ctdogman

Hi all,

I'm a newbie, just got my first Audi. It's a 2005 A6 3.2 with 80,000 miles, auto trans. Got a good deal on it, so my wife & I decided to go for it. We love the car! Anyhow, I have what is probably a dumb question, but I can't find the answer in the owners manual, so here goes: When driving in the snow, what gear should I put the car in? In my Acura TL (also auto trans), I put that car in 1 (first gear) to prevent the car from shifting. In the Audi, after D (drive) it goes in to S (sport). Is there a way to access a lower gear, like in the Acura, to prevent the car from shifting? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Also for the winter will be putting Blizzaks on the Audi, use them on the TL and the help a great deal. Ok, thanks in advance for any help!

audi40

if you push the gear shift to the right, it should go into manual mode so you can select the gear you want by pushing the shifter forward (upshift) or back (downshift)

ctdogman

Did what you said audi40,and it worked! There was 1st gear, 2nd gear, etc. Now I can use 1st or 2nd and drive more safely on slick roads. Thank you very much for the information & help

Mojo57

It's an automatic so why not let it pick the right gear depending on your speed? What am I missing? I certainly can't imagine that over reving the car in a lower gear is going to be safer on slick roads.

A6Gary

Reason: When descending a compact snow/ice coverd grade, you want to limit your speed and use the low braking force that the engine provides in a lower gear (works especially well with the quattro drive). If you let the tranny select the gear, you could find yourself going to fast to stop when you need to. You also want to control your speed and traction when ascending the same hill. Since I live in a hilly area that gets snow once or twice a season, I have always used this technique successfully to control my descent or ascent up or down the hills. I do the same when I travle up into the mountains for skiing. So far, I haven't lost control of or crashed the vehicle (knock on wood!).

MainlandMig

+1
well said

also with tip u can better control weight distribution...minimize lean and pitch. better cornering ...i drive 95% of the time in tip

Mojo57

Seems to me that with the type of braking system, anti skid system etc on these carsthat the brakes would be better suited to control the speed of the car rather than the engine braking affect but to each their own. If it works for you then that's good enough.

Philip1

Audi spent months and millions of euros developing the systems in our cars for traction. Put it in drive and press the tall pedal gently.

Panzerknacker

1. Find an empty parking lot.

2. Turn off ESP.

3. Turn steering wheel one direction or the other.

4. Floor it.

5. Enjoy calorie free doughnuts.

beep-beep

I am on the side of "use D" for snow. Traction control will take the rest.
In straight line traction will prevent wheels from spinning.
If you put too much gas out of the corner, you still will get oversteet, but it is manageable with correction.
the worst part if you get carried away with all these gismos and get too much speed and you are going down the hill and cannot stop. And quattro or not, but they all have the same brakes. Here you might wish to use lower gear and do not drive that fast .