AWD feature is awesome in snow/ice/slush

[memphisj]

We recently got pounded in Memphis by solid inch of ice followed by 3-4" of snow. City and highways were virtually ghost town and nothing was cleared. I've gone on long stretches of solid ice, snow covered packed ice, slush and ice, etc and the car's performance is Better than Lexus GX or hunting truck w/4WD. I simply love the sure footing, handling, and adjustments of the AWD. By the way, the Bridgestone Ecopias have rocked....great traction.

 

[jlanger]

Just beware stopping on ice with a Cx9 is totally different than driving or even accelerating.

The first winter I had mine we had nearly a month of below zero temps and black ice everywhere. I can't say how many stop signs and stop lights I slid through (luckily unscathed). Be careful of the stopping distances!

 

[memphisj]

I agree about the stopping distance but the one time I underestimated the distance, the anti skid brakes kicked in beautifully and I manually downshifted. Thats another nice feature about the CX9 is the manual option on tranny gears which comes in handy if engine braking is needed.

 

[jlanger]

Be careful with downshifting in ice conditions, that can cause skids as well!

There are definitely benefits to downshifting to try to keep your speed lower but trying to stop at a stop sign or sudden red light downshifting isn't quite as practical and can induce a skid.

Best thing I've found is to honestly press the brake pedal as hard as possible when you have to stop, and to go slower when approaching a stop sign/controlled intersection in the winter. Mind you I went directly from a fairly small non ABS manual protege5 to the biggest thing in Mazda's lineup so perhaps my stopping distance estimations weren't quite right yet either

 

[xxxmonoxidechil]

Pushing the brake pedal hard while the ABS is working typically just makes my CX9 slide even worse.

I just brake much earlier in my CX9 compared to any of my other vehicles. Cause this thing just loves to slide. Ive said it before on this forum, i love my CX9 going in a straight, or around a curve, but its 1 big fault is braking in snow/ice.

 

[jlanger]

Agreed, I'm curious if decent snow tires make a difference for it. The way the thing handles belays the fact that it is 2+ ton vehicle. It probably stops as well as any of the other big SUV's but due to it's handling one just expects to do better (IMO of course)

interesting point in looking up weights of vehicles I've discovered that a fully loaded AWD Cx-9 weighs just as much as an F150!

 

[tex2670]

Agreed, I'm curious if decent snow tires make a difference for it. The way the thing handles belays the fact that it is 2+ ton vehicle. It probably stops as well as any of the other big SUV's but due to it's handling one just expects to do better (IMO of course)

interesting point in looking up weights of vehicles I've discovered that a fully loaded AWD Cx-9 weighs just as much as an F150!

I had a Honda Pilot before my CX-9, which had much better stopping distances. It may be that the CX-9's tires are wider. But winter tires always make a difference.

 

[xxxmonoxidechil]

I have snow tires on my Mazda 626 for the winter, and it makes a massive difference. Ill be buying a set of Snow tires for the CX9 before next winter for sure. As my wife drives it with my children most of the time, and it will just take that worry off my mind.