drive

 

[wheeling]

JX35MD,

thanks for the link, I've been there, but it didnot say the JX will start out AWD from a stop. Logically, that is what I want, but I doubt it is the setup. The website only mentined bad weather conditions.