Kizashi S AWD Snow letdown.

Anything related to the Kizashi can go here, but please look at the other headings first. Your topic may fit better under something else.
User avatar
Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

I'd recommend staying out of the deep unplowed stuff, especially since it sounds as though you are missing your under covers. It's amazing what happens when that snow gets forced up into places it shouldn't be...which will be anywhere it can in your engine bay. Likely why WESHOOT no longer has any of his attached :twisted: I've seen serpentine belts dislodged on more than one occasion, which caused all sorts of issues at a time when it was obviously most inconvenient. During one particular crappy winter my 04 Rubicon (which had quite good ground clearance) had so much snow packed up in and around the back of the engine and trans, all on top of the belly pan affectionately know as 'the shovel') it froze solid over night causing some serious vibrations and horrendous noise for many days until it thawed out enough so I could climb under and chisel out most of it.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
User avatar
FrankoLaMoya
Posts: 329
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:27 pm
Location: Moncton

I agree the Kizashi has super low ground clearance especially on the sport models and I know they were not designed to plow through 8" of snow, but I kind of disagree with the comment ''That AWD drive badge on the trunk still makes me feel a bit filthy every time I see it''. I am personally so proud of that AWD badge every time I am passing by truck (yes truck with winter tires) stuck on the side of the road or having a hard time going up a hill which I am not... Every time I am at a stop with another AWD sedan besides me (BMW xDrive, 4Matic, WRX, etc.) I strongly press on the gas (I do not slam it tho) and it does not slide and the other car is never able to do the same as I see them sliding a little bit and spinning in my mirrors. Do you actually have winter tires? I only noticed what you are describing when I was still riding all-season tires on snow, but the AWD never overheated either.
2012 Suzuki Kizashi Sport iAWD CVT ''Kaijū'' (Black pearl metallic)

Priors:
2004 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T 6MT ''Audini'' (Black)
1999 Audi A4 Quattro 2.8 AT (Dark green)
1984 Chevrolet Malibu 3MT with a 327 engine lol (Blue)
1996 Acura Integra 5MT (Black)
sgtsampay
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 2:24 am

Good advice about staying out of he deep snow because of snowpack. I never considered this since I have always Mainly used pickups trucks for winter beaters..

I have high end all seasons with soft rubber and an aggressive tread pattern which had many great wintertime reviews. I used to always run snow tires for winter and crappy all seasons for the rest of the year but I got tired of having to sets. So far I’m very happy with the performance of these tires but I know there aren’t as good as dedicated snow tires.. but they are close enough in my book..
sgtsampay
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 2:24 am

Update:
I have been some more research and learned that the awd system in our cars is/was one the best system available at that time. With this information, I have to disagree with my original assessment about the car and its performance in snow. Perhaps there is something wrong with the car, or much more likely, it is working very well as its supposed to be and my experience coming from other vehicles is not an accurate or fair way to judge this car. I still have yet to be stuck in any situation and after watching other cars with AWD, including the famous Subaru, my car seems to be doing just find in similar conditions. I also will post the types of cars/trucks I have driven in maine winters over the years to help show how unfair I may have been treating the Kiziashi:
1998 Ford ranger 4x4 with budget snow tires
2005 Dodge Dakota 4x4 with budget snow tires
2011 Suzuki Equator 2wd 5speed with budget snow tires/chains
2008 Suzuki XL7 awd with all season for one year/blizzack snow tires
2011 Suzuki SX4 awd with Michelin Defender All season
1999 Ford ranger 2wd auto with Cooper snow tires
2012 Suzuki Kiziashi awd with Performance Radial all season from town fair tire.

I found who makes the tires from town fair once and found them to have good reviews but I can't recreate my findings so here is the link for anyone who wishes to look.

https://www.townfairtire.com/brand/tire ... h/5713036/

Finally, thanks all for reading this long post and I hope this helps someone in the future as I will update this over the winter with any more findings I have..
SamirD
Posts: 3074
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:07 pm
Location: HSV and SFO
Contact:

The awd system can be a real letdown without the tires to go with it. Our first 3" snow excursion in our sls awd was on the stock dunlops. The first 5mph u turn I tried had us going straight and the rear tires doing nothing to help. After our winter set, in even a fresh 4" unplowed snow we were comfortably 10-20mph faster than anything on the road including SUVs.
Firefly
Posts: 317
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:45 pm
Location: Northern New Jersey, USA

Agree the stock Dunlops are not good in the snow...
Former driver of a 2011 SLS AWD Platinum
SamirD
Posts: 3074
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:07 pm
Location: HSV and SFO
Contact:

Firefly wrote:Agree the stock Dunlops are not good in the snow...
They're not that great in the dry either. :lol: :o
User avatar
redmed
Posts: 492
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:56 pm
Location: Michigan

sgtsampay wrote:Update:
I have been some more research and learned that the awd system in our cars is/was one the best system available at that time. With this information, I have to disagree with my original assessment about the car and its performance in snow. Perhaps there is something wrong with the car, or much more likely, it is working very well as its supposed to be and my experience coming from other vehicles is not an accurate or fair way to judge this car. I still have yet to be stuck in any situation and after watching other cars with AWD, including the famous Subaru, my car seems to be doing just find in similar conditions. I also will post the types of cars/trucks I have driven in maine winters over the years to help show how unfair I may have been treating the Kiziashi:
1998 Ford ranger 4x4 with budget snow tires
2005 Dodge Dakota 4x4 with budget snow tires
2011 Suzuki Equator 2wd 5speed with budget snow tires/chains
2008 Suzuki XL7 awd with all season for one year/blizzack snow tires
2011 Suzuki SX4 awd with Michelin Defender All season
1999 Ford ranger 2wd auto with Cooper snow tires
2012 Suzuki Kiziashi awd with Performance Radial all season from town fair tire.

I found who makes the tires from town fair once and found them to have good reviews but I can't recreate my findings so here is the link for anyone who wishes to look.

https://www.townfairtire.com/brand/tire ... h/5713036/

Finally, thanks all for reading this long post and I hope this helps someone in the future as I will update this over the winter with any more findings I have..
I see you have had experience with 4x4, AWD & FWD (Equator?) and snow tires. Maybe you can help me with something I've been wrestling with lately. I live in Michigan and we have had quite a bit of snow and I recently bought a FWD Sienna even after I swore that my next vehicle would be a AWD. All my vehicles are FWD and I wonder how a FWD with snow tires compares to a AWD with all season tires.
64 Galaxie 68 Olds 442 65 Impala 70 VW Bug
74 Nissan B210 66 Chevelle 73 Olds 98 71 C20
75 Monza 82 Escort 75 E150 75 Civic 76 Accord
86 Escort 87 Taurus 83 Chevy G20 85 Ranger 4x4
93 F250 4x4 95 Silhouette 95 LHS 03 Corolla 10 Kizashi S MT
17 Sienna
User avatar
KuroNekko
Posts: 5170
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

redmed wrote: I see you have had experience with 4x4, AWD & FWD (Equator?) and snow tires. Maybe you can help me with something I've been wrestling with lately. I live in Michigan and we have had quite a bit of snow and I recently bought a FWD Sienna even after I swore that my next vehicle would be a AWD. All my vehicles are FWD and I wonder how a FWD with snow tires compares to a AWD with all season tires.
A FWD with snow tires is superior in snow traction than an AWD with A/S tires. The reasons include everything from the sipes that grip the snow, the softness of the tire compound, to braking performance which AWD has absolutely no benefit in. Snow tires also grip better in cornering. Tires are a factor in all types of grip on the road while the powertrain is only a factor in limited ways.
However, it's best seen in demonstrations. I find the following video among the best in demonstrating how tires are more important than drivetrain in winter grip. While the video is with Summer tires instead of A/S, it goes to show the difference that winter tires make in snow/ice traction vs. AWD.



In a place like Michigan, it would be wise to invest in a set of winter tires for a FWD vehicle and swap them out as the seasons change. This is especially important in locales that don't allow chains or cables. I used to drive in the snow with AWD on All Seasons but it was due to my alpine driving conditions in California. Basically, the snow was only an issue on the mountain where we had our home. Once off the mountain (like going back to college), I had to drive the dry and warm freeways of So Cal at 75 MPH; not exactly what snow tires were made for. Another big factor was that chains and cables were not only accepted, they were mandatory depending on conditions. Hence, for those conditions, AWD with A/S worked out very well. When the snow got deep, I put on chains.
However, without chains or cables in the equation, the tires alone become the most important factor in winter grip.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
SamirD
Posts: 3074
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:07 pm
Location: HSV and SFO
Contact:

The question of snow or snow tires has been around for ages. I once even heard a Minnesota radio show one morning posing the question to the audience and getting strong arguments for both sides. However, if snow tires were really not that useful, they wouldn't exist.

For a really good idea of the difference it makes, look at our friends in Europe that have quite a bit of snow. Many of today's snow tire tread patterns emerged from the designs in this area due to the extreme levels of snow and driving. The General Altimax Arctics we have copy a Nokian design that originated in Europe, and the tires themselves are made in Germany despite having the General branding.

Awd is mostly only good for acceleration, whereas good tires improve everything--and this applies not only to snow driving but all driving. It is one of the reasons I make a point to get the absolute best tires I can afford. And for our winter set, it definitely hasn't disappointed and has paid for itself several times over. And considering this is its 5th winter, they've lasted a long time too, especially since we didn't even change to the summer set this year.

Which brings me to our observation of snow tires in the heat. They actually work like any other tire, but the sidewalls and tread are much softer, making a cushy ride. The real drawback is because the tread is designed to 'give way' to enhance winter traction, in summer driving your tires' traction will also 'give way' under any type of hard or sometimes even moderate braking, making them a dangerous summer choice because they can't stop like summer tires in the summer.
Post Reply