[jgen]

Just arrived home about an hour ago. Took delivery of my new MDX, snowing up here accumulation to around 10 cms. I can tell you this SUV handles when on paved snow covered roads. The Michelin Cross Terrains SUV tires have nice 'ice sipes' in their tread pattern for grip. No push/understeer when driven aggressively on the snow covered roads. One observation, lots of noise from below the floorpan as the snow hits the bottom of the car. Definitely the sound of metal being hit, might have to spray some commercial 'sound proofing', ie. from Ziebart, with the amount of snow we get in the Ottawa Valley, I think it will be a good idea even if it does add a little weight.
Compared to my old '99 QX4, the MDX has a more refined ride and the engine power and quietness are appreciated. NO REGRETS!!!

 

[jgen]

VTM-4

Thanks for your reply. I didn't notice any significant wheel spin on my drive home. The roads were snow covered and I did pull out to pass a few times. I intentionally accelerated strong and didn't feel any 'spin'. As this vehicle is primarily a FWD unit, I suspect this car will perform as such. I'm going to try it out in a vacant snow covered parking lot, ie. try to make the back end come out (fish tail), this would confirm to me that the rear end is receiving sufficient power to make the vehicle behave this way. In my opinion, a RWD vehicle is easier to recover in a skid.
I also own an Audi A6 Q (I've been a quattro driver since 1990), I can tell you that the Audi definitely behaves like a RWD vehicle in skid conditions and recovers quite well with steering and throttle corrections. If the MDX behaves the same, my confidence in driving this vehcile in inclimate weather will be high. I will report back later to share my findings. Season's Greetings to all!!!