Loved My CX-5 in the Winter Snow! AWD Success! [LONG READ]

You need driving skill and caution, proper tires and realistic expectations, but if you have those, you should be ready to have some fun in your CX-5.

This is the difference between real world and marketing videos.

Nice thread but I'm always wary of drivers who feel they are invincible.

I am on my 3rd car running Hakkapeliitas I identify with your experience of not knowing it is slippery until you watch others sliding around.

Story time. Years ago I was driving a Saab 96 with FWD and good snows I came to a stop at the bottom of a hill and watched while a 4WD full size SUV drove half way up the hill and slid back down 3 times. As he came back down the 3rd time I got out and greeted him and asked if he would wait while I gave it a try. He got MAD. I didn't have 4WD I didn't have weight ETC. I drove around him, put one wheel on the shoulder to get more traction then the hard packed snow in the lane, lightly applied brake along with gas (That was our traction control back then), and drove up the hill and kept on going. I glad I didn't get to here what the other driver said as he watched.

And things are just getting worse with the availability of AWD on most new vehicles . People truly believe that AWD is all they need in snow areas. Subaru and pickup truck drivers are the worst, they really believe they are invincible. AWD doesnt really matter if almost nobody with a drivers license really knows how to control a car in an emergency situation. They also dont to know that AWD doesnt help you in the braking department.
 
Yes really enjoyed the long post as promised.

Also interesting to note the 4wd light could be a problem or not.

I can confirm the AWD is good in snow having done an emergency run to hospital on boxing day through 5" of snow and on summer tyres, our only fall of snow in the year! So unlucky that I had to travel on that day.

The car was faultless passing a car in a ditch and 5 others abandoned on the road side, friends of ours had to put up in a hotel over night due to their FWD Mondeo failing to get up a hill.
 
If your AWD "on" light was heat related I wonder if adding some kind of heat-sink to the rear diff may mitigate the issue. I often see these on lifted 4WD pickups.

If you have seen the 4WD light I would probably follow the more aggressive rear diff maintenance schedule of every 30K miles. I plan to change mine at 30K miles anyway. A quick look in FSM didn't identify what constitutes hight temp in rear diff to trigger light. It may have been something else as you suggested in earlier post.

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A couple weeks after picking up our 2015 I mounted 4 General Altimax Arctic 225/70R16's on some used aluminum rims...<

Have a set of these mounted on a lowered Nissan Hardbody 2WD pickup. Good tire for ice, slush, fresh snow. Need chains if the snow is wet and too deep but that's life with a lowrider.

SWMBO has a set of Nordman SUV's for the Escape, which I now drive since the CX-5 showed up. Nice tire, makes the Escape handle almost as nice as our old '97 Subaru GT with manual trans and viscous rear end coupling. The only difference is compensating for the higher CofG in the Escape.

Haven't had the Mazda long enough to deal with crumby roads. Maybe next year... Since Mazda designed the Escape, I'm happy to hear the CX-5 does well in winter conditions too.
 
Glad to hear! This was the one area that makes me nervous about trading my Grand Jeep Cherokee w/QDII AWD F/R ELSD's for a CX-5 AWD. My model is the same as yours, save the year. In my Jeep, I could floor it on glare ice/snow at an intersection (the same one I came to after sliding 20 feet to a stop...) and it would...go. It was no drama. Just acceleration. This with nearly 400# of torque on tap. Sure, it was being reined in...but it just went. If I punched it while driving, I could feel the vehicle yaw just a bit, kindof like a Corvette or other sports car with all the nannies turned on will do...allowing a bit of fun, but no real harm.

Is this about how the CX5 felt? From some of your post, it seems like it? Is the AWD effective enough to spin all 4 tires with the TSC turned off, if you so felt the desire, or will it apply brakes and other "not real AWD" tricks? Basically I am asking...is this REALLY AWD, or some kind of "Well...we call it that...but really..." type setup?

My area is not as steep as yours, but I am located in NW AR, and we can get a foot or two of snow in extreme times, and my road to my mountain where I wish to build next year does not get plowed. The corners are VERY sharp, and mistakes are...not good. I do plan on replacing the Yoko Geolander's with Continental LX20's. That seems to be a fair choice for this rim size? Other ideas?

Thanks again, and I enjoyed your post and pictures! For reference, here (sans snow...) will be the hairy part of my drive once the house is built:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=48o0RTAx0Cs
WIll the CX5 be fine here in snow on the road unplowed with the LX20's?
 
Maxwax, just saw this, thanks for the excellent write-up with photos to show what you're talking about. I wish I was as dedicated at taking photos as you are when the conditions deteriorate but I'm usually having too much fun to spend the time with the camera! After three winters using my CX-5 to hit the local ski area I can totally relate to your experiences.

Last winter was the lowest snow year in the Pacific Northwest in the recorded history but I still had plenty of opportunity to put the AWD capabilities of the CX-5 to the test by driving unplowed backcountry mountain roads (on top of 2 feet of old snowpack). These are roads, sometimes steep, that are usually only passable for a few months in the mid-late summer but I was driving them to their terminus in February! There is no help if you get stuck and no cellular coverage so you will have a very long hike out, like 18 miles to the nearest highway which still doesn't have cellular coverage. I wouldn't do this if the AWD was not excellent in the snow and it really chafes me when people who don't know what they're talking about imply the AWD is not up to this kind of usage. The AWD is seamless and kicks in instantly when needed. I

The primary limitation of this type of AWD is not capability in slippery conditions, it's the heat that could potentially build up in the electronically controlled clutchpack in the rear differential if driving low traction and variable traction surfaces in a ham-fisted manner. This is easily avoided by driving methodically and sensibly (which is how I always drive when far from help in the mountain back-country). I don't recall ever seeing the AWD warning light even though I've driven extensively under and marginal conditions, deep snow, steep ice, slippery off-camber surfaces, etc. and it's performance is every bit as impressive as any AWD and 4WD I've driven. If the light does come on, the AWD will revert to FWD until it cools down. As you pointed out, it cools down relatively quickly as evidenced by the fact that you couldn't get it to come back on your second ascent.

* One day I stopped and helped a Toyota Tacoma TRD 4WD pickup get unstuck from the snow. My solution? A shovel. That middle 20% fold-foward seat back allows you to keep a real full size shovel for situations like this :)

First, I know these roads well and I drive carefully when conditions require it. I used the CX-5 manual gearing mode quite a lot to put the car in 2nd or 3rd gear, especially when descending and wanting to increase control and limit speed. This helped me avoid too much momentum and slide out of control.

I use manual shift mode a lot too but, contrary to popular opinion, it's not necessary to downshift to maintain control on descents because the electronic controls of the CX-5 braking system are so well programmed, they will prevent sliding out of control every bit as much as using a lower gear. In my experience, either method works well but the electronic brake distribution system seems quicker and more responsive. I use downshifting when I have no concern, on more treacherous downhill corners where the consequences are serious, I will use a high enough gear that engine braking is low and rely more upon the electronic brake distribution due to it's fast response. On a slippery surface there is not enough traction to worry about excessive brake wear.

Second, I had really excellent snow tires. I can't recommend snow tires for cold weather conditions enough and my Nokian Hakkapeliita R2 SUVs were a big part of gripping the road in awful conditions. These are pricey but worth every penny. I would often find myself (when conditions permitted) accelerating to see how much they'd grip then slamming on the brakes to see how much they'd stop. Always impressive results.

Honestly, the CX-5 is so good in the snow in terms of uphill traction, braking and cornering, I doubt you would be unhappy with any decent dedicated winter tires.

If you've read this far, it means you're interested in how the CX-5 really does in real world conditions in slippery conditions.
If you're like me, you've spent time searching for "CX-5 Offroad" videos on Youtube because you want to believe this is a solid and capable vehicle for snow, mud and other dangerous conditions. You've probably seen artificial tests where Subaru attempts to demonstrate the superiority of their full-time all wheel drive system and make you doubt how good the CX-5 can be. After this winter, I am completely satisfied with my CX-5 for slippery dangerous conditions. I don't have any doubt, I only have confidence.

Exactly! Those who poo-poo the snow capability of the CX-5's AWD have either never driven it in really challenging conditions or have tried to get by without winter tires when winter tires were required. There is no such thing as an AWD system that negates the need for winter tires in extreme winter conditions.

Looking forward to next winter!!

Touche!
 
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Looking forward to next winter!!

Hey Max, that looks like one of those Subaru Outbacks I've heard so much about. Supposed to be really good in the snow. It looks like they were just getting ready to back up when you came along. I'm sure they could just back up out of there like, no problem, right?

Wait a minute, I don't see any lights on or anybody inside. Were they behind you pushing you through all that deep snow in your helpless CX-5 soccer mom vehicle? That must be it. For a minute there I thought they might have abandoned their vehicle until I remembered it was a Subaru. That was awfully nice of them to give you a push to get moving again. Well, live and learn, eh?
 
I think you clearly realize why I put a picture of me passing a stuck Subaru in the snow. All those commercials, YouTube videos etc market their cars and their AWD system as if this never happens. Never happens to them because their superior AWD.

They are good but so is my CX-5 and I liked this reality check for both of our cars.


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Uhh, looks to me like the Subaru simply ran off the road. This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with AWD "prowess". Could be just a case of driver stupidity.
 
Anything can slide into the snow.. Point here being it didn't get out despite all that supposedly superior AWD talent..


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I think you clearly realize why I put a picture of me passing a stuck Subaru in the snow.

Yes, that was a classic! I wish I stopped more to take pictures of all the "real" AWD and 4WD's in the ditch but it's so much fun to just blaze on by.

Of course I would stop and help if there was any danger. But people need to learn that snow/ice is not all about the fact that you have AWD (or even which version you have). Nope. It's about tires and winter driving skills. In that order. Then comes whether you have AWD followed by chassis dynamics and, least of all, which version AWD you have.
 
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