BrillianTT 2.0

I know many on this forum track their cars so I understand the benefits of Quattro there, but for those non track guys thinking they need it for winter weather, I drove in this AM with approx 3-4 inches of unplowed snow through my entire commute (freeway and side streets) and the 2.0T with Blizzaks handles just as well as my old Mk I 225 Quattro did. No traction or stopping issues whatsoever. I'm glad as I was contemplating if I should have gone for the 3.2 due to winter driving but no problems at all.

BrandonLive

But it will help you get going. If you need to climb a hill, or stay straight on ice, or get unstuck if your car gets buried... there will be a difference.

For the most part, a FWD car with winter tires will do perfectly fine in winter weather. Tires matter more than anything, as summer tires not only have poor treads for snow/ice, but are made of compounds that will freeze up in cold weather and be hard as a rock.

That said, where I live we have very rainy winters, and I really enjoy having Quattro again after my last car (A3 2.0T) was FWD.

|everso!|

they are much better than any RWD car, and with snow tires, they'll do fine...

however, when push comes to shove, and you gotta really pull off some interesting snow moves in the dead of winter, a Quattro will readily pull it off easier than a FWD....for SURE.

say you're driving on a highway....35mph, in snow....and you have to move emergently to avoid a hazard....that's where it makes all the difference...

Kozmo

In western PA, the hills are the real killer. Everyone wants AWD.

RedRoadster

Just ordered WS 60s for my GTI.

SilverCanuckTT

I drove turbo Saabs from 1980 to 2005. With a good set of Hakkas they seemed to be able to get through anything where you could be smooth and predictable....and fun when you couldn't. Then I bought an A4 Avant 2.0T FSI quattro...and I realized why Saab stopped competing in rallys in the late 80's when the Audi quattro coupe came onto the scene.

There is no contest. AWD beats FWD or RWD in any kind of slippery conditions. And even in the dry, AWD beats FWD for distributing the torque more evenly, letting the front wheels do what they are supposed to.

My wife has a 2001 Saab 9-3 SE with the identical winter tires to my TT (though 15" and narrower than my 225/50R17s). On the 20 cm of snow we got yesterday I could beat her by 3 car lengths across a 4 lane wide intersection. And me driving her car felt pretty dumb when she got across the same intersection in my TT before I could get past the pedestrian crossing when the light turned green (she's a bit competitive !).

'Nuf said.

oceloTT

I live in New England and thought my FWD Honda pretty good in the winter in all but the most challenging situations (which are pretty rare in the city). I discovered though how much better the quattro was this week when we had our first snow. It just handled better and this is with all weather tires too.

DerTT

it up a few notches.

Will have to see how my RWD M Coupe does with the Pirelli Snowsport 210s.

BrillianTT 2.0

I'm in the Detroit area - what's a hill