Snow mode

[Shreks Donkey]

Just wondering if anyone has any views/experiences with this:

I`m thinking about driving around in snow mode the majority of the time. I tried it for the first time today and love how it "tames" this beast down around town. I don`t need or want all this power all the time, and snow mode seems to suit the more docile me.

Other advantages are it seems smoother and possibly better fuel economy. So what I`m wondering is, would driving in snow mode all the time wear anything out prematurely or should it be ok? My thinking is, my previous automatic cars have had an "economy" switch which changed the timing of gear changes and throttle position, and they were fine to leave them in economy 100% of the time. I`m assuming snow mode is much the same.

What are your thoughts???

BTW I have a KXR 2WD.

[DJKOR]

As fr as I'm aware, the snow mode on the Kluger starts you off in 2nd gear instead of 1st. This reduces the torque applied to the wheels and in snow, this can help reduce the chance of slipping.

If you were to ask me, I wouldn't want to be starting off in 2nd all the time because of the extra load placed on the engine This is just my feeling about it all. I'm sure someone here can provide details of what this can add wear to, if any.

[Shreks Donkey]

As fr as I'm aware, the snow mode on the Kluger starts you off in 2nd gear instead of 1st. This reduces the torque applied to the wheels and in snow, this can help reduce the chance of slipping.

If you were to ask me, I wouldn't want to be starting off in 2nd all the time because of the extra load placed on the engine This is just my feeling about it all. I'm sure someone here can provide details of what this can add wear to, if any.

Well my salesman told me that it starts off in 2nd instead, but I`ve counted all the gears, and it`s still going through 5 of them whilst driving....so I`m a little confused.

[Freewuns]

I tried the "snow mode" on a level bit of highway and found when its engaged you need to push the accelerator down a heap more than you normally would for the same acceleration in the "normal" (not snow mode) of driving.

There is a stretch of road we drive on a regular basis each week where I have the cruise control set. There is this one slight bump (hill) in the road that lasts for about 200m and is a sweeping right hand curve, and in "D" with speed set, the Kluger drops 2 gears and revs the crapper out of the engine with a massive overshoot of the set speed just over the crest to maintain the set speed. Apart from that 1 hill the Kluger performs in cruise excellently (if thats a word).

After my previous experiment with the snow mode, I decided that on the approach to this slight incline, on the above stretch of road, I would engage the "snow mode".

It resulted in a much more gradual acceleration and the Kluger and it only dropped one gear to get up the incline instead of the usual 2.....didnt have the usual gross overshoot of the set cruise speed either.

Not sure what it would do to fuel economy except that it does curb the "lead foot" action so I guess that must be good.

The only real check would be to get the beast on one of those dynamometers, like I think they have at ultra tune, and check the economy guage readings whilst switching between the modes!

[Dave L]

Interesting...I've used the cruise quite a bit and think it performs quite well.

I've noticed it drop from 5th to 4th when going up an incline and obviously you feel it pick up speed as it pushes to defy gravity, but that's to be expected.

I am yet to have it drop 2 gears and rev really hard and go above the set speed.

Usually I experience the cruise at 100kmh (just under 2K revs) drop down a gear and revs go to around 2400rpm...but - haven't seen the speedo jump much past 100 (if at all).

Not sure if it's the memory of the ECU and it's mimicking the way I drive, or I haven't been up a steep enough hill (which I feel is unlikely)...

Don't know how to explain it. Have others experienced the same as me, or does everyone get the 2-gear downshift ?

Dave

[Shreks Donkey]

What I might do, is next full tank of fuel I put in, I`ll try to drive it 100% in snow mode and see how it compares. I`m sure even half a tank would give me an indication as to how the fuel economy is going.

What I did as a quick test the other day, was I was doing about 60kmh in snow mode, I think I was accelerating slightly, I noticed the economy around the 15L/100km mark, so I turned off snow mode and kept my foot still, and the car lurched forward, and the economy went off the scale in the 30L/100km scale. All I think this means though, is that snow mode adjusts the throttle sensitivity......being electronic "fly by wire" and all.

[Blackkluger]

sorry to break it, we found no difference with fuel economy, maybe even higher usage as you had to push harder to get going!