Hmm... if the Mazda AWD was so smart (27 sensors, sending data 200 times per second) ... WHY power was not sent to the rear wheels that were firmly on the ground with full traction?
The whole point of having AWD is to be able to get out of slippery situation by counting on the wheels (could be 2 or 3 wheels only) that have any traction, right?? Wheel spin always happens because at least one wheel has lost traction. If the response is....well, your AWD Mazda got stuck because one wheel had no traction, then that is a very lame response/excuse. I would be equally screwed with a simple FWD system...why even bother buying an AWD Mazda, seriously?
Btw - i had all my wheels on the ground, in both situations! In the snow - the front wheels were sitting in deep snow and spinning. The rears were not moving and helping at all. No wheel was ever in the air.
From everything i have seen and experienced so far, i think Mazda simply fails to send enough power to the rear in slippery conditions. Maybe it is a limitation with the electric clutches in the tiny rear differential, maybe it is something else.... but i am pretty sure the rear never gets enough power to "push" the car out of a slippery spot, UNLESS the front wheels also have some traction. It feels as if one of the front wheels loses traction 100%, the power to the rear is just not enough to help or it gets cut off completely to prevent damage to rear drive train. My 2 cents....and i'll have a great way to test this soon. (ramp with rollers)
Did you watch the videos in this post? https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...road-test-Fail! Specifically, the second one (here: https://youtu.be/VF6nRPD_xyM)? The first comment on the second video explains the logic behind Mazda's AWD and traction control system tuning.
Long story short, the traction control system is programmed to allow quite a bit of wheelspin. They supposedly changed the tuning on the 2018, which won't help you much.
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