In Snow, Just how much better is quattro?

[gunman]

The whole point of this topic was to establish if I could justify getting my wife to buy a quattro instead of a 2wd, What has to be remembered is my wife views a car like she would a microwave...It has a function to perform, beyond that she has no interest in either (other than the looks ).

Most agree that the quattro is the way forward for snow\ice. There is the other opinion but then that relys on supreme driving skill, which my wife hasn't got. I think she would be better relying on the laws of physics! I don't think she will be driving in the Alps either.

Either way, I'm in the market for some winter tyres.

[madpugger]

Thats rubbish, the quattro will have twice the traction on the same tyres, if the hill gets steeper or slippier then the 2wd will lose traction and start to spin up first.

Having said that I've driven a lot of peoples cars out of icy car parks and up hills for them by being reeeally smmoooooth One of the best was the guy from the local shop with his van full of cash and carry, he got stuck on the hill outside my house, van was full and weighed a ton.. I did it by just leaving it at tickover and very gently modulating the clutch. Smoothness is everything. When the snow was deep around here there were 2wd cars parked at the bottom off all the hills on the A25 between Dorking and Guildford.

Actually, I think the quattro will have even more than twice the tractive effort of a 2WD because it drives all wheels where a 2wd has to drag two as well. Audi actually discovered that the same car fitted with quattro was faster top end despite transmission losses and extra weight because the effort used to drive the rear wheels was less than dragging them at high speed.

At low speed, think of it as someone very gently holding on to you as you try to walk on ice, its much harder when you have to drag two extra feet resisting slightly!

Say what you like but thats what happened... Take it or leave it..

I was there and I drove the car!!! In Sheffield with 1m of snow!!

But Ken, was your golf not on 175 Yokohama A510s or similar? They are so narrow and sticky, they are basically snow tyres! I know what you are saying, I can get a 2wd moving where most can't but at the end of the day, i can get a quattro more than twice as far, or as easily as a 2wd, given the same conditions/tyres etc.


To me though, its all about tyres. I think Germany are right to enforce winter tyres. Technically in the UK we do too because you have to have suitable tyres for the conditions, however this is rarely enforced. Aside from that, why would you want to risk your car/life/someone else's life or car by not being able to stop? Its all very well getting going because you have quattro, but they don't stop any quicker (actually they can slightly but another story - and don't get me started on the removal of the ABS switch!) The sooner we start MAKING people use winter/snow tyres the better because we won't do it on our own! It really is mind boggling the difference they make!

[pixsaudisex2]

How much better is quattro than front or rear wheel drive?

Why its twice as good!

Easier to move off/accelerate, I think easier to corner with care/respect, however exactly the same under braking, more stable under engine braking however.

Can be very deceptive as easy to build up speed and then be unable to stop or go just end up going straight on.

When we had our snowy spell the only cars that left our street and returned were quattro or 4x4 jeeps, everything else was abandoned for about a week. Was well funny driving past people with 30k+ cars in our "scrap" motors.

Tyre width makes a huge difference, having used 195/205 and then going to 225s loses a huge amount of grip in the snow. Only real problem I had this year was running out of ground clearance and tearing off the fuel return line and also when the snow got too deep and the car started to plow.

My girlfriend much prefers my quattro in the snow as she can just trundle around without difficulty, much easier to move off.

People who are rough have terrible problems in the snow, driving smoothly is very rewarding in snow, until you have to come to a sudden stop becaust some **** pulls out in front of you Other drivers normally worry me most in adverse conditions as many appear incapable of driving in them.

twice as good lol..

[Le S2 Audi]

The whole point of this topic was to establish if I could justify getting my wife to buy a quattro instead of a 2wd, What has to be remembered is my wife views a car like she would a microwave...It has a function to perform, beyond that she has no interest in either (other than the looks ).

Most agree that the quattro is the way forward for snow\ice. There is the other opinion but then that relys on supreme driving skill, which my wife hasn't got. I think she would be better relying on the laws of physics! I don't think she will be driving in the Alps either.

Either way, I'm in the market for some winter tyres.

It's gotta be a Quattro with Winter tyres then.... Question Answered...

[Le S2 Audi]

But Ken, was your golf not on 175 Yokohama A510s or similar? They are so narrow and sticky, they are basically snow tyres! I know what you are saying, I can get a 2wd moving where most can't but at the end of the day, i can get a quattro more than twice as far, or as easily as a 2wd, given the same conditions/tyres etc.

To me though, its all about tyres. I think Germany are right to enforce winter tyres. Technically in the UK we do too because you have to have suitable tyres for the conditions, however this is rarely enforced. Aside from that, why would you want to risk your car/life/someone else's life or car by not being able to stop? Its all very well getting going because you have quattro, but they don't stop any quicker (actually they can slightly but another story - and don't get me started on the removal of the ABS switch!) The sooner we start MAKING people use winter/snow tyres the better because we won't do it on our own! It really is mind boggling the difference they make!

Mike I did also say that I would prefer the 4WD over the 2WD.... So it's still a quattro for me all day long... When I have one on the road that is...

I agree in some ways about winter tyres being compulsory BUT this is fraught with all sorts of issues... We are not like Germany where they know when & where the bad weather is coming and it happens every year without fail... We can't say predict that!!

If they do; they should force the car manufacturer's to offer steel wheels at cost price and also make the tyre companies sell them at a discount and not to make Huge profit from what would be law!!

[madpugger]

Mike I did also say that I would prefer the 4WD over the 2WD.... So it's still a quattro for me all day long... When I have one on the road that is...

I agree in some ways about winter tyres being compulsory BUT this is fraught with all sorts of issues... We are not like Germany where they know when & where the bad weather is coming and it happens every year without fail... We can't say predict that!!

If they do; they should force the car manufacturer's to offer steel wheels at cost price and also make the tyre companies sell them at a discount and not to make Huge profit from what would be law!!

Agreed, BUT, Winter tyres and not for snow, they are for temps below 8C so basically our winter months...

[Le S2 Audi]

Agreed, BUT, Winter tyres and not for snow, they are for temps below 8C so basically our winter months...

But whats the tyre degregration in temps over 8C...

Some winter months we can have really warm weather... Unlike other European countries...

[gunman]

But whats the tyre degregration in temps over 8C...

Some winter months we can have really warm weather... Unlike other European countries...

Yes, we can. However we can also have cold spells in spring\summer too. You'd go with the most common temp surely, in winter more time spent at 8 or below, in summer more time over.

[Ross]

Quattro definitely kicks *** in the snow. Like a fair few others on here I have FWD TDi and then the Quattro... I drove both in the snow and I can say, the quattro was a definite help in snowy carpark - much less chance of getting stuck basically down to the extra traction. However the FWD did feel a litle 'safer' to drive, probably due to 6-7mm tread vs 2-3mm tread.

What was interesting was the switch to snow tyres on the RS2. Cheapy Nankang's - they are substantially better in anything below 5c and incomparable to a summer tyre. There's a very obvious difference in feel to the compounds which is especially obvious when it gets cold - the summer tyre felt like rock when I got them changed over; the winter tyre just as soft in comparison. On the road there's obvious improvement, and as soon as you bring any slush/snow/ice into the mix it's night and day.

Obviously the tyres aren't quite as good in the dry - to be honest even just a few degrees above freezing and I start to wish for summer rubber, 7-8C and they feel pretty horrible if you have to brake or corner hard. But that may be the budget brand showing through... add rain to the mix and it's a much more even keel. Typical conditions are -2 to +5 and often wet and icy during our winters, a good winter is ideal for this climate. Although they're advantage really shines in ice and snow, that's not all they are good for.

In snow, seeing as this is what the topic asked, quattro is a big advantage but nothing like the advantage of winter tyres on a quattro! You can confidently attack the snow and feel in control, rather than driving like you're mother in law is in the passenger seat.