Benjamin MacRAE

I have read through some of the archives on this topic and have a few general questions I want cleared up to make sure I am on the right track.

I am looking at a 99 or 99.5 (not sure which) 1.8 T Quattro 5 Speed......a few of them, in fact. I think they all have the sport package, and I am in an area that gets a bunch of snow each year (150 inches).

Many mornings I will have to drive 3-4 miles into town on rural roads with 6-8 inches of unplowed snow on them, sometimes even 12"......

My question is, does the A4 have enough ground clearance to get me through this kind of situation? I know the sport package lowers the car .75 inches, which doesnt help, but I think all the vehicles available readily to me have the sport trim.

I am certainly willing to put on snow tires/rims as the sport tires are summer only.....

The 4.7 inches of ground clearance or whatever the Audi brochure lists scares me......if the entire belly of the car is resting on the snow, it doesnt matter how good the 4wd/AWD system is, it's going to have a heck of a time moving itself.

Can the Sport package be adjusted somehow to raise the car back up .75 inches, or is it due to an entirely different suspension system???

Any comments appreciated. Thanks to those who replied to my earlier post.

PLEASE MAIL TO: mac5ffmi@benzie.com

Ben

Gordon Martin

No one has been able to tell me of a way to raise the car. The usual answer is "get an Audi All-Road instead". I just figured that there must be some mechanical system that must let you vary the pressure and adjust the height on the fly or something...

In answer to your deep snow concerns, some A4.orgers have reported plowing through powdery white stuff that was riding up to their door handles!!

The A4 AWD system definately helps you here...Most 4X4 trucks will get stuck as soon as one (maybe two if your lucky) wheels lose their traction. Whereas the A4 has to lose traction on absolutely all wheels before it stops. I had this problem with my father's Blazer a couple of times. The belly would rest on the snow, one wheel would lose traction and I would be stuck. When I did finally get the truck off the snow, I would find that it had hardly compressed the snow at all - there just has to be enough up pressure to take the pressure off of only one wheel. I suspect that this same scenario with my A4 would yield a very compressed pile of snow since the snow would have to support the absolute full wieght of the car if it wants to release my wheels from the ground.

Just my thoughts on the subject - I could be way off here....Anyone else?

Gordon Martin
98.5 2.8QMS (Santorin Blue)

MikeM

Hello, are you the yupper (Northern Michagander)? I think you are right to worry about the ground clearance issue. On un-plowed roads, even w/ quattro and snow tires, you will have problems when 6 plus inches are on the ground. I guess I have to ask what other people w/ standard cars do up there after a big storm? Good luck w/ your decision, the A4 is truly a great car.

Mike
99.5 2.8 Avant qmss (former Detroiter, Michigan fan forever)

Benjamin MacRAE

Most people with cars up here in Traverse City are fine, but there are a few days each year when there is a lot of snow on my low-priority road when I have to be to work, and end up driving through 10 inches of snow.

I know the A4 is a fantastic vehicle, kind of the modern AWD 325iX BMW which my dad has, but I think I might need something with some more ground clearance.....

Bummer.....

Ben

Benjamin MacRAe

Theoretically, your typical 4wd SUV with a part-time 4wd system will actually only have officially TWO wheel drive when locked into 4WD. This would be one wheel on the front axle and one on the back axle, coincidentally the ones with the least traction, at that. If you have a posi/limited slip/LSD rear end, it mightactually semi-power both back tires and one front.....

If you pulled onto a icy shoulder where both right tires were on glare ice, there is a chance that, even with 4wd, you couldnt get it to move.

The Audi Quattro system is obviously more advanced.....I just wish it had the added help of some extra ground clearance:>)

Ben

DMoore

I've been driving Quattro's in Mammoth since '86, where we average 300+ inches of snow per season. My non-sport A4Q (with Nokian snows on 15" wheels) has been down the road with 10" of fresh snow with no problem. Well -- "no problem" may be an exaggeration, but I made it through.

I don't think the slightly lower ground clearance of the sport package will make much difference in all but the most extreme conditions. Frankly, with a good set of snow tires I think you'll get through just about anything short of an absolute road closure. I guess I'll find out for myself, as my S4 is due here by the end of the month. It'll have 205/55-16 Nokian Hakka 1's for the winter.

Chris C

The fact that the car should be able to push the snow out of the way. If the snow is heavy enough to high center the car, it is probably heavy enough to support the tires to some degree as well. I used my car as a snowplow a few times when I lived in VT (including a 2' snowfall) without any problems.

Chris

Benjamin MacRAE

Thanks for the info.....I greatly appreciate the input here, everyone.

I was sure that the lack of ground clearance would doom the car's ability to perform well in really deep snow, but I have heard someone in another post say that the A4 can, with proper tires, push snow up to the doorhandles......Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but still, it will go through more than 4.7 inches of snow from the sound of things.

The ONLY other vehicle I am considering aside from an A4Q is a Toyota Tundra, which obviously has more ground clearance but a much more basic 4wd system.

Swapping off the sport suspension is more than I can handle, so I could try to find one without sport suspension, or else I could get a real good set of snows and make sure to get a running start up the driveway before I get on the road with deep snow.

So, in all honesty, what is about the deepest snow an A4 Q will run through without getting high centered or otherwise stuck???

10"????

12"???


Thanks, Ben

Tim C

Link:<ul><li><a href="http://www.a4.org/news/stories/qtale.shtml">Quattro Tale</a></li></ul>

ErikR

It's easy to raise the A4 with a set of coilovers; they raise AND lower. The trick is to have springs that are long enough (many 2.0/2.5" performance springs are short) to stay engaged with the threaded portion of the spring and a bit of travel in the shock (i.e., not a shortened racing shock).

I used to do this in my rally 323gtx, drop for autocross and raise for gravel roads just by turning the collar. It is very easy. The real limiting factor is that the car should get an alignment between radical changes in height. By eyeballing the design, it is a multilink not a mac strut (323gtx), the most you are going to get is 2" up from sport. I would just get a taller snow tire, all 4 the same size.