Hey so I've got a 2009 A3 w/ Quattro (2.0T). I'm planning on going to Tahoe in a week or so and I wanted to know if the 4-wheel drive is sufficient for normal to moderate road conditions or if I have to do anything special.

Like obviously if its snowing like a mother effer, chains are still technically required but I bought the Quattro option for this specific reason.

I'm just a lil wary because one of the first things I read in the A3 manual were that the tires in the car are filled to a spec to hold a load of 3 people and that if I planned to have 4 people (perhaps they meant all the time or something), that I would have to adjust the tire air accordingly?

Do I have to do any of this ****? Whether it be get chains or fill my tires with more air?

Lastly, pseudo-related question: Anyone know a means of putting the snowboards on the roof on the A3 with a soft rack and could recommend a good brand? I don't want to have a pseudo-permanent-its-too-annoying-to-take-off-and-on hard rack because I don't go snowboarding more than like 2-3 times a season.

Thanks much for any guidance

 

Snow tires! I've got Kumho high-performance summer tires on mine, and they would likely slide all over the place in a good snow. Check out this thread at AudiWorld:

http://forums.audiworld.com/a3/msgs/111657.phtml

 

Double Check your tires. But if you have anything but the titanium package you have all-season tires and they will handle almost any level of snow thrown at you with the quattro. I live in Montana and all-season and front wheel drive handles 6+ inches with no problem. So as long as you have all-season dont worry about a think. Regarding a soft rack go to your local surf shop and they will be able to recommend one that will work perfectly for your needs.

 

I agree with 4ringsrod. I drove a testdrive A3 3.2 with all seasons and the sales guy took me to an unplowed field with deep snow and let me have at it. I was blown away as it ripped through the snow better than my wife's envoy with 4x4 on. I bought the car that day based upon what I experienced in that test drive. I did get the Titanium package so I have since ordered a winter wheel/tire package but if I had all season's on I would have done nothing.

 

****... i have the titanium package (which i think has summer tires on it) ... why the hell does the upgraded package, especially with Quattro, have non-winter tires on it? how much does the all season or winter tire package run $$ wise? ... is winter that much better than all season?

 

The titanium package comes with 18 inch wheels and summer tires which of course is advantageous in certain driving conditions and more performance oriented. Winter tires are better than all seasons both in terms of tread pattern and the rubber compound. I spent about $1100 for a winter wheel tire package from the tirerack but I got nice 17 inch wheels where I could have gone with steel 16s that would have been far cheaper. I think you can do the whole thing for closer to 700. The other option is you could simply buy a set of all season tires and put those on your 18 inch titanium wheels and seel the summer tires. 18 inch rims aren't great in the snow but from a grip standpoint if you have quattro and all seasons you will rip through pretty much anything. I am in a rush so this was just a quick reply but hope it helps you.

 

I got nice cast 16's with Blizzaks and only spent $625 with shipping. So plan on $650 to $1200 depending on what you want to do with your winter set up.

 

I'd most likely upgrade to all-season tires after this season just cause i like my rims ... but is it dangerous to drive in the snow with the summer tires w/ Quattro?

 

dude - I'd strongly suggest you not try to drive in winter conditions with summer tires. Trust me even with quattro you could wreck your car and worse. Summer tires are designed for high heat and grip in dry or near dry conditions so aside from the tread pattern you have a rubber compound that in the winter will get rock hard and not hold the road at all. The quattro won't help because instead of 2 tires spinning you'll have 4. I suppose if you stayed on plowed roads and out of active storms you might be ok but even getting up a hill on summer tires with quattro could present a problem. unfortunately summer tires are really only usable in dry or light to moderate rain conditions in my experience. I also wouldn't consider moving from summer tires to all season as an upgrade, but really more accurately a compromise that will give you one tire suitable for all conditions vs a tire optimized for specific conditions. Just realize the all seasons will give up a lot in dry road condition performance to the summer tires - which I realize may not matter to you. Good luck.

 

Don't be stupid... driving with all season in snow is scary enough (Depending on which one, Pzero Nero claims to be all season, but it's no better than Rosso in the snow)... summer is suicidal. Quattro does absolutely nothing for stopping in snow or worse ice.

Here's yet another one of the thousands thread started on the internet in the past month on snow tires:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4163043