S3 - Handling in The Wet / Snow

[S3RYE]

Not sure what people expect from Quattro.
The 4wd will only help find traction when setting off, or going up hill. Reach a corner or need to stop, and you're bound by the same physics as every other car on the road!
If some are finding the car underwhleming at getting going, try turning your TC off - it advises you do this in the manual, as the TC cuts power, meaning just as your getting some forward momentum and a degree of slip all power is cut.

Also ABS is not good in the snow, and I find the S3 system intervenes to early. Think of it this way, the ABS kicks in because you've locked up a touch, the ABS knocks the brakes off, you start to put more pressure on the brakes, so when they go back on they lock up, then switch off again and so on... so your entire braking zone is either a slide or glide. You're much better off using the gears and modulating the brakes sensibly, give yourself plenty of room and don't stamp on the middle peddle!!!

Personally I've found the S3 to be handy in the snow, it's managed to keep going where others have abandoned their cars (that's you Mr BMW and Mercedes ) and always feels predictable.

perfect answer, i should read whole threads before i post.. this is what i wanted o say but couldnt be as'd typing it :icon_thumright:

 

[S3RYE]

DONT THINK IVE POSTED THESE BEFORE, THEY ARENT THE BEST CAUSE THE BETTER ONES (OTHERS HAD MORE HOURS PRACTICE:icon_thumright ARE ON MY MATES CAMERA... BIT OF FUN IN THE SNOW! :icon_thumright:

[video]http://s581.photobucket.com/albums/ss257/S3RYE/?action=view&current=MOV02851.flv[/video]

[video]http://s581.photobucket.com/albums/ss257/S3RYE/?action=view&current=MOV02850.flv[/video]

 

[LWNY]

Agreed. S3 is brilliant in the snow when getting going and pushing up hills where other 2wd or rwd cars fail. However there is no advantage when braking or going round corners, why would there be? Its just a normal car in that respect - normal tyres, small wheels (when compared to a proper off roader), low clearance etc etc

Not true my lad, with regular cars that has FWD or RWD, when going on a roundabout or corner on snow, as soon as you hit the accelerator, the amount of torque going to two wheels will likely cause them to lose traction, and when you lose traction in the FWD, it will plow straight ahead, and if it is a RWD, it will spin you around.

In a quattro car, the same amount of torque is distributed to 4 wheels, therefore the engine could produce as much as twice the amount of torque before the tires break loose, and when they do, it would not be as tragic situation given that the other wheels are still driving the car in the direction of travel.

Of course, with the Haldex quattro model, in some situations, the front wheel might have to encounter slip before torque is transferred to the rear wheels, which in a low slip condition like on the snow, might be too late. So the way to drive cars with Haldex is to never fully lift your feet off the accelerator, and if your feet is just coming from the brakes and onto the accelerator, don't give it full throttle right away, which would just cause the front wheel to slip, but engage the accelerator a bit (especially when in a turn) so that the Haldex module would anticipate that you might be encountering a situation that might result in loss of traction, therefore it will engage the rear wheels before you even slip.

 

[veeeight]

Holy Thread Revival

Has anyone noticed, with ESP OFF in the snow, and you're hooning it around in an empty car park drifting away, that the ESP light still flashes away?

What is it actually doing?

With ESP off, it definitely un-limits the throttle, and will allow you to rev and spin away. But I can't quite work out whether the other aspects of ESP are still functioning (eg: EDL, braking individual wheels etc.) when the light is flashing away.

 

[DJ-S3]

Holy Thread Revival

Has anyone noticed, with ESP OFF in the snow, and you're hooning it around in an empty car park drifting away, that the ESP light still flashes away?

What is it actually doing?

With ESP off, it definitely un-limits the throttle, and will allow you to rev and spin away. But I can't quite work out whether the other aspects of ESP are still functioning (eg: EDL, braking individual wheels etc.) when the light is flashing away.

I've never noticed my ESP light flashing when I've turned it off. Although I'm usually concentrating on the view a head of me and where i want to go instead of down at the dials.

 

[pinterovski]

Good tyres,hand on the handbrake,TC off,get rid of that fear and you will be ripping thru that white *******

 

[jimojameso]

Mines been great. Tried with and without TC on. Was much better with TC off. Agree ABS kicks in too early though. Wish you could switch that off too. I have decent brand summer tyres on and has been really good.

 

[CJ92]

Had no issues with mine with Conti SP2's all round and thats with two near the limit.
Always drive with the TC off in these conditions..:thumbsup:

 

[Chilly]

CJ92 spot on both the s3 on conti sc 3's and the a3 tdi Quattro on conti sc3's have been fantastic in the snow!!

just got to be aware of every other lunatic driving on the same stretch of road!