In Snow, Just how much better is quattro?

[gunman]

This may seem a daft question from someone who owns an S2, but it's been off the road this year and I've been getting about in my 2wd A6 and my wife's cabby. Question is, just how much better is the quattro than the 2wd, I seem to remember last year in snow I was able to spin the front wheels of the S2. Surely if this happens you are effectively running with 2wd? Engaging diff lock will work on the back axle, but if the front spins then surely the back isn't doing much?

The whole question arises as I'm considering changing the wifes car to either a C5 A6 quattro or a C4 quattro. She is a health visitor in a rural area. We couldn't get out of our street in the 2wd cars for a while before xmas and I was left wondering if we could have in the S2 (pitty it was up on axle stands in the drive ) I'm happy enough using the A6 and having the S2 in reserve for bad winter weather, question is, is quattro really going to make a difference for the wife? I know everyone says they didn't get stuck in their quattro, but once out of my street (very steep hill), I didn't in my 2wd either, and that included some very dodgy country roads at 7am in the morning in a cabby.

[caterpillar]

change car: take the c4 quattro( last year 97 ) with 5pot engine.. its one of the best car audi maked... avoid v6( petrol and diesels) and automatic gears...
the c4 does have the same parts as in audi 100/200/v8 (44q and d11)

[rs200]

my opinion is that c3 or c4 (same cars) are the best choice if you live in snowy side of country.. I newer stuck in snow with my audi 200...

[david]

in the years i had my 3b s2 i never manage spin any of the wheels let alone the front one's.Audi quattro s2 rs2 have permanent 4 wheel drive and lock Diff,so spinning wheel on a quattro is almost impossible unless you drive your car on solid ice.
i used to think my s2 3b was awsome in the snow,but the rs2 was way better interm of grip and control,sending power to either wheels anytime the quattro system sense's
lose of grip.
.and you can actually feel this happening while in motion,making car perfectly balance and in control.
i was shock to see how many BMW's got stuck in the in the snow,while i just fly through the snow.

[DJones]

I live in a rural area with a steep twisty road from both directions. My wife had a fwd A3 that gave her no confidence which stopped her from going out and occasionally got stuck.

Consequently we got her a A3 2.0 tfsi quattro, she now has no problem. Must admit i'm quite impressed with the haldex system.

To kind of underline the fact my daily drive is an A8 quattro with 275mm tyres on it, despite it being a diesel and an auto it goes anywhere! even pulled people out of ditches..... just have to remember that they dont stop any better....

In summary my wife (who knows absolutely sod all nor likes cars) thought i was some kind of obsessive git going on about quattro... however her words " I must admit the quattro is significantly better then any car i have had before and will now only have a quattro" i thought the last bit was a bit presumptuous given i have to pay for it all but it makes the point from someone who takes no pleasure in driving cars at all..

Hope it helps...

Darren.

[Firebird69]

Hey gunman,
easy question! get a quattro!!! we had so much snow in Germany the last days and with winter tyers it did sensational! even steep hills or high snow wouldn't stop my S6 20vt...I even did hills no 2wd would make!
and it is also better on the braking once you shift down you got the engine slowing all four weels down instead of just two. check out my gallery...there are some snow pics...
but you could also try winter tyers first...that would already help a lot...here we even have to have them by low since this year and they even make a big difference on wet conditions...

[Rusty]

3 point turns on cambered roads with cars all around on sheet ice and summer comfort tyres, no wheel spin, no slip, no drama

If you're heavy with the throttle or clutch then it will spin and the difflock can be more of a pain at times, pushing the tail wide of the front straight on, might be different on 'c' chassis though.

With winter tyres it'll be a great choice for sure!

[gunman]

I know everyone says the quattro's just won't get stuck but then I see this on nother topic (sorry for stealing it to make my point):

Disco would anhialate the s2 all day long there is no two ways about it and as Paul says both the sahara and special track have excellent grip. My friend runs a jeep wrangler standard apart from a tubular manifold and some insa special tracks he pulled his dads range rover v8 supercharged up his hill in 3" snow. I got stuck in my s2 avant on the same hill in an inch and a half snow with rear diff locked etc. I just couldn't get the traction and that is why the disco would win. Save yourself the humiliation and have a drag race instead

An S2 getting stuck on a hill with 1.5" of snow. Would my S2 or an S6 have got out of my street? If not, I (or my wife) may as well be stuck in a 2wd car as a quattro .

As soon as I get my S2 MOT'd I will be fitting a set of winter tyres to my old 15" rims for it anyway. Just wondering if it's worth the exta expense for a quattro for my wife, If i give it the hard sell and she buys one, then gets stuck in snow, I'm gonna be in the bad books.

[K Simmonds]

I've been using my 2.0 B3 quattro Saloon this winter and have to say the quattro system makes a massive difference over my 2WD Coupe daily driver. Winter tyres make the car able to go just about anywhere, the only limiting factor being ground clearance. As Andy pointed out the diff-lock is often more trouble than it's worth in snow, makes the back end kick out when you don't want it to.

[veneto rs2]

If you have good and the most possible narrow winter tires on the S2/RS2 the only things that can stop you are:

You break your front bumper (could happen easily with the RS2)
You stuck the bottom of the car on the snow because it's too high

I did climbed uphill on some slopes that in all honesty I believed I would get stuck but....... it climbs period.

Comparison on 2WD Cabbie VS RS2 on snow both with Nokian WRG2 brand new tires: Cabbie scores "2" RS2 scores "10" The Cabbie it's good to move around on flat terrain with snow but no good when you need to climb....hence live the Cabbie home.

I can tell you that because I live at the bottom of the Italian alps.....

If you drive an Audi quattro in the snow with summer tires then....... it's a different story it stills a serious machine in terms of moving capability but:
1) you can get easily stuck on uphill roads if there's ice underneath the snow
2) you will be in deep s**t if you reach the summit of anything and then you have to go down...... all can become very scary....

Stefano

[Firebird69]

Well...selling one car for another would usually be a deal where you lose money. so my recommendation would be, get winter tyers for your wifes car and by a set of chains for it in case. Thats what everybody does in snowy areas with a 2wd car and thats a cheap to do it...and it get them pretty much everywhere...

[david]

As soon as I get my S2 MOT'd I will be fitting a set of winter tyres to my old 15" rims for it anyway. Just wondering if it's worth the exta expense for a quattro for my wife, If i give it the hard sell and she buys one, then gets stuck in snow, I'm gonna be in the bad books.[/QUOTE]

if you're true quattro man then you should believe in it 100%.
the only way to get stuck is to drive into ten feet of snow.

[Bowlerwell]

A couple of weeks ago I couldn't move my 5 series out of its parking space; hired white van got stuck many times in 1 day; Dad's A6 quattro - no problem! It towed the white van no problem. It dealt with every hill no problem. No wheelspin.

[Dan]

As mentioned before, quattro is brilliant, but:

- You only have as much traction as the tyres you have fitted
- Most Audis don't have anywhere near the ground clearance of something like a Disco. It's gonna seriously slow you down if you're having to push snow.
- quattro doesn't make your brakes better

...but compared to the same car in 2WD, it's pretty damn good.

[madpugger]

Its all about the tyres...

A landy with mud terrains will be unstoppable in snow, show them ice on same tyres, no hope, they are useless. They will move their own weight but will pull nothing!

Same applies to the quattro, likelihood is that a 2wd with snow tyres will do as good as a quattro on summers. A quattro with snow tyres will go anywhere, until you belly it and the tyres no longer have any weight on them.