Muray

We are having lots of big snowstorms in NY lately, so I've been driving my Dad's Camry to work instead of my RWD C350 Benz, which is terrible in snow without snow tires. Since I am getting my S4 in a couple of months I didn't bother getting snow tires for the Benz. I definitely plan on getting snows for the S4. The Camry isn't that great in snow either. The AS tires got rock hard and I almost crashed into a parked car due to understeer. Besides having more traction taking off from a stop more than my Benz, it is inferior in every way imaginable in the snow. The Benz is pretty good in snow once it gets rolling, much better than the Mustang I used to drive. Anyways...

So I started to wonder what the S4 resembles. The Camry feels very floaty and front-end happy whenever gas is put down in the snow. The Benz, of course, feels tail happy but very controllable in turns. The Camry just pushs like mad whenever I tried to make a turn. Since the S4 is based on FWD architecture of the A4, but it is AWD with rear-biased quattro, I am clueless to what to expect when I get it. I've been driving RWD for 15 years now so I am very comfortable with oversteer. For those of you who had FWD and RWD cars in the past, what is S4 like when driven hard compared to those drivetrains?

DrVolkl

It drives like a rear biased AWD car.

Gear Junky

Depends on how you spec your S4, without sportdiff it drives like a very well behaved fwd that corners on rails (up to a point), with sportdiff it drives like a rwd biased awd car which is much more fun.

Excelsior7

AWD cars behave a little like both.

They have amazing traction on acceleration, of course, but they do understeer a bit. Not nearly as much as FWD, but they do.

On the advantage, you don't have to worry as much about keeping the back end in check.

Haven't driven the S4 in snow yet, but from Test Drives I'd agree that it is about as close to neutral as any AWD car I've driven, in that it doesn't feel front heavy, but it still has amazing grip on acceleration.

DrGP

Please be clear. Are you talking about how the S4 handles in the snow or in the dry? And yes, the sport diff makes a significant difference in the dry handling feel and helps the snow handling as well. The sport diff gives the S4 more of a rear drive feel than any previous Audi. In the snow with dedicated winter tires, with or without sport did, there are few cars , or trucks and SUVs, that are as capable as the S4.

Muray

I meant in the dry. I am not going to be driving hard in the snow so doesn't really matter. I do have sports differential on order so I am glad that it feels like a RWD car more than FWD car.

trinacria

Agree w/ DrVolkl and Gear Junky.

Ken F

I can only add that a Quattro goes so good in the slick stuff that it is very easy to not realize how slick the road surface is, until you go to brake! Probably the best vehicle I've ever driven in the snow hands down, including many 4wd trucks.

Ken

xtr3ma

Rear bias awd is the best description. It's no rwd.

rktskicar

I agree with Dr Volkl. An AWD does not understeer as much as a FWD. With sport diff and rear biased AWD, is pretty neutral steering IMO.

Bruce