Stuck in Snow - Observations and Questions

jason5208

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Hey, Everyone. Last night my 2011 TTS with Michelin Pilot P2 snow tires got stuck in the snow, eventually requiring a tow to pull out. The snow was deep enough, and the TTS low enough, that the car's frame appeared to be resting on the snow, contributing to my inability to even rock the car out. I couldn't budge it. Anyway, in observing the wheelspin, I saw that in both forward and reverse only two tires spun, the driver's side (left here in USA) rear and passenger's side front tires. Based on what I read about the Haldex quattro system (ie, that as soon as wheelspin occurs, torque is transferred to the slower spinning tire), I was expecting all four tires to turn, which didn't happen once during my efforts. Can anyone explain why that is the case? After I got home, I spent a few hours reading other threads all over the internet about Audi's being stuck in snow, trying to shed some light on how the Haldex system works in this condition, but I was unable to find anything useful. Except I did read one post which was very interesting: the writer explained that in that situation you should turn off the traction control and apply the brake as you're giving it gas, which should lead the Haldex system to redistribute the torque. Short of getting stuck again, or putting the car on a lift, I won't be able to test that out for sometime.

Any constructive thoughts would be appreciated. (So many of the threads I reviewed were filled with advice about not getting stuck in the snow and how the Audi TT isn't a truck, which is obvious. So I'm hoping to steer clear of that kind of advice and get to a better understanding of what happened to me yesterday, how the Haldex system works and doesn't work, and any advice for getting all 4 tires to engage, if that's possible, when in that situation.

Thanks!