[s-cars] Quattro.... there is no substitute - just add JNR

[W.G. Giles]

I also drove the RS4 at Steamboat.  In full ESP it is Ok until you  
try to slide it or give it alot of steering then it will understeer  
and decrease throttle and brake for you.  You can partially disable  
the ESP and it was fun to drive that way but you have to be very  
efficient to go fast.  To much steering angle or Gas and the system  
brakes one or more of the brakes to straighten the car but it will  
let you get away with more then in full ESP.  With the ESP off it was  
fun to drive.  I feel that in daily snow driving I would set the ESP  
to the middle and just cruise on a RS4, I am not sure but I think  
that other New Audis and spcificly the ones with automatics you may  
not have 3 settings, only on and off.

One thing I need to tell you is that this RS4 had Dunlop SP winter  
performance tires in the stock size on it and they were much better  
than I expected them to be.  The Stock summer tire would be useless  
in snow and ice except and a Grandma pace.  Any car with some type of  
traction or stability control (FWD,RWD,AWD) will be better in the  
snow and ice with proper snow tires even in the big fat low profile  
of the RS4.  More traction=less electronic help and that is a good  
thing.

I am have winter tires on my new Toyota Sequoia w/traction control  
and I get around better in 2WD then all the SUVs and Trucks in  4WD  
on there all seasons and when I put it in 4WD its one of the best  
winter rides I have ever had even with traction control.  That said I  
do love the Audi quattro drive system and my 1991 200 20v bought  
built and beat on for Steamboat is just about perfect if only it  
weighed the same as a 99 or older Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS.  I can dream  
right?
W.G.


On Feb 16, 2007, at 9:53 AM, Peter Golledge wrote:

> Taka,
>
> Drove an RS4 at the Bridgestone course in Steamboat (Grippe-Q).  I  
> found the
> ESP fought with me on any spirited driving, sometimes under steering
> sometimes just applying the brakes to a wheel when we were nowhere  
> near
> limits.  Once I had ESP off the difference is remarkable... Still  
> not enough
> feedback for my liking though.  Wont be trading the LT-1Q on an RS4  
> for snow
> driving any time soon. :-)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Taka Mizutani
> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 4:41 AM
> To: pkrasusky at ups.com
> Cc: wmahoney at disk.com; s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Quattro.... there is no substitute - just add  
> JNR
>
> Can any of you nuts that has a late-model Audi w/ ESP tell me how  
> the ESP
> does in the snow?
>
> Does it cause the car to terminally understeer to the point of not  
> being
> able to turn?
>
> I've experienced this a few times in the Volvo where the DSTC is  
> interfering
> so much that I can't turn at a decent speed in the loose stuff. I  
> can't
> figure out how to turn it off completely w/o reading the manual- it  
> was
> supposed to be hit the button 7 times, but that doesn't work.
>
> With quattro, ESP is too much of a killjoy, I'd think- being able  
> to go in a
> little hot, countersteer and give it a lot of gas is part of the  
> fun of
> driving quattro in the snow.
> I wouldn't recommend trying
> this on public roads, though. :-)
>
> Taka
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