S5 was great in Vermont this weekend...
02-17-2009, 06:21 PM
#1
S5 was great in Vermont this weekend...
I drove up to Stratton from NYC on Thursday night, and there was a serious blizzard for the last 30 miles or so of the drive. A Toyota minivan was off the road - and off the wrong side of the road at that! It looked like it had lost traction on a hill and slid backwards across the road and into the ditch on the opposite side. There was also a Prius stuck on another hill - right in the middle of the two lanes of traffic, wheels spinning, trying to get traction. No one was stopping because it was too dangerous and with the road already blocked, it would have caused even more problems...
But the S5? Fantastic!
I don't even have dedicated snow tires, just all seasons. But it never lost grip, including up steep hills with several inches of unplowed snow and ice; roads where one wheel would be in a cleared area and the other would be deep in snow; and stopping on steep inclines. I did feel the ABS come on once, but only for two pumps (was already going very slow, maybe ~ 10 mph at the time).
I already liked this car better than my IS350 anyway, but after the weekend I appreciate it even more. That car would have gotten killed in those conditions (as would most RWD vehicles I guess).
Anyway, that is my feel-good S5 story for the evening.
But the S5? Fantastic!
I don't even have dedicated snow tires, just all seasons. But it never lost grip, including up steep hills with several inches of unplowed snow and ice; roads where one wheel would be in a cleared area and the other would be deep in snow; and stopping on steep inclines. I did feel the ABS come on once, but only for two pumps (was already going very slow, maybe ~ 10 mph at the time).I already liked this car better than my IS350 anyway, but after the weekend I appreciate it even more. That car would have gotten killed in those conditions (as would most RWD vehicles I guess).
Anyway, that is my feel-good S5 story for the evening.
02-17-2009, 07:36 PM
#5
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yeah but don't take Quattro for granted
as it's not a cure all. I'm up in Wintery Wisconsin and I have Blizzaks on my S5. Even though the traction control is fantastic in the snow and I have a lot of confidence most of the time, I have to point out that with ice on the ground no technology is going to help you out, especially when it comes to braking. The S5 is a heavy car as we all know and so I'll just toss in my 2c and say not to take it for granted as it can take a while to stop the thing - I almost went though a stop sign into a major road with traffic as the junction I was approaching was on a slight hill and there was ice under the new snow and I was lucky to stop short of that main road. Basically I was over-confident in the car/tires, but I know better now. All's well that ends well of course.
