Quattro in the snow

M5

hi all,

Anyone using any quattro equipped cars in the snow recently? My mum is thinking of getting a quattro A4/TT. Is it significantly better in the snow than a 2wd car (as in enough to change)

Cheers
M5

doleman2010

I have an s2 avant 2.2 turbo, no problem on snow or ice , just point it and go. If it starts to slide just steer and a bit of power will correct it .
The only problem os the ground clearance is a bit low.
There are loads of a4s out there with the scumbag plastic kits stuck on with grippfill and quattro badges I didnt see many of them over the past few weeks .

M5

doleman2010 wrote: »

I have an s2 avant 2.2 turbo, no problem on snow or ice , just point it and go. If it starts to slide just steer and a bit of power will correct it .
The only problem os the ground clearance is a bit low.
There are loads of a4s out there with the scumbag plastic kits stuck on with grippfill and quattro badges I didnt see many of them over the past few weeks .

Im assuming you dont have ESP? I'd imagine that would make it more stable for an inexperienced driver

peasant

M5 wrote: »

hi all,

Anyone using any quattro equipped cars in the snow recently? My mum is thinking of getting a quattro A4/TT. Is it significantly better in the snow than a 2wd car (as in enough to change)

Cheers
M5

It's better than a 2WD in 3 out of 4 conditions:
-it's better at driving off/getting up a hill
-it's better at holding the line round bends
-it's better at slowing down under engine braking (it skids later)

-it is just the same as any other car under normal braking

So, as long as you don't overcook it, remember the last point and drive accordingly, at 2WD speeds and distances for braking .... it is infinitely better

Mr.David

I drove an Audi A5 sportback quattro on winter tyres recently from Zurich to Cologne.

I don't think I would have made it in a 2wd car on summers. There was a proper blizzard and the motorways were carpeted thickly in snow and you couldnt see the lines on the road or even how many lanes there were. Everyone cleared off home but I had to get to Cologne that night and by 8.30pm I still had 400km to go.

The combination of quattro and winters was immense you could really push on without fear. Sometimes you would feel the car move around a little but once you just let it and don't fight it its no problem. Combined with the fact that the roads were nearly deserted and it was actually great fun!

Matt Simis

That actually does sound quite fun!


To the OP, yeah, quattro performs excellent in this weather, but to really take advantage you need Winter tyres. Without Winters it still better than 2WD on Summers of course.

Ronan H

The OP's Mum probably has bought a car by now but sure I'll reply anyway. I have a 2004 A4 quattro and it was fab in the snow there a while back. I have regular tires, as in not winter tires, and it never got stuck anywhere; thick snow (up to 6-8 inches), packed snow, ice, or hills with all of the above. It is very reassuring in damp or very wet conditions also. You would need to be pushing it very hard for the tires to break away. Peasant summed it up well actually.

Make sure you have good tires too though, there will be a world of difference between quattro with good tires and quattro with crap tires, and that applies to braking as well as accelerating.

What dod your Mum buy in the end?

Ronan

RandomAccess

peasant wrote: »

-it's better at slowing down under engine braking (it skids later)

Just want to point out that this is not necessarily the case,
There are two systems branded as Quattro, "Torsen" and "Haldex"

In the Haldex system engine braking is only applied to the front wheels, whereas Torsen based systems distribute engine braking to both axles.

Haldex based systems were commonly used in VW Golf and Passat and were branded as 4motion. It is typically used for transverse mounted engines.

I believe both generations of the Audi TT use the Haldex system.

Just fyi

M5

RandomAccess wrote: »

Just want to point out that this is not necessarily the case,
There are two systems branded as Quattro, "Torsen" and "Haldex"

In the Haldex system engine braking is only applied to the front wheels, whereas Torsen based systems distribute engine braking to both axles.

Haldex based systems were commonly used in VW Golf and Passat and were branded as 4motion. It is typically used for transverse mounted engines.

I believe both generations of the Audi TT use the Haldex system.

Just fyi

I drove a few quattros in the snow, all on regular tyres and the car was bolted in comparison to any other car i had driven in the snow. That said i have not driven a car with winter/snow tyres in the snow either. In the end she didnt take the plunge at all :mad:

Matt Simis

RandomAccess wrote: »

Haldex based systems were commonly used in VW Golf and Passat and were branded as 4motion. It is typically used for transverse mounted engines.

Some 4Motions like the Touareg and Phaeton are Torsen though, so VW basically made "4Motion" as vague as Audi made quattro, its not a standard.

Tea 1000

Matt Simis wrote: »

Some 4Motions like the Touareg and Phaeton are Torsen though, so VW basically made "4Motion" as vague as Audi made quattro, its not a standard.

True, and the B5 and B5.5 Passat would have had the Torsen version, where as the B6 and B6.5 (I refuse to call it a B7!) have Haldex.
The A4 remains with an in-line engine, therefore Torsen. TT as pointed out has Haldex.