I really love the stability that AWD gives but, sometimes its so false when you think its just regular conditions Today as i pulled out of my driveway I had no problmes getting going but once i hit the brakes ABS just kept kicking it. Here in chicago it snowed in the early morning and I guess while I was taking a nap it rained. So when I walked to my car to go to work I didn't think there was ice on the roads. AWD still beats anything else though! I wanted to open my door at a stop light and see if there was ice on the road cuz it sure as heck didn't feel like it at all. Quattro can help you get going but when there is ice, it doens't matter if you're FWD or RWD you're going to slide. There were a total of 6+ accidents that I heard of around my neighborhood. Driver safely eveyrone theres always gonna be that one idiot who does not think about the conditions and may end up rear ending you.

 

Yea that is true....I live in alaska so winter driving is an everyday thing for 7-8 months out of the year. I have a quattro and that is true about it helping to get moving but does nothing for you when trying to slow down. We can run studded tires through the winter months which helps ALOT but in other places you just really have to make sure your tires have a good all weather patern and even still you have to really pay attention to the black ice you may not see on the road because no matter how many wheels you have helping you get going....it does nothing for you when trying to get that speedo back to zero

 

Yes, Quattro FTW!!!

 

EXACTLY!!!!! quattro is great for moving... but how will you stop!!?

for example, i get up hills fine but im F*&ked when i have to slide my 5 ton car back down. or when i rippast everyone on the street then suddenly have to turn or stop at a light.... my car goesout ofcontrol... the car issoooo heavy that its tough to maneuver during a slide.

friends, please be aware of this.

 

AWD does not = AW stop. As a long time 4-wheeler, Iearned that years ago with my jeep. It's still sad to see big SUVs go screaming past me on the interstate in a snowstorm and then later pass them in a ditch.

You have to drive carefully even with quattro, but it makes a huge difference. The ABS reduces slides but you have to allow extra distance to stop when the road is icey.

 

4WD does not defy laws of physics. I live in Northern California and travel up tp Tahoe quite frequentlyin the winter. It is a popular sky destination. Anyways, poor fools with their $100K MB suvs and Range Rovers thinks that just because they have this expensive AWD, they are invincible. I see them half flipped over on the side of the road, and just laugh at them. AWD or not, in snow, you slow down. I also try not to brake as much as possible. Just use engine braking to slow down, without using high RPM. Even then, I tend to slide when it is really frozen.

Just because you have an AWD vehicle, does not mean that you are safe in any condition.

 

Yes, another thing is to be cautious to, black ice. My old car was FWD, last winter when I was going around a normal corner as I have always did in the past, coming in it seemed perfectly fine but I hit some black ice the car understeered and I nearly hit two cars.

 

As with all vehicles, the tires are the difference in control when it comes to winter driving. An Audi Quattro with dedicated winter ice and snow tires (NOT all season or M&S tires) is incredible. Check the rating of the tires for both ice traction and snow traction before buying. I have used Michelin Pilot Alpins for winters with few, if any, scary moments. It makes a huge difference.

 

Moral of the story kids...don't drive like a d**che.

On a side note I used to love puttering around in blizzards in my little A4 watching trucks go flying by me on the highway just to end up in a ditch a mile down the road. That and racing a diesel F250 from a stop light. He pretty much just went sideways even with 4WD while the A4 just took off straight down the road....good times, good times.

 

that's what i do! i actually don't use the tiptronic in the A6 as much as i do in my passat. but when it is icy or snowy.. the tiptronic is a real luxury.

I drive in lower gears and have greater control, and hardly need to breakl.