[s-cars] Quattro....there is no substitute

[Postupack, Jeff]

Taka nailed it.. And Bill confirms why we hang on to these old sleds.

I can't wait to experience the reported 1-2 feet of powder back in NH
with the S4.  
( and more to the point, shred some turns come Saturday)

Taka's summary is I've been wanting to know, not having the chance to
drive a Haldex in adverse conditions.

So Bill "so how do we get packed snow from the wheel rims"
It's called April  Sun! 

Taka "  wanting an Audi again in a very bad way"

Better plan to get the proper one before ALL the good stuff is Haldex,
electro-bling
And scroll knob user selections..


Jeff         (slumming in Austin's Hilton, waiting for an air lift back
east)           Posto 


"T man, Ditto to all that. Yesterdaze chgo downfall left everyone here
cryin' like little weenie babies. Nothing ever passes the torsen diffed
pig with Nokians. Nothing. Everything else is an all seasoned Pacer (or
is it a Matador?) And since all the babies had to leave early, it opened
the parking lot for some figure 8's in 6" of fresh fluff. JNR Bill~so
how do we get packed snow from the wheel rims~M "

I hate to sound like a Porsche ad, but there really is no substitute for
Quattro.

Today we received about 3" of ice and snow, with a nice slushy layer of
snow
on top of the roads
and slick ice underneath. Not a good combination at all.

That said, I'd say these types of conditions are the most challenging,
in
terms of traction,
kind of like loose gravel or mud.

With the V70R shod with Nokian WR, I can officially say that Haldex
sucks
the big one.

I have not had issues with the car in fresh *snow* but this icy stuff
has
the car completely
confounded.

Front drive starting off, then wheelspin and subsequent yaw, then DSTC
tries
to get things under
control and with some countersteering and throttle inputs, it rights
itself.
This cycle repeats over and
over with Haldex, because every time things get steady again, it reverts
to
FWD. This totally sucks.

With the 5ktq on General Winterfire 195/65R15, I never had these issues.
With the 200q on Nokian NRW 225/45R17, I never had these issues.
With the A4q on Dunlop M2 205/55R16, I never had these issues.

All of the Audis were remarkably consistent in their responses- icy
conditions didn't cause the car to
freak out. Zero traction is zero traction, but when there is some
traction,
having the car go from 100/0
to 50/50 or whatever, constantly changing radically, is really
ridiculous.

I've had similar issues with Haldex on the Audi TT, so I really don't
think
it's a Volvo-only problem.

Also, DSTC makes the car extremely difficult to drive- you can't
initiate
any slides- the car wants to
perpetually understeer, makes it very difficult to turn on a really low
traction surface. Looks like I'll be
driving home with DSTC off (hit the button *7* times to turn it off!).

Taka
wanting an Audi again in a very bad way