D2 A8 3.7 QS in the snow

[mannyo]

Well I woke up yesterday morning to several inches of snow, and looked forward to trying out the Quattro system for the system.

I was really surprised at how well the system dealt with the snow, the office carpark entrance is on a steep slope and having arrived at work to see one other member of staff slipping half way up the slope he let me go first. Well, the car just drove up the hill like the snow was not there. The look on the other drivers face as I made it to the top with no fuss. He then followed behind using my tracks with no problem.

However upon returning home, having driven very carefully down the same slope I got the car stuck outside my house. Had to dig the car out, it was well and truly stuck with 4 wheels all spinning.

Went out again this morning, no drama but thats because all the roads are now clear.

[notorious]

It's not about quattro -- it's all about tyres. Try winter tyres next time

[Baryonyx]

I don't bother with winter tyres, but my Quattro is coping very well. Obviously, a delicate right foot is required as the 4.2 can really whizz off the mark in the dry (but then I was creeping up some hills, slipping the clutch in second in a Vauxhall Astra at work the other night too!). I've not met anything yet that even needed me to take the car out of 'D'.

Mind you, my A8 is now well and truly buried under some snow so I will need to take a good 20 minutes to clean it down next time I want to drive it!

[ainarssems]

Winter tyres make huge difference. I have seen front wheel drive cars with winter tyres going without breaking a sweat where quattro with summer tyres gets stuck with 3 wheels spinning and not going anywhere even with proper old school diff locks engaged on Audi 90.

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by ainarssems

Winter tyres make huge difference.

Absolutely.
We had over 6" of snow here yesterday (still mostly do - see sig pic taken today!) and I had to drive UP the steep snow-covered hill outside the house at about 9pm last night to collect SWMBO from the station (4 miles each way, roughly - all covered in snow).
As neither S8 has winter tyres on at present I took the Focus. It just drove off normally though gently, the Traction Control didn't even kick in once.
Saw a few other cars (including some 4*4's) around and they were moving VERY gingerly and not at all where they were being pointed.

[daviesbike]

Im on 275 35 20 and ive had no problems in even a foot or more of snow ive been places that even a landrover managed to get stuck im not sure if the fact that there wide spreads the load better or what. ...id like some 45 winters though as spairs or even some 50s if i put them on 19" wheels

[Nollywood]

About 4" of the white stuff here, and still snowing (been snowing since 10:00). I haven't taken the Audi out, I've used the BMW, and she's coped fine on winter tyres, even going up a steep slope dead straight, despite RWD.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by daviesbike

im not sure if the fact that there wide spreads the load better or what.

Great for stability in the dry, not so much in the snow! The most effective tyres in snow are the skinnier ones. Look at a proper Defender on M&S tyres, they're tall and skinny. Wide, low profile tyres are the worst. Massive areas to lay down the car's power usually translates into a propensity to slip. Hence why Soft-roaders tend to be a bit cack in the snow. Range Rovers can be bad enough but the BMW X5 tends to be the worst for getting stuck IME, the tyres are massive and they just slip and slide. The AWD system in the A8 is very, very good though which covers up for the fat tyres somewhat (mine is on 245's),

Take a small car with skinny tyres out and it will get you anywhere. The best car I've ever had in the snow was my mk1 Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Ebony. Skinny tyres and a near torque-less engine meant it would just do whatever you asked of it.

[Architex_mA8tey]

Hmm so my 295's are no good then lol.

[Singh]

To be honest, I haven't had a problem in the 62 plate Picasso I've been made to drive, nor a 530D manual trade car I had to drive from our compound in the worst of it. The plus hasn't moved in days and I've not taken it out in the snow.