First winter with my Audi A4 Quattro

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Mother Nature piled another 6 to 8 inches on top of the ice and couple inches from a couple days ago and needless to say I'm very impressed with the traction of the Quattro AWD system. The only other 4 wheel drive vehicles I've ever had where 4x4 pickup trucks and of course the weakness there was the lightness in the rear end unless loaded with something.
I debated on getting another set of wheels and snow tires for the A4 but didnt and just decided to try the P7+ that came on the car and they seem to do very well. Acceleration is unbeatable on the flat or uphill, but as always its the stopping and cornering where it can get dicey but still way better than any sedan Ive owned.
 
Actually besides the Jeeps who where all going to fast i saw several Subarus and a few Suburbans and other assorted 4x4s. Unfortunately I-64 Btwn Huntington and Charleston was shut down most of the day due to several wrecks, one involving a fatality ( ran into a semi that had pulled over ) so traffic today was horrendous.
 
It has been said many times but if the driver can not adapt to the conditions then AWD is of no use.

I have always had one 4wd vehicle in the garage. Right now it’s just the Mazda. The awd is very useful for getting around in winter conditions but also extremely helpful in avoiding those who cannot drive in the stuff.
 
I'd never be without AWD or 4WD for winter...yeah FWD can do well but 4WD or AWD really makes easy work of snow. I know people survived just fine without it before it became mainstream, but people also survived without indoor plumbing...I'll take indoor plumbing and 4WD and AWD!
 
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Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'd never be without AWD or 4WD for winter...yeah FWD can do well but 4WD or AWD really makes easy work of snow. I know people survived just fine without it before it became mainstream, but people also survived without indoor plumbing...I'll take indoor plumbing and 4WD and AWD!



Right on. I’ve used my 4wd to help people out like taking coworkers home when they were scared to drive. On one instance one of my elderly neighbors at the time desperately needed to get his prescription medicine. I was able to get that for them.

It’s like owning a fire extinguisher. They are piece of mind in case a fire happens in your home but also can help someone else when fire strikes their place.
 
IMHO Audi and Subaru still make best AWD out there. Both car makers core design of company and 35 years+ of experience in AWD shows.

With crossover craze it definitely has gotten so much better though in AWD.
 
I would seriously consider winter tires and wheels. I have a State Patrol friend and every time we get a little snow, he grimly tells me "it's Audi-duty time".

You are absolutely correct in that awd will help you accelerate better, but cornering and stopping is dicey, especially with your wide performance tires.
 
Yes. I warned my wife of this, as she is the primary driver with a 100 mile round trip commute to work. Changing lanes, going over the piles of snow btwn tire tracks is indeed dicey as the wide tires lift the car quite a bit. We live at the top of the hill in my neighborhood and of course all 3 ways to get to my house is pretty steep. The shortest and straightest way is by far the steepest though but it pulled up the hill with no noticeable slipping. Me likey. Lol
 
I remember my first awd winter experience. I had always had fwd cars on all seasons and rwd cars on snows.

It was awesome having so much control and passing up stuck Texas trucks with 6" lifts and mud terrains unable to make it up a slick incline. It was a riot being able to go basically anywhere with confidence and even slide around with control. Very awesome. Having a true 50/50 torque split when you hammered it and 350whp was incredibly fun in the snow.

Car was a mazdaspeed6 on blizzaks in Denver, CO.
 
The A4 uses VWs 4motion haldex system right? I had a golf 4motion for one winter and it was great in the snow. The only thing that would stop it was when the snow was too high! I know in the one I had putting the car in "sport" mode with the DSG would automatically split the power 50/50 vs the computer working it out. It was really fun in the snow.
 
Of course, AWD means nothing when you're braking...it's obvious, but still needs to be said sometimes.
AWD really shines for me in climbing hills...when we moved to New England, our smug next door neighbors told us we'd better get used to walking 1/2 mile from the bottom of the hill into our neighborhood when it snowed. They had FWD Toyota and Honda sedans and walked, I had an Outback and didn't.

I have been very happy with the AWD systems in all three Subarus we've owned, the one in my RAV6 was crude by comparison but still basically got the job done. The biggest complaint I read about the RDX I nearly bought for my last car was the AWD system, the same one in the CRV that was really slammed by a Swedish car mag in testing...they put the front wheels on rollers with the car on a slight incline and it couldn't move.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Of course, AWD means nothing when you're braking...it's obvious, but still needs to be said sometimes.


Like I always say, AWD just puts you further into the ditch.
 
I love the AWD in my wife's Mountaineer. It's a fully mechanical system and works flawlessly. I've always had a miserable time with FWD cars in the snow, even with good tires.
 
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
The A4 uses VWs 4motion haldex system right?

Traditionally, the A4 used torsen.

Now, in this latest A4, things vary depending on what transmission you choose. A4 manual gets the new quattro Ultra, which is similar to haldex, but Audi does not call it haldex. It is primarily a FWD setup. A4 auto (s-tronic) still gets the traditional permanent AWD, now using a new self locking center differential, which was developed internally and not by torsen.


http://audilibrary.audiusa.com/models/a4s4/2018-a4-quattro/index.html
 
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