Vijay

The 295's are starting to get a bit wide, however, if they are a true winter tire, and with the Cayenne's AWD and gearing options, you will still have a stellar winter performer.

I honestly think it will be a toss up, unless the snow gets deep in which case the Cayenne has an obvious advantage.

I have a Cayenne S with 275/45/19 Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow and it is a phenomenal snow vehicle. The RS4 is too, but if I were to pick one of the two to venture out into big snow, I would take my Cayenne.

Vijay

Look.....We are supposed to be getting 14" of snow here in western Massachusetts tonight. I am picking up my daughters from ther indoor soccer practice at 7pm. It is already snowing like crazy. I will be taking my Cayenne. As capable as the RS4 is, the Cayenne, on equivalent tires is more capable. 295's may be getting slightly wide but the Cayenne is heavier by over 1000 lbs too. I have 275's on my Cayenne and it is simply outstanding in the snow.

brianja

I would pick the RS4. That's not the case. Clearly, all things being equal the Cayenne is more suited to snow use.

This is a specific example. THIS RS4 vs THIS Cayenne GTS.

Ground clearance issues aside, it was just something to open up debate about whether a car with AWD and skinnier tires would be more or less capable than an SUV (designed with snow in mind) with wider, larger, less snow-fiendly tires.

NYImola::NYMisano

Im comparing it to my ex-B5 S4 with Nokian Hakkas though...Ive been suprised at how much better the car goes/turns than stops to be honest with this particular tire choice.

Vijay

295's are wide but Cayenne is also 20% heavier.

Jet Jockey/A4 Pilot

AWD car and can get stuck easily.

With two open diffs on the Quattro you can and will get in trouble unlike the Porsche system which I'm sure can lock up the diffs. The Cayenne is even considered a very capable off roader something the RS4 isn't.

KMarshall

The RS4 is still great in the Snow... but I also got stuck in 8 inches of wind packed fresh this morning.

Vijay

Two weeks ago I got caught in a nasty storm on the way back from skiing. Cars lined up bumper to bumper for hours on the highway. I put into into low range, locked the diffs, traversed down the median embankment grass which was about a 15% grade with deep grass and 6" of snow, back up the embankment on the other side and turned around to go the other way on the highway and get to an exit ramp.

Jenner

push of a button.

<IMG SRC="http://www.jlosee.com/images/porsche/cayenne_turbo/pics/sport_technos_side_high.jpg">

John Stahmann

The Cayenne GTS has a manual locking differential, as well as low range which would provide additional traction, so even though they are both running snow tires and clearance may not be the issue - the Cayenne GTS will have better ability than the RS4.

We had a V8 Touareg and it was awesome in the snow. I put BFG All-Terrains on it for the winter and that thing could go anywhere with the combination of the tires, locking center, and locking rear differentials.