77rednecktruck ā What year is your Uncleās A4? What tires?
Tires play a huge roll in snow driving even with AWD. Bad/wrong tires can negate any advantage AWD might offer in winter conditions.
I currently use Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 winter tires on my 2001 S4 and itās an absolute tank. I laugh at snow. The car is also pretty damn good with decent all-season tire. Of course 1ā of snow renders my car worthless if I use the summer tires.
My old 2002 A4 was also damn good with decent Dunlop SP5000 all-season tires. However, my wifeās car (2005 Audi A4) was slipping and sliding a bit last year on the pathetic stock all-season Pirelli P6 tires. Iāve always hated those things. The tires were about 70% worn.
Back in the dayā¦ for 10 years combined I ran Pirelli 210 Snowsport winter tires on my last two cars (1990 VW Jetta GLI and 1995 Jetta VR6) and I got around very well. Of course those were FWD cars.
my buddies 94 S10 shortbed single cab with 2wd and 4 cylinder with 150 lbs in the bed and studded all terrain/snow tires would go anywhere!
only time it got stuck was when it hit a drift and the whole truck was suspended offfff the ground on the frame railsā¦none of the wheels could grab ground.
now my camaro has a hard time just moving on the flat driveway if there is snow on the ground. i pull it out every now and then in the winter to start it up and run it. gettin it back in the garage is hard sometimes. needs a running start
so rwd set up right should be fine as long as your easy on the power applied to the ground
awd or 4wd aside, the best snow cars Iāve had was a fwd 90 honda hatch with $20 retread snow tires (20 included the mounting - never balanced)ā¦ the lincoln now sucks unless I turn traction control off. it kicks in too soonā¦ if I have it off, it goes half-decent
I always steal my dads 900$ beater Dakoda in bad snow. I tried to be a hardass on greentree road andpull out in 2wd with nothingin the bed but snow. Yeah, that didnt last long, even with all seasons that thing went where ever i pointed it in the snow.
fwd tends to push going down hills in a significant snow stormā¦ RWD in the snow actaully teaches you better drving techniques IMOā¦ you are forced to learn how to countersteer. i did have an easier time goin up hills with FWD i felt like i was in total control with RWD in the snowā¦ i also live on one of the biggest hills in the city
My first ride was a rwd v6 dakota 5 speed. Put snow tires on it and I would get in that bitch everytime it snowed to do some fishtailing and dounuts, sucked compared to fwd and awd on big hills especially with no speed but I never got stuck for long with its awseome 1 wheel drive open diff. Acouple times I would have to sit there and lay tire till I burned through the snow and creep up hills. Fwd works great just donāt give it too much gas around bends or youāll just go straight haha. AWD, my moms A4 goes everywhere. Dads dakota v8 auto with posi is super fun in the snow, get stuck put it in 4x4.
A good set of snow tires makes a world of difference to any vehicle in the snow.
That being said I would put my Audi A4 Quattro with snow tires above any other road vehicle in the snow-- acceleration, braking and handling. My 90 Quattro and 5000 TQ were damn good too.
I have driven all the above, AWD, RWD, FWD and auto, stick shifts. I prefer an AWD manual. I have a 1988 Audi 80 5sp AWD and never lost control of it and NEVER felt like I was in danger.
My dadās f150 is an auto and I like it only because he loads the bed down with sand bags from his work in the winter. Otherwise you are fucked.
My gti is FWD and a manual and I have never felt as safe in the snow as I did in the Audiā¦ my next car will be AWD manual.
Snow driving is the most fun driving you can do. Ok, second behind driving on the trackā¦ road course track of course. Maybe PRP should have winter track dates.
if you donāt have tread on your tires then it doesnāt matter. fwd tendency to plow is higher than rwd Iād say. awd would be good for climbing hills but I donāt see an advantage anwhere else
I havenāt had too many problems with my car really. it will plow thatās for damn sure and I learned my lesson with running no tread in the winter. I only completely spun out once, that was enough. I was gonna get snow tires this winter then I found some brand new bfg TAs gettin thrown out at work
When I had my Typhoon, I drove it in the snow once or twice. It was the worst handling vehicle I ever drove. Mainly because all 4 tires are so wide. It was all over the road.
I had a Suby 2.5RS - 5spd before the Ty & it was the greatest snow vehicle I ever owned (excellent high speed stability in any inclement weather). Next up was my 1979 Jeep Wagoneer with quadratrac. The jeep went anywhere the wheels were pointed. If you wanted to stop, you just locked up all 4 wheels & threw it in reverse, & nailed the gas. It would stop RIGHT NOW. As long as the wheels were locked up, it did no harm to the drivetrain.
I like AWD/Manual trans for the snow, but I have driven RWD, FWD, AWD, 4WD, etc & they all have their pros & cons.
i had a 2000 honda civic si with skinny snow tires all around, now i have a 2004 330i with snow tires all around, both manuals. I prefer the BMW hands down of the two. goes a lot better in the snow. not saying the honda was bad, becuase it was good, but the bmw is amazing with snow tires
ESP off of course.
