AWD question

[MrGone]

Hello folks! My name is Mr Gone and this thread is a question/ intro. I've lurked here since we bought our Black 2008 Rogue SLAWD back in april of 2008.

We had the misreading gas gauge, had the dealership replace the gauge pod, had an issue with the stereo, had that replaced but haven't had any transmission woes yet(knocking on wood).

My question has to do with the awd. I know the Rogue is fly-by-wire throttle. I was driving around in the snow the other night, to be honest, I was goofing around , using the manual mode as is my wont when I drive the Rogue. I noticed that when the AWD came on, it felt like the enigine was hitting a rev limiter and cutting power to the wheels in order to make them stop slipping. Is this normal? This was in automatic mode and I didn't think to put it into AWD lock mode. It just seems to me that you woudln't want the computer to cut engine power in a situation like that; further, it seems like that isn't even true AWD? Coming from a Pathfinder this seem kinda weird.

Anybody have any thoughts? Aside from these little issues, I dig the Rogue. Its fun to drive and looks really good, has plenty of power and is really fun to drive(in manual mode, anyway). It also gets decent gas mileage which is a big plus coming from a 95 Pathfinder.

Sorry for the novella thanks in advance.

[philipa_240sx]

Hello MrGone and welcome to the NICOClub Rogue Forums!

There are 2 explanations I can think of:

1) The VDC (stability control) or traction control activated which reduced engine power and applies the brakes to regain vehicle control or traction. Even with the VDC switched off, the traction control still operates.

2) The AWD system activated it's protection features. The vehicle reverts to 2WD mode to protect the AWD components.

Cheers!

[Cory1591]

The all wheel drove in the rogue is automatic when your driving in snow at low speed the system will constanly transfer power the 4 corners if you lock the all wheel drove the system will transfer power left to right from the Same axle you will also feel a jerk or numbness in the steering if the tracton control of stability kicks in and tach will go up and down deepending on how bad the slide or spinning wheel is.

[MrGone]

Yeah, I figured it was something like that. Kinda takes the fun out of playing in the snow a bit. Oh well, these are the way things are going in cars it seems. More babysitting by computers and less seat of the pants drivng skills required. I guess I'll make sure to hang onto my older car (97 Integra) for goofing around with.

Thanks all. Excellent forum, btw...

[philipa_240sx]

On the topic of doing stupid stuff in cars...

Fast food tray drifting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-MSm1PI_w

[philipa_240sx]

Another thing I did notice about driving in snow. If you happen to accelerate hard and spin the tires for long periods, the CVT will tend to 'stick' in low gear for a few seconds. Eventually it will settle out.

BTW, the traction control only seems to activate at low speeds, it's less effective at higher speeds presumably to avoid overheating the brakes.