Josh Ives

I recently was at a friends mountain cabin and could not get my 99.5 A4 TQMS with all weather to go up his rather steep driveway which was covered with snow etc. This wouldn't have been so annoying if his RAV4 and a Jeep hadn't made it up easily. I realize that the stock tires on the A4 are not even close to being snow/winter tires but neither of the other cars had winter tires either... in fact the tires on the RAV4 where almost completely bald. What gives here I thought Quattro was supposed to be one of the best AWD's out there all it did was spin and spin.

Thanks,

Josh

ErikR

Spin? Which tire(s) spun? I live in the land of ice and hills and I have never had any tire spin except in a deliberate 4wheel drift. Of course, I do use snow tires.

Josh Ives

All of them spun.
Tried 3 times, made sure I got a good running start and didn't stop on the hill or anything... I also drove the RAV4 up myself to see if it was my driving.... which it wasn't. Maybe it's just the tires?

7an

...or did you swap them out for all-seasons? The high performance Dunlops would of course be awful in those conditions. I have a 99.5 without the sport package, and got the Goodyear LS all-seasons with the car. They're allright in the snow but have no ice traction whatsoever.

DMoore

My sister is on her fourth. She lives at a ski area, with an incredibly steep driveway with a 180 degree turn half way up. ALL of her quattros have made it up that hill in snow. Ice, of course, is impossible. But all of her cars have had dedicated snow tires on downsized wheels, usually Nokia Hakkapelliitta's, and they make all the difference.

If you're still running the Z rated Dunlop tires that come with the sports package, they are reputed to be terrible in snow, even on a flat road. Trying to climb something steep and slick is NOT what they were designed for.

Put a set of real snow tires on the car, and it will be transformed. My car is useless in snow with stock tires, but it's a whole different car with my snow tires.

DMoore
'00 S4

RickM

Those things are a disaster in the snow, as you apparently now know. They're not intended for winter conditions. When I bought my A4 with the sports package, the salesman made a point of saying (a couple times in fact) that I wouldn't be able to use the Dunlops in the snow. I bought a set of Pirelli 210A's on steel rims for the winter, and they've been great. $500 for the whole set at The Tirerack, inclusive of wheel covers, delivered.
Rick

Frank G

Summer tires use a compound which at lower temperatures has little or no grip so that even a relatively threadless jeep tire would probably have more grip than your summer tires.

Bob

Josh,

Your sport tires are primarily to blame here. If you had all-weather or snow tires, you would have gone up the steep driveway. But for your information, the RAV4 has a locking center diff and an optional Torsen rear diff. _Generally speaking_, a locking center differential can exhibit better low-speed ice/snow performance although it's tires are slipping. Every AWD system has its merits and reasons. It's unfair to say that Quattro IV is the best.

Bob
96 A4QM
86 4KCSQM

Bob

I meant to say that it's unfair to say that Quattro IV is the best system _for all situations_.

Bob
96 A4QM
86 4KCSQM

wjm

Hi everyone,
I saw this posting, and definitely feel your upset. I have to agree with everyone that it is probably your tires to blame. I have a story of what an A4 can do with the right tires on it. This also happens to be the story of Why I got my 99.5 A4 =)

last year i was in Sweden for x-mas, visiting an family friend. We went up to the mountains to go skiing for a few days. The evening that we left a very large storm came blowing in (dumped 2 feet). SO we had 2 options: drive slow and take 12 hours to get to our destination or punch it. We punched it. Hans was driving a mini-van and I was following in his A4 avant. we were averaging 140kph in blizzard conditions. I WAS SOLD!!

Later when we were at the ski resort, the minivan got stuck. I pulled it out using the tow hook on the back of the A4, up a 25 degree incline. One time I parked it on the incline and it started to slide, when I applied power, the tires gripped up and we pulled the minivan out of the snow.
AGAIN SOLD!

7 months later I picked up my 99.5 A4 1.8TQMS. The car and quattro are a wonder! Given the recent snowfall I am looking to pick up another set of wheels, and winter tires. The 8000s work, and i havent been able to get stuck, but they havent provided the ideal traction

-Will