Facelift Quattro Snow?

HulkRS3

HulkRS3

Kyalami RS3 Saloon
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Having only driven FWD cars, and with the prospect of Storm Doris looming, it got me wondering how does the S3 Quattro handle itself in the snow?

What is the differential settings in terms of how much power is front to rear and any tips for driving in the snow with one? I'm thinking too much power and the **** end will want to say hello to the front end?
 
I don't know mate, but I'd imagine it'll be more understeer that oversteer. Just be safe buddy!


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I might tell you in the morning if the snow forecast for Edinburgh arrives and I decide to drive to work!

That said, they're forecasting 4" to 8" where I live, so I'll probably walk!
 
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Mark_86 said:
I don't know mate, but I'd imagine it'll be more understeer that oversteer. Just be safe buddy!


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Will miss it this year around hopefully as not getting built to 6th March and hoping all snow has well and truly f'd off by then and we have some sunshine for her arrival. :)
 
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You do realise that you'll kick off a haldex vs torsen debate again with this thread . If I remember rightly, haldex is basically FWD and with torsen you can drive around in the snow and ice with your foot welded to the fun pedal with no bother at all, lol


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Drove my S3 for the first time in light snow a few weeks ago. Pulls away great and the grip is excellent, I thought "this four wheel drive is brilliant". However braking grip is terrible and it did not want to slow down even at the low speed i was going.

Could just be the increased momentum as I have been used to Fiesta variants but I was surprised. Did not play with just engine braking.
 
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Mark_86 said:
I don't know mate, but I'd imagine it'll be more understeer that oversteer. Just be safe buddy!


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Its more understeerish but can be provosed to oversteer with steering , weighing when cornering with throttle to give front end initially more grip


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Forget all that old rubbish about mountain goat like grip, it's not a Land Rover. Yes, you'll get better traction, but when it comes to steering, slowing, and stopping, you're no better off than any other type of car. In fact, with your wide summer compound tyres, you're likely to have rings run round you by old ladies in Nissan Micras.

Winter tyres are far more effective in the British isles than four wheel drive. A two wheel drive car on winter tyres will vastly out perform an S3 on summer tyres in winter conditions involving snow and ice. As for Haldex vs Torsen? I love that debate, but it's immaterial. Both have pros and cons over each other, but the important thing is that both are equally compromised by snow and ice and both are utterly reliant on the tyres they transmit power through.
 
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Quattro snow what... the....l would be thinking more on the lines of the damage the snow is going to inflict on your pride and joy.... Gritters oncoming traffic.... Etc l have just driven through it this morning to work my car was pelted by all sorts of grit chips stones etc...a ****** nightmare that's what quattro is like in traffic in heavy snow
 
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GSB said:
Forget all that old rubbish about mountain goat like grip, it's not a Land Rover. Yes, you'll get better traction, but when it comes to steering, slowing, and stopping, you're no better off than any other type of car. In fact, with your wide summer compound tyres, you're likely to have rings run round you by old ladies in Nissan Micras.

Winter tyres are far more effective in the British isles than four wheel drive. A two wheel drive car on winter tyres will vastly out perform an S3 on summer tyres in winter conditions involving snow and ice. As for Haldex vs Torsen? I love that debate, but it's immaterial. Both have pros and cons over each other, but the important thing is that both are equally compromised by snow and ice and both are utterly reliant on the tyres they transmit power through.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree. We had a Fiesta with Conti Winter 850 tyres it ran rings around 4X4's we had at the time. Its all about the traction through the wheels, especially with stopping and cornering as you mention.
 
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As others have said, don't let AWD lull you into a false sense of security. It will mean you are far less likely to get stuck, but doesn't help much when it comes to braking or cornering. There's a Q7 lives on out street that nearly found that one out the hard way...

When we had really bad snow about 5-6 years ago now I invested in a set of winter tyres which I have on some secondary alloy wheels. That makes a huge difference, and AWD + winter tyres is the ultimate combination for mobility in snow.

So, quattro will help you avoid getting stuck in a surprise snow fall, but if it's going to stick around get winter tyres!
 
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jassyo06 said:
Quattro snow what... the....l would be thinking more on the lines of the damage the snow is going to inflict on your pride and joy.... Gritters oncoming traffic.... Etc l have just driven through it this morning to work my car was pelted by all sorts of grit chips stones etc...a ****** nightmare that's what quattro is like in traffic in heavy snow
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Wet snow here this morning, but I don't want to it sprayed with grit either, so I'm about to walk to work.
 
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audi upgrades
There's a RS6 in a field not far from my site... Happened this morning go figure... Lol
 
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GSB said:
Forget all that old rubbish about mountain goat like grip, it's not a Land Rover. Yes, you'll get better traction, but when it comes to steering, slowing, and stopping, you're no better off than any other type of car. In fact, with your wide summer compound tyres, you're likely to have rings run round you by old ladies in Nissan Micras.

Winter tyres are far more effective in the British isles than four wheel drive. A two wheel drive car on winter tyres will vastly out perform an S3 on summer tyres in winter conditions involving snow and ice. As for Haldex vs Torsen? I love that debate, but it's immaterial. Both have pros and cons over each other, but the important thing is that both are equally compromised by snow and ice and both are utterly reliant on the tyres they transmit power through.
Click to expand...

This.

Well said.
 
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Only driven my TTE420 8P in the snow and it's fine gets up anything and gives you confidence...some times too much and a little drift now and then is fun too just don't expect breaking to be any better then a fed car it's same principle you still need to be wary
 
Just signed up so first post.

I agree with all the above re winter tyres. Even tho' I am in the 'warmish' south I have been putting winter tyres on in November for around 7 years now. Strongly recommend the practice. When on a FWD car in snow about all that will stop you is when the car loses traction as the snow is so deep that it lifts the front wheels up. On snow, ice or a cold wet road the tyres in combination with anti lock brakes are a total revelation. When we get snow I am out on the empty roads practising. I wouldn't be without them now.

I have just bought an S3 and it will be on a set next winter.
 
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Ah...I love my fellow Brits when the snow flies....chaos on the roads and summer/performance tyres. As previously pointed out 4wd only will assist traction, not braking, steering/cornering ability. The only solution are cars shod with true winter tyres and the skinnier the better e.g. from 18/225/45 to 18/195/45. Also your summer/performance tyres lose performance on temperatures below 7 Celsius resulting in poor dry and wet capability. If you do not put on winter tyres and it snows and/or icy roads do everyone a favour and park it. If you live in the South of England and never venture over dale or hilltop, I can understand the reluctance to put on winter tyres but how many times were you white knuckling it on the occasions the weather turned nasty?
An epistle from the colonies ( Canada )
 
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incidentally we've had a few snowy days a few years ago and I was ok driving in my old ST (2.5 one) on the snow.
Just need to drive to the conditions. Obviously, the 'other road users' are an issue you can't count on.
 
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Flying Scotsman said:
Ah...I love my fellow Brits when the snow flies....chaos on the roads and summer/performance tyres. As previously pointed out 4wd only will assist traction, not braking, steering/cornering ability. The only solution are cars shod with true winter tyres and the skinnier the better e.g. from 18/225/45 to 18/195/45. Also your summer/performance tyres lose performance on temperatures below 7 Celsius resulting in poor dry and wet capability. If you do not put on winter tyres and it snows and/or icy roads do everyone a favour and park it. If you live in the South of England and never venture over dale or hilltop, I can understand the reluctance to put on winter tyres but how many times were you white knuckling it on the occasions the weather turned nasty?
An epistle from the colonies ( Canada )
Click to expand...

We got 5 inches of the stuff within 2 hours mate...traction was'nt a problem at all, just poor visibility plus other drivers that are petrified to drive in it...they cause chaos and even block motorways....as they did today,came home from work at 4-00 pm, cars abandoned everywhere at the sides of roads....thats not solely down to the weather its the lack of driving skills as well.....best cars in heavy snow....Ford fiesta/Vauxhall corsa....skinny tyres front wheel drive and a not too overly confident driver...you'll go anywhere in the thick stuff
 
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Flying Scotsman said:
Ah...I love my fellow Brits when the snow flies....chaos on the roads and summer/performance tyres. As previously pointed out 4wd only will assist traction, not braking, steering/cornering ability. The only solution are cars shod with true winter tyres and the skinnier the better e.g. from 18/225/45 to 18/195/45. Also your summer/performance tyres lose performance on temperatures below 7 Celsius resulting in poor dry and wet capability. If you do not put on winter tyres and it snows and/or icy roads do everyone a favour and park it. If you live in the South of England and never venture over dale or hilltop, I can understand the reluctance to put on winter tyres but how many times were you white knuckling it on the occasions the weather turned nasty?
An epistle from the colonies ( Canada )
Click to expand...
Living in London snow is a rare thing indeed. I haven't seen snow here that stopped cars moving since 2011. Since then though my daily runabout has had winter rubber on all year round. In summer it seems to make no difference to the underpowered roller skate, but in winter it's got more grip on greasy cold tarmac than my S3. Winter tyres in cold weather are abso-******-lutely amazing.

Just in case I couldn't drive anywhere at all, I bought a set of spiked ice tyres for my Franken-cycle (a homemade electric mountain bike) so I could get to work along the canal tow path. Hasn't snowed in all the years they've been hanging in my cupboard... :sorry:
 
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jassyo06 said:
We got 5 inches of the stuff within 2 hours mate...traction was'nt a problem at all, just poor visibility plus other drivers that are petrified to drive in it...they cause chaos and even block motorways....as they did today,came home from work at 4-00 pm, cars abandoned everywhere at the sides of roads....thats not solely down to the weather its the lack of driving skills as well.....best cars in heavy snow....Ford fiesta/Vauxhall corsa....skinny tyres front wheel drive and a not too overly confident driver...you'll go anywhere in the thick stuff
Click to expand...

Fair few years back we had loads fall in a couple of hours, took me 3hrs to get back from Milton Keynes (usually a 20 minute drive) was in the Mrs 1.0 Peugeot 206 that she had at the time. Drove past all the Mercedes and BMW owners with ease while they all pulled over because they couldn't move lol
 
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I was married to a Norwegian and they used to laugh like drains at the effect of snow in the UK. Well they did until it snowed there a week before they had by law to fit winter tyres at the end of October. Result utter chaos and no more comments. It turned out that they handled it worse than us as they were only used to driving on snow with winter tyres, often studded.

The big advantage of studs is that they dig in and chop up packed snow and ice, the real problem here. On the other hand once that has gone they just cut grooves in the road, which fill up with water just ready for an aquaplaning experience, all year round.
 
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We have a saying here in Finland.
When it is slippery the only difference between two wheel drive and four wheel drive is, that how much further you get yourself stuck with a four wheel drive.
And yes: We have a law that requires us to use winter tires from December 'til easter. I have had studdless winter tires for the last 13 yrs. Before that I used studded tires.
And these studdless tires are real winter tires, not like the ones sold in Germany.
 
It is strange how us Brits havent come accustomed to changing to winter tyres, especially given our terribly cold and wet winters (spring,summer & autum actually!). Here in italy it is law to carry snow chains or fit winter tyres for around 5 months of the year. I think from 1st Nov to 1st March. Temps seem very similar to the UK but it rains far less. In the depth of winter it does push -7 to normally - 2/3 at night but day time is around +3/4, so easilly within the temp rating for winter tyres which i would have thought the UK would be too. Maybe the government has more foresight than the UK's. Wonder how many crashes,insurance claims etc wouldnt happen if they made it legal to fit winter tyres or carry chains?I carry snow chains but would far prefer the winter tyres which i will invest in for next winter. I have ContiSport Contact5, very happy with them, seem a good all yr round tyre, barring any snow!
 
Maybe more cross climate tyres should be used.
As for winter tyres, here in northants i've never had any probs driving in all manor of cars over the years snow or not. Admittedly them up north might have more use for them
 
Simonb1975 said:
Maybe more cross climate tyres should be used.
As for winter tyres, here in northants i've never had any probs driving in all manor of cars over the years snow or not. Admittedly them up north might have more use for them
Click to expand...
I'm not that far south of you and its not really for the possible snow that I put them on, its for the increased grip on the cold, wet and often greasy roads that we get at this time of year.

Whilst I have Conti 850/860 full winters on my Mk3 Cav SRi, I switched to 4x Michelin Cross Climate last summer on my Mk2 Cav SRi 130 and have no regrets at all. I drive it hard and grip has not been an issue yet, Strange tread pattern tho'.
 
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