Audi Quattro useless in snow?

[Doggiedog]

I was watching a brand new A4 quattro struggle up my block while tons of cars passed it by. It was pretty sad watching it slip and slide sideways with all its wheels spinning. I know for a fact that the old S4 is terrible in snow. 2 of my friends have it and they tell me they cannot drive in snow but I didn't realize the A4 was so bad until I saw it yesterday.

 

[vi edit]

Tires.

S4 comes with high performance summer tires. Doesn't matter if you 16 wheel drive for traction if your tires suck in the snow.

 

[Viper GTS]

What kind of tires?

There's a lot more to traction than just AWD.

Viper GTS

 

[spidey07]

probably the tires. My tires are awesome in dry/wet but terrible in snow.

bridgestone re730

 

[spidey07]

dayum!

Guess the cars guys know what's up.

 

[Crimzon]

Vi's got it on the nose. Change the tires, and it'll feel more comfertable than a suv on the road. (because of lower center of gravity).

 

[NFS4]

LOL, the FIRST thing I thought of when I saw this thread title were tires. Looks like they've already covered it

 

[BigSmooth]

So... after careful analysis of the situation, I think the problem could be the tires. Thanks, I'll be here all week!

 

[Doggiedog]

You'd think after seeing all those Audi commercials about them conquering Pike's Peak they'd at least equip their cars with all around tires.

I'll have to read the fine print on that commercial next time to see if it says all cars equipped with spiked tires and on nitrous.

 

[spidey07]

doggie dog,

there is always a compromise with tires. Great dry, Great wet, Great snow/ice. You can probably only get one or two of those in a tire.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
You'd think after seeing all those Audi commercials about them conquering Pike's Peak they'd at least equip their cars with all around tires.

I'll have to read the fine print on that commercial next time to see if it says all cars equipped with spiked tires and on nitrous.

The A4 has AWD for performance/traction on dry land/wet surfaces. Not for hopping moguls in ice and snow.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
You'd think after seeing all those Audi commercials about them conquering Pike's Peak they'd at least equip their cars with all around tires.

I'll have to read the fine print on that commercial next time to see if it says all cars equipped with spiked tires and on nitrous.

WTF? Do you think a subaru WRX comes with the same tires as the car that they actually have in rally circuits? Well, it doesn't.

Audi has a couple different types of tires that it puts on the cars. An all-season tire for the base A4's, a low profile performance tire on A4's with the sport package, and an even more aggressive performance tire on the S4's.

Any person with half an inkling of intelligence would know that low profile performance tires = ASS WINTER HANDLING. Don't blame Audi for providing performance tires. Blame the idiot behind the wheel who isn't smart enough to swap out his summer tires with winter tires.

 

[NFS4]

Any person with half an inkling of intelligence would know that low profile performance tires = ASS WINTER HANDLING. Don't blame Audi for providing performance tires. Blame the idiot behind the wheel who isn't smart enough to swap out his summer tires with winter tires.

BINGO!

 

[Doggiedog]

Isn't the big thing with Audi their vaunted Quattro? In their commercials, you always see them plowing around in the snow. If they are going to take that approach or want that image, wouldn't it be better for them to have 0.01gs less on a dry skidpad and have better performance in the snow? From what I saw, it was dreadful. The car looked like a RWD taxi sliding everywhere. It didn't even look like a compromise. It looked like Audi just wanted the best dry performance without any regard traction in snow.

 

[MustangSVT]

let me jump on the bandwagon , tires?

or his gas pedal has only 2 position, on & off

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Isn't the big thing with Audi their vaunted Quattro? In their commercials, you always see them plowing around in the snow. If they are going to take that approach or want that image, wouldn't it be better for them to have 0.01gs less on a dry skidpad and have better performance in the snow? From what I saw, it was dreadful. The car looked like a RWD taxi sliding everywhere. It didn't even look like a compromise. It looked like Audi just wanted the best dry performance without any regard traction in snow.

I don't think I've ever seen an A4 commercial with it gliding through snow. I always see them going through winding roads or down highways at breakneck speed.

A Subaru Impreza WRX would do NO better in the snow if it comes with performance tires from the factory.

Like I said, Quattro is for onroad performance/handling, not snow performance UNLESS you have all-season/snow tires on.

I'm quite sure that your MDX has the option of performance/onroad bias tires and more "meaty" all-season or "off-road friendly" tires.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Isn't the big thing with Audi their vaunted Quattro? In their commercials, you always see them plowing around in the snow. If they are going to take that approach or want that image, wouldn't it be better for them to have 0.01gs less on a dry skidpad and have better performance in the snow? From what I saw, it was dreadful. The car looked like a RWD taxi sliding everywhere. It didn't even look like a compromise. It looked like Audi just wanted the best dry performance without any regard traction in snow.

If a person bought a sport package - which I'm guessing they probably did - then it came with low profile tires. Audi is simply providing what people want. If they didn't put the tires on there, then people would just bitch about poor handling under dry and warm conditions.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Just don't crucify Audi for a buyer's ignorance. If somebody buys a Smith and Wesson, points the barrel at their head, pulls the trigger and kills themself, do you blame smith and wesson for it?

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Isn't the big thing with Audi their vaunted Quattro? In their commercials, you always see them plowing around in the snow. If they are going to take that approach or want that image, wouldn't it be better for them to have 0.01gs less on a dry skidpad and have better performance in the snow? From what I saw, it was dreadful. The car looked like a RWD taxi sliding everywhere. It didn't even look like a compromise. It looked like Audi just wanted the best dry performance without any regard traction in snow.

I don't think I've ever seen an A4 commercial with it gliding through snow. I always see them going through winding roads or down highways at breakneck speed.

A Subaru Impreza WRX would do NO better in the snow if it comes with performance tires from the factory.

Like I said, Quattro is for onroad performance/handling, not snow performance UNLESS you have all-season/snow tires on.

I'm quite sure that your MDX has the option of performance/onroad bias tires and more "meaty" all-season or "off-road friendly" tires.

You haven't seen the commercial with the cars going up Pike's Peak?

Don't know about the WRX. I'll ask my friend who has one about it's performance in snow.

The MDX Touring which I have only comes with All Season tires.

 

[Luden]

I wouldnt base any product on its performance in its commercial.. just one of those things.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Isn't the big thing with Audi their vaunted Quattro? In their commercials, you always see them plowing around in the snow. If they are going to take that approach or want that image, wouldn't it be better for them to have 0.01gs less on a dry skidpad and have better performance in the snow? From what I saw, it was dreadful. The car looked like a RWD taxi sliding everywhere. It didn't even look like a compromise. It looked like Audi just wanted the best dry performance without any regard traction in snow.

I don't think I've ever seen an A4 commercial with it gliding through snow. I always see them going through winding roads or down highways at breakneck speed.

A Subaru Impreza WRX would do NO better in the snow if it comes with performance tires from the factory.

Like I said, Quattro is for onroad performance/handling, not snow performance UNLESS you have all-season/snow tires on.

I'm quite sure that your MDX has the option of performance/onroad bias tires and more "meaty" all-season or "off-road friendly" tires.

You haven't seen the commercial with the cars going up Pike's Peak?

Don't know about the WRX. I'll ask my friend who has one about it's performance in snow.

The MDX Touring which I have only comes with All Season tires.

Weren't the cars going up Pike's Peak Audi rally cars from the early 80's?

If you are going to crucify Audi for comparing its cars to its legendary racing predecessors, then you had better crucify Porsche for comparing its Boxster and 911 to it's overachieving 911 GT1 or 962 racing models.

 

[BooneRebel]

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
let me jump on the bandwagon , tires?

or his gas pedal has only 2 position, on & off

<--- I love watching these drivers. Every night the news shows some poor schlub wandering down the road at 5mph while the tires spin at 70mph. People that haven't quite figured out that wheelspin=friction=heat=ice melt!=traction

 

[spidey07]

but depending on road conditions you want to spin your tires a little bit to get some traction and keep your momentum going.

 

[Doggiedog]

Weren't the cars going up Pike's Peak Audi rally cars from the early 80's?

Nope. It is a relatively recent commercial. They were A4s, A6s, TTs and All-Roads.

I wasn't crucifying Audi either. If you saw this A4 go up my block( and its a flat block) and saw all these non-AWD cars pass it by like it was nothing, you'd be scratching your head too. It was going so slow and sliding so much I had to yell over to my wife to come and take a look. By the time she came, it still hadn't passed my house. That would make a good commercial for Audi for all the VW haters now.

 

[Viper GTS]

As vi already mentioned, stock tires can vary based on the trim level purchased.

It's also entirely possible that the dipsh!t put aftermarket tires on it (to improve dry handling) that further hosed his snow attempts.

There is NOTHING wrong with gearing a vehicle's tires towards a particular use (ie dry pavement), but you MUST take that into account when driving in conditions other than those.

Viper GTS

 

[KokomoGST]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
As vi already mentioned, stock tires can vary based on the trim level purchased.

It's also entirely possible that the dipsh!t put aftermarket tires on it (to improve dry handling) that further hosed his snow attempts.

There is NOTHING wrong with gearing a vehicle's tires towards a particular use (ie dry pavement), but you MUST take that into account when driving in conditions other than those.

ie the dipsh!t is trying to get traction with 4 wide giant slabs of rubber... it's not the low profile that's really the problem as someone else suggested. It's that width of the tread. If you have a wide enough tread... not even snow tires are gonna save you... think 4 giant rubber skis...

add that to dumfscks that don't understand wheelspin... Quattro is limited slip torsen with limited slip front & rear?