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

[Theodore Chen]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070216/ap_on_re_us/winter_weather_61

those people need to be driving audi quattros.  :)

i drove my brother's saab 9-2x aero (automatic transmission) with
blizzak LM-10s, and while it was good in the snow, it didn't feel
as secure as my '92 S4 with BFG g-force KDWS (all-season M+S).

the torsen differential with rear locker really works well in the snow.

-t.

--- "Pasqualoni, James E" <james.pasqualoni at gs.com> wrote:

> Ah, you poor souls Taka and Larry.  And I couldn't help myself yesterday
> by 'telecommuting' from home in Maine and taking several 'test drives'
> throughout the day in the trusty old 5kcstq with Hakke Rsi's.  Many,
> many hero runs in snow, deep and shallow.  All the while, her pretty
> tornado red a$$ was well planted (love those dual diff lockers heh heh)
> like a 100 year old maple and my smile was ear to ear.  I didn't even
> have a chance to take out the 91 200 20v Avant, I was having so much fun
> in the 5k...
> 
> Folks, it's Just Not Right...
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of LL - NY
> Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 8:31 PM
> To: Taka Mizutani
> Cc: s-car-list
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Quattro.... there is no substitute
> 
> Sorry to hear of the difficulties of Haldex, Taka.
> 
> We had 5+ of snow/sleet on top of sleet, and snow this morn. The Saabaru
> on RSi's handled things, pretty much like a quat, except with a bit of a
> loose tail vs. the planted ass of a quattro.
> It did quite well, this morning (speeds under 25, really needed to keep
> it
> there) was decent,
> this afternoon (after we (my car "pool") were released, coverage was
> set, so we could go home) was a different story. There were at least 21"
> of snow on the ground, with drifts, road had about 9" of broken up (by
> other vehicles) snow, essentially unplowed. We were told that they last
> plow run was at 3 PM, and we hit the road at 3:10. Opposite lane was
> plowed. They plowed the wrong lane. So alternating between "wrong side"
> of the road driving where vision was clear, and "right side" around
> blind hills, curves etc, we set out. Here, I wish I was in the //S-car.
> The back end did want to come around often, so keeping one's foot in and
> countersteer was the day's mantra the whole 8 miles. Quite a bit less
> settled than the quattro (been through a 4KQ (QI), 200Q (QII) and the
> //S6 (QIII), so I would concur, Quattro, there is no substitute.
> 
> LL - NY
> 
> On 2/14/07, Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > 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 
> > _______________________________________________
> > S-CAR-List mailing list
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> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list
> >
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