Quattro - any good in snow

[belly buster]

With most of the country getting a covering of snow today, how smug were you Quattro drivers.

Does it turn the car into a land rover? Or is it overhyped and doesn't make much difference.

Interested to know!

[Fly100]

My 05 allroad is excellent, just bit hard to stop cos it goes so well. In fact it goes better than it stops.


On a side note Ive got an 02 Td5 Discovery for sale. New tyres, TD5 Alive towing remap, new tyres and loads of extras.

[Brycie]

Does it turn the car into a land rover?

Don't imagine for a second that a Land Rover is the answer to the current conditions. A friend of mine who has just done up a Land Rover Defender posted a conversation he had with his Missus today & it went roughly like this:

Kim: Well it looks like we're snowed in.
Kevin: Don't be silly, we own a Land Rover Defender, we can go anywhere!
Kim: Well go & defrost it then so we can go out.
Kevin: I can't, the heater doesn't work.
Kim: Oh. Well never mind, let's use it anyway.
Kevin: Erm, we can't, the handbrake's frozen up & it won't move.

[5678]

Front wheel drive on winter tyres has been fine. No need for quattro in the UK ;)

[Pausten]

Fly100 hits the nail on the head!
They go better than they stop.
Unbelievable but true.
Advise that you get the Quattro, but also winter tyres, on their own rims.
- Not really an expense as your summer tyres will last longer.
I see that an internet search shows cheaper alternatives to Audis winter wheel/tyre offerings.

[jbanfie]

I felt amazingly smug yesterday, I didn't put winter tyres on my A7 cause the wheels and tyres quote from Audi was about £2500. However I did put them on my wifes Mini Countryman ALL4, cost £520 from www.mytyres.co.uk (http://www.mytyres.co.uk)

Absolutely brilliant, going better than stopping as discussed above, but stopping was loads loads better than I've had in other 4x4's over the last 3 years. I'd experienced snow tyres in Switzerland, so was quite confident, but the mini was just awsome in the snow, went anywhere, up hills and down hills (being careful). We live away from main roads and won't ever see a gritter so a little planning is always a good idea.

The best thing about the winter wheels/tyres is that they don't actually cost anything, as when you use them you are not using your other tyres so it must be pretty much close to zero cost - provided you use them for a number of years. As our Mini is the school run car doing 14,000 a year, I plan on keeping it till it breaks, but as it's so good I'd probably have another anyway.

I've decided the best thing to do with the A7 in this weather is to leave it on the drive!!!

[DR_A6]

I have a auto 2wd A6 with winter tyres and it was great yesterday. we live in the derbyshire dales where there was a load of snow and it was absolutely fine. learned a couple of new tricks though, you can lock the hand brake on by holding the button up, and using cruise control to crawl down hills is really good, using the engine to hold the speed so the brakes are a bit fresh.

I think the winter tyres make quite a difference, possibly becuase of their grip / tread but also because they were on 17" rims. There are plenty of original 17" alloy rims on ebay either here or in germany for about £300 so its not that much extra to pay over the three years.

Did see a VW fontera half in a hedge though!

[zollaf]

managed to get my disco stuck yesterday in a drift, but unlike most of you quattro owners, i have a winch so was only stuck for a few minutes. i even have m&s tyres on, but thats no good when you are up against a 4' drift.
in reality, winter tyres are the answer, even for a 2wd car, but stick them on a quattro and you are as good as it gets. only advantage then over a landy is ground clearance, as long as the landy has a good snow tyre on. up against an evoque with city slick summer tyres, the audi is going to win.

[robbyg]

i drove from essex to northumberland for a family event mostly in laying/ falling snow on friday night, and returned last night in the same. Very tiring journey. Running Pzero tyres which are really not made for snow.

The car performed pretty well considering i did about 50 miles on un ploughed un gritted steep roads. I was VERY careful down hills, and used a bit of momentum to get up hills. It did spin its wheels when i prodded the throttle but that was only when i was messing about. being gentle and careful, it was great. If i hadnt had the wife and kids ni the car i would have tried some hills starts just for fun on the quiet roads. My brother in law (drives 3 series) took a 30 minute detour to avoid the country roads, and was nervous all weekend doing the same local journeys as i was.

High speed on the frosty slushy motorways i dont really think quattro makes any difference.

As mentioned above, the quattro gives you loads of confidence to go, and engine braking down hills, but it dosnt help you stop on the brakes any better than a 2 wheel drive, you need to be very careful not to get over confident.

Also, having 4wd doesnt make the people behind you, coming too fast the other way etc any safer. I still prefer to stay home when its very snowy/icy, thats the best way to avoid a smash.

In my experience, i would chose a 2wd with snow tyres over a 4wd with summer tyres anytime. I done usually drive in the snow now as i commute by train so haven't fitted them myself recently.

[adamss24]

I do reckon good, chunky unidirectional all seasons tyres behave better on a quattro than winter tyres on a front wheel drive car. It's the ABS that does not let you stop sharpish, pull the ABS fuse off and you'll see the difference in grip it makes, especially in deep snow ! On a quattro i would love proper locking diffs not mikey mouse electrical gimmicks that behave like a diff !
Also remember 4 wheel engine braking is much better than on a FWD/RWD car...

[crag1]

had my a4 b5 1.8t front wheel drive since april so first time in snow with her on budget tyers with nearly new tread. I was impressed with her, i live in wales and didnt have any issues at all amazed

[c4pete]

I had a very smug moment this week driving up an untreated hill with compacted snow, aka ice, where there were several FWD cars stuck trying to get up it, one of which was an A6, drove up no problem at all, very happy as I'm running some Goodyear summer tyres!

[5678]

I had a very smug moment this week driving up an untreated hill with compacted snow, aka ice, where there were several FWD cars stuck trying to get up it, one of which was an A6, drove up no problem at all, very happy as I'm running some Goodyear summer tyres!

Conversely, I drove past a stuck A6 Quattro in my fwd Clio 182 ;)

[Doctle Odd]

Asking if a quatro is any good in snow is like asking if a VAG car owner is great in bed, the answer to both questions being yes!

[Mr Fish]

Quattro is good but only as good as the tyres, which hugely effects your stopping even if you are in a Landy. The BEST upgrade you can do is winteror all season tyres. Any a quattro or 4x4 with the right tyres is awesome.

I've now got an A6 Allroad but had an A4 Allroad.

Gratuitous snow picks....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/mrsfish/james/063.jpg

And no I'm NOT stuck in this pick:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/mrsfish/james/061.jpg

And I got most of the way up this...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/mrsfish/james/121.jpg

[Pausten]

Can't wait for April, when I get my A6 Allroad. - ... But will there be any snow to play in then?

[BrianWM]

At last, someone else knows about all season tyres ! I went out in my Vredestein Quatrac 3 shod Allroad the other day for the first time in snow. It went and it stopped without any drama at all, astounding. I've had the Vredestein's on since October and as far as I can tell they're the same as the standard Contis in higher ambients, wet or dry. I'll probably sell the tyres the car came with which have only done 600 miles, no need to put them back on.

[Mr Fish]

My wife's car has Vredestein Quatrac 3 on my A6 Allroad will get either the new Pirreli Verde All season or Quatracs..

[Timothy Nathan]

My road is on an incline and rapidly becomes as slippery as a skating rink. I had fun watching an SLK pirouetting all over the road and eventually being pushed into the kerb by passers by and abandoned.

My FWD Avant on Syron winter tyres just drove like it was on dry tarmac. I am now another huge advocate of winter tyres. I paid less than £400 supplied and fitted.

[sofaspud]

Timothy- what make and model tyres did you get for that price.

Exclude my ignorance but do you just store them until winter?

Also can they be fitted yourself or do you get a garage to fit them?

Never had winter tyres before but may consider them for my audi.

[zollaf]

old boy down the road put some cheap winters on his micra and just carried on as normal on ice covered roads, even up quite steep hills. my disco, apart from getting buried in deep drifts, was almost boring, unable to slide anywhere even on slopes you couldn't stand up on. i had the misfortune to have to drive a ranger with summer all terrains on and that scared the hell out of me, just slid all over the place in the same place my disco wouldn't slide.

[Timothy Nathan]

Timothy- what make and model tyres did you get for that price.
Syron 225/55R17 101V Everest 1 from TyreTraders.com. 88.92 each home delivered, inc VAT. £15 a corner for mobile fitting.

I have just looked and they don't have them in stock. In fact it looks quite difficult to get them in this country at all. There are adverts from Germany and Poland.

[sofaspud]

Does it matter what size? I will have 18" tyres on my sline when it arrives. Is it better to stay on 18" or get small tyres say 17"?

As you can probably tell I know nothing about winter tyres 😀😀😀😀

[pollum]

i have a quattro 1.9tdi sport. SNOW???? What snow? this car is beast!!! at first it was sketchy but as soon as u realise u have to put your foot down round corners to get grip then this car is really fun i mean literally foot down and a bit of oversteer. its really down to driving skill. i raced my mate in the snow, he had a s3 old shape and he couldnt keep up.. he said it was too scary...i dont have a wife, kids or money so really i have nothing to lose.:biglaugh: but seriously tho i had a mk5 golf on avons (z5)? a few years back and that just ripped through the snow too. snow tyres are a waste of money unless you have a rear wheel drive car. the snow is no excuse not to go out and start powersliding (yes u can in fwd)and learn the cars limits.. or your own for that matter.

i mean i saw vans over taking 4x4. did the vans have winter tyres? doubt it.

[Eddo1968]

I've got 19" winter tyres and Quattro and no matter how bad the conditions have been here (especially high up in ski resorts) haven't experienced any loss of grip at all. Driving on the motorway to Zurich at 5am the other morning in a blizzard I had total confidence in the car at between 100-120km/h. I drove my A4 Allroad in snow a few years ago before buying winter tyres and definitely not as reassuring. I'd go for winter tyres before Quattro, however the 2 together are unbeatable.