| generator |
| Today was the first time my Murano saw snow, and it was heavy snow at that. So you can probably guess that I had to test out its driveability. I must admit I feel pretty safe driving it in thew snow. I never put too much confidence in any vehicle though. Thats when people think they can do 100 MPH on I-95 in the middle of a snowstorm. I swear I saw a guy in a TOYOTA corolla doing 85 MPH like he was God himself and I was thinking how I was going to see his car flipped over a few miles later. Anyway, next phase was to take it to a open lot and tear up the snow a little bit. It did well but a little yellow light that I have never seen kept popping on and off. It said "SLIP". I did not know that the vehicle displayed that info and it caught me by surprise. I guess it's probably a good idea to switch VDC off if you are gooffin' aroundin the Wal-Mart parking lot . ABS worked pretty good too. |
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| roylevitt |
it was great!
a steady 30-40 mph through 3-5 inches of snow... though heavy braking was needed to make the smallest of turns without any slip.
When there was any slipping, the MO regained control pretty quickly. |
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| Doombringer |
Had a bit of a slip up this morning in a parking lot... low speed turn and a slide. Erk.
Otherwise, everything was dandy. Well, a spreader decided to spread sand on me... :(
The ride home was more snowy, but the MO kicked butt. Excellent handling at 40/50 MPH in some snowy/slushy mix. Even up a steep hill! |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by generator
Today was the first time my Murano saw snow, and it was heavy snow at that. So you can probably guess that I had to test out its driveability. I must admit I feel pretty safe driving it in thew snow. I never put too much confidence in any vehicle though. Thats when people think they can do 100 MPH on I-95 in the middle of a snowstorm. I swear I saw a guy in a TOYOTA corolla doing 85 MPH like he was God himself and I was thinking how I was going to see his car flipped over a few miles later. Anyway, next phase was to take it to a open lot and tear up the snow a little bit. It did well but a little yellow light that I have never seen kept popping on and off. It said "SLIP". I did not know that the vehicle displayed that info and it caught me by surprise. I guess it's probably a good idea to switch VDC off if you are gooffin' aroundin the Wal-Mart parking lot . ABS worked pretty good too.
Yep, I too notice that driving in the snow, I get the traction control intervening at almost every instance I accelerate from a stop. But thats why I paid for the VDC right? The owners manual says however, that even turning off VDC, the front limited slip differential (the front wheel's version of traction control) is still active and will function as a secondary traction control system. So, you never really lose traction control in a VDC Murano, even with VDC off.
I can't wait for a really big storm to roll through central Illinois and for me to really see if VDC is as invincible as it claims to be....in an empty parking lot of course! |
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| CVeeT |
| Played with Mo in a slusy Parking lot, could not get MO to fail, drove back in terrible weather from near Dulles Airport to beltway on Dulles Toll road all in slush and snow, MO just held like a train to track, iMOpressed. |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by Doombringer
Had a bit of a slip up this morning in a parking lot... low speed turn and a slide. Erk.
Otherwise, everything was dandy. Well, a spreader decided to spread sand on me... :(
The ride home was more snowy, but the MO kicked butt. Excellent handling at 40/50 MPH in some snowy/slushy mix. Even up a steep hill!
Does your Murano have AWD and VDC? |
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| Doombringer |
| Yeah, I have AWD. I braked as I came into the turn and it was enough to get me sliding a bit. |
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| MOjoe |
Yup, great in recent 8-inch snowstorm in Baltimore! Much better handling than my former 4WD Explorer. Zoomed up steep hills, around corners in deep snow and slush with very little slip-n-slide. Had a great time with AWD and dynamic control package. ABS also works well. My senses are not well tuned to the driving response to hear or feel when AWD was working, so it was hard for me to tell when the thing was working. Maybe only when you see the "slip" warning indicator blink on?
Also, a couple of weeks back in a strong windstorm I also noticed very little wind impact on I95 going 80 mph with 40 mph wind gusts. I am guessing the curves and aerodynamic shape help lessen wind resistance alot. :p |
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| hfelknor |
Sounds like y'all are having fun.
Can you imagine what it would be like if you had tires mounted that were actually designed for what you are doing?:5:
Homer |
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| roylevitt |
ok, so i went out for drive to pick a few things up here and there. I have finally found something on my MO that I can't stand.
The front wipers don't bend up off the glass. What a pain to try to get the ice off of them! This such an over sight on nissan's part. Did they fix this on the 04's? |
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| msfiveiron |
Gotta agree, this is pretty stable in the snow.
As luck would have it, I picked up my shiny new '04 Pewter SL AWD on Thursday, Dec 4, and we get this snow storm here in the northeast. My MO was new-car shiny for exactly one day. We've been using it to trudge through snow, and this thing is very stable. Granted, I'm not driving like an idiot, 'cuz I'm not one of those people who think they become invincible w/ AWD, but there was certainly no sliding today.
But roy is right: the wipers suck.
Not only do they not clear the hood, but can't you lift them all the way out to clean them or the windshield if you turn off the car with the wipers mid-way. On my old Jetta, the wiper springs would allow you to stand the wipers all the way up, so they would stay there while did your cleaning. These are a PITA. Also, there doesn't seem to be enough tension on them to keep them tight to the windshield. During a 20 minute drive last night, snow kept caking up on the wipers, which were then dragged along the windshield, leaving a sloppy streak right across my line of vision. I hope it does better in the rain.
This thing is getting a liberal Rain-X treatment first chance I get. |
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| roylevitt |
turning the MO off with the wipers up makes cleaning the snow and ice off of them much easier!
so simple. |
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| msfiveiron |
It's not just their position when down, but that they don't spring all the way up perpendicular from the window and stay there. You have to hold them while you're cleaning the window or wiping them off, which is really awkward.
Ah, such is the price of beauty. I can think of worse flaws. |
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| roylevitt |
| hence the "sort of..." |
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| glasse |
| So picture this…mountain home, driveway turns right and then goes up hill sharply into a left hand turn and then up a gradual slope for about 50 yards. Then a steeper slope for about 25 yards. Finally flattens out and I’m home free. Now add 6-7 inches of heavy wet snow. How does my awd/vdc equipped Murano do?? It acted like there was no snow on the ground!! It just went up the hill and around the turns like it did all summer. Boys and girls, this is what I call performance. I hope you all have the opportunity to use the features of the machines that you bought. |
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| Eric L. |
| I hope the stories of how the Murano AWD with VDC performs in the slippery snow and ice alleviates some fears of the die hard snow tire fans here. It would be great if there were different tires for the Murano, but as bad as the LS's are, they seem to be fine for the snow. |
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| pbeinetti |
| I floored my Copper VDC M-o going up a VERY steep hill -- about 5 inches of fresh snow. Could not make it slip. My Grand Cherokee would have been all over the road. With snow tires I could probably use it as a plow! |
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| Sgt_Beavis |
quote:
Originally posted by roylevitt
turning the MO off with the wipers up makes cleaning the snow and ice off of them much easier!
so simple.
You are correct but that doesn't change the fact that Nissan screwed up that particular part of the design. |
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| brandt irvine |
| I've got an 03 awd MO. Don't have the dynamic control. Doesn't matter. I live on top of a very large hill (or small mountain). Saturday afternoon, at least a foot of snow, and I was up and down those twisty mountain roads like there was no snow at all. This car is amazing. Yeah, had the same problem everybody had with the wipers - but a small price to pay for a vehicle that handles this well. |
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| Matrixnyc |
I took advantage of the Snow this weekend to take the MO out for a cruise. It performed like a champ. Very impressed :)
One thing I could not do with it is to get the slip light to come on. Not that it is a bad thing, but I tried just about everythig i could to get it to come on, with no luck. I just want to make sure it works. is there any sure way to test it?
Thanks |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by Matrixnyc
I took advantage of the Snow this weekend to take the MO out for a cruise. It performed like a champ. Very impressed :)
One thing I could not do with it is to get the slip light to come on. Not that it is a bad thing, but I tried just about everythig i could to get it to come on, with no luck. I just want to make sure it works. is there any sure way to test it?
Thanks
I would test it not on snow, but on ice. Strangely, I find the lousy Eagle LS's have decent traction on snow. But on ice, they are pretty slick, and I get the SLIP light flashing morse code to me each time.
The VDC system (including traction control) is tested everytime you start the car. Notice the SLIP light turns on briefly after you start the car, then turns off. That is the internal diagnostic to make sure the system is working correctly. The ABS and airbag lights on the dash do the same thing when you start the car. The AWD light might as well, but I am not sure. Whatever the case, if the VDC malfunctions, the VDC off light will come on automatically even if you did not turn the system off using the switch. |
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| lmuscella |
| I was so excited about driving my MO in the snow this weekend. Had no problems all weekend. I went everywhere with no problem. Today, I came into work and went to the top floor of the garage and there was fresh virgin snow:) I went for it and can you believe it. I got stuck!:mad: I just couldn't believe it. All four wheels were spining but I didn't go anywhere. How embarrassing!! I had to dig myself out and went into work with snow all over me. I should have known better. It was 8" of snow and it was packed. I keep thinking my MO is like my Suburban. Oh well. I've learned my lesson. |
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| rebo |
I was ripping up the snow this weekend. The MO did as well if not better than my Jimmy (GMC). One thing, I never had the SLIP light come on, only the VDC light would come on when I was going sideways.
What's up with that. |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by rebo
I was ripping up the snow this weekend. The MO did as well if not better than my Jimmy (GMC). One thing, I never had the SLIP light come on, only the VDC light would come on when I was going sideways.
What's up with that.
The VDC light should never come on. I think you were pushing the system too hard! The SLIP light tells you when VDC is active. The VDC light is used to signal a problem with the VDC system. |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by rebo
That ain't good
Maybe the 2004 is changed so that the VDC light comes on when VDC is active. I dunno. You should check your owners manual. |
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| Matrixnyc |
I had the Mo out this weekend in the snow, and I never got the VDC or the Slip light to come on, and I was testing her out a bit :)
If I were you, I would check with the service department and see what is the actual normal operation of the indicators, do they come on whey they are being used, or do they come on when there is a problem :( |
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| Snowride |
The slip light indicates you have encountered a slippery situation and will illuminate if the traction control and/or the VDC is currently being used.
The only indicator light which says VDC, is the VDC OFF light which indicates you have manually shut off the VDC with the button
If both the "VDC OFF" and the "Slip" indicators stay illuminated, this indicates a malfunction in the system. (time to bring her in) |
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| Matrixnyc |
Snowride, we both refer to the MO as "HER" i wonder how many others do as well :)
I had a feeling that if the VDC light was on that it might not be a good thing. But i might be wrong. I see no need for it to notify you when it is working. |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by Matrixnyc
Snowride, we both refer to the MO as "HER" i wonder how many others do as well :)
I had a feeling that if the VDC light was on that it might not be a good thing. But i might be wrong. I see no need for it to notify you when it is working.
Actually I like how a light turns on when the system is active. It reminds me that I am driving too fast for the weather condition. I remember one time at a BMW driving event, they had us test out the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) and on BMW's its just a triangle with an exclaimation in the middle. I loved seeing that light flash flash flash, since those cars are a blast to drive quickly. |
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| Snowride |
| I have'nt even bought "her" yet. Probably this week. :2: I do however like to gather info and understand the benefits and downfalls before making a decision and I have to say, everyone here has done a great job. That little bit about the slip/vdc comes from the owners manual which is conveniently located in pdf format on this site. So far the biggest downfall seems to be wipers that do not open fully. :eek: I think I'll have to skip on the Murano ;) :p :runaway: |
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