quattro saved me tonight!

[Fat Audi 80]

On the way home tonight, pressing on in the rain, gentle right hander, rear of the car aquaplaned severely and stepped out a lot! Before I even register this the car had gripped and straightened out again. It happened so quickly I could only laugh. I am convinced it would be have been very serious in a 2wd car.

I have never really "felt" Quattro in an emergency situation before.

quattro

[Duffelcoat]

According to the manual, you might not notice aquaplaning as early as in a 2WD car so maybe quattro not quite the hero... Although it did save Jeremy Clarkson's life once, so we can all be grateful!

[Rocco]

i felt aquaplaning before like 2 or 3 times going fast on the road with rain and suddenly finding a small water lake... without time to brake

[John B]

Good in the wet.....essential in snow and ice

My old girl got me home last April when I had to go round the Lake District as all three major routes through were blocked. As it was you could not see the edge of the motorway let alone lanes on the M6 over Shap. I had one "moment" down a 1 in 7 near home but a gentle bit of cadence braking and we negotiated that..... awesome cars

[Jack4688]

I've noticed my S2 is just as scary in an aquaplaning situation as any of the other cars I have owned but the other week in the snow I was able to pull out of a junction onto a slight incline with no issue whatsoever while some SUV (I think it was a Peugeot 3008) was further down the hill holding up a big line of traffic due to it travelling at about 10 mph.

Winter tyres would (probably) have stopped me from sliding into the curb just before pulling out of that junction but quattro got me moving when there were cars already abandoned in a 10 minute snow flurry

[simon20vq]

Agree with John B Quattro all the way

[herald]

I'd add winter tyres too. The difference on my wife's A6 3.0TDI quattro with winter tyres is immense in the wet weather. The way they deal with standing water is amazing, no huge pulling at the steering wheel as the nearside wheel hits a puddle, just drives through straight. Got a set on her car and a set on the RS2, would never go back to summer tyres in winter.

[CliveH]

Quattro all the way for me too, would never have anything else now.

I've only had one "moment" in a Quattro, was in the RS6, turned a tight corner in a built up area at no more than 20mph, didn't see the black ice and did a complete 360, luckily missing parked cars, kerbs, and an oncoming vehicle. In situations like that, four wheel drive turns into four wheel slide and there's not much you can do about it. Or do I need to go on one of those Quattro handling courses?

Herald - I'd be interested to know what winter tyres you go for on the A6

[herald]

CliveH, I've got Michelin Alpin on the original alloys for the RS2 and I had Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme on the A6 again on the original alloys, but last year I put on a pair of Nankang Snow SV2 on the front as the Vredesteins had been damaged. I've been unable to tell the difference between the two tyres but it's interesting to look at the EU tyres ratings and see the Nankang scores better in wet grip although is noisier apparently. Beware websites that tell you which wheels will fit. Everywhere shows the A6 will take 16" steels but that's only true for very early production, then they upspecced the brakes and the wheels don't fit!

[CliveH]

CliveH, I've got Michelin Alpin on the original alloys for the RS2 and I had Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme on the A6 again on the original alloys, but last year I put on a pair of Nankang Snow SV2 on the front as the Vredesteins had been damaged. I've been unable to tell the difference between the two tyres but it's interesting to look at the EU tyres ratings and see the Nankang scores better in wet grip although is noisier apparently. Beware websites that tell you which wheels will fit. Everywhere shows the A6 will take 16" steels but that's only true for very early production, then they upspecced the brakes and the wheels don't fit!

Thanks for the feedback on the winter tyres. How much narrower are these than the stock tyres.

I've had good experience with Vredesteins all weather tyres in the past, but interesting what you say about the Nankangs

[herald]

I've had several moments in the RS2 and it scared me as a car because the tail used to step out occasionally. In a nose heavy 50-50 split quattro that didn't seem right. A pair of rear shocks transformed it. No doubt it would still go round on black ice - evil stuff.

[Rusty]

Sounds like those rarely used tyres are asking to be replaced

[herald]

Exactly the same size as stock tyres, on the same wheels. I'm told the effect is even more dramatic on wet and snow grip if I downsize and therefore raise the sidewall profile and also narrow the tread, but I have not found any steel wheels big enough and don't fancy paying the extra for a second set alloys. I have a set of Nankang summer tyres on another car and they stack up really well although the life appears to be the compromise in that instance.

[haaran]

I had a scare a few weeks back in my A4 B6 TDi quattro. Left hand sweeping bend onto a slip road on a dry, clear day travelling at a sensible speed and the back end went. I counter locked to straighten the car out but the trajectory continued and I left the road and mounted the verge. I really haven't been able to work out why either. Other cars continued on the same junction without the slightest twitch. My rear tyres were lowish but still legal. I've changed these since but have been nervous ever since. I wonder if it's something with the car as I don't feel the same sure footedness I did in my S2 or BMW 320d MSport....or maybe my confidence has just been dented.

[herald]

Just try going over a big speed bump 10-15 mph and count the bounces at the rear end. Any more than 1, shocks. A long corner with even a slight bump is enough to unsettle it and if the shocks are dead it just repeats itself.