Re: compare this what?

[Chris Maresca <ckm@eainet.com>]

At 12:50 PM -0400 4/6/98, harrison wrote:
>Actually it was my 84 4kq that demonstrated this feat twice. It had not so new
>dunlop all seasons on it.
>
>harrison
>
>QSHIPQ wrote:
>
>> Hope the quattro had blizzacks and the bimmer didn't.  The tests don't show
>> the documentation of awd over traction control.  Add in good tires and
>>driver
>> skill, the awd advantage is compromised.   To the point where the awd car
>> needs good snows to make any claims again.
>>
>> Hope BMW doesn't try awd again either.  The comparos of the 325IX didn't put
>> audi on top.
>>
>> Scott

I think the RWD compairson is a little deceiving.  The test (mentioned a
few posts ago...) was not a reflection of real world conditions.  Let me
relate my real world experience, RWD & AWD.

Last year, some of you may remember the Easter snow storm in the NE of the
US.  It was on a Monday.  I had gone up to upstate NY from DC to ski, and
planned to come back to DC on Monday.  I was driving my only car at the
time, a '87 Mazda RX7 Turbo II (BFGoodrich Comp T/A's, limited-slip rear
diff. [20%], 200hp, 2500 lbs.).  Going up was fine, roads were dry, I drove
through PA, then took a right to join NY Thruway up to Adirondacks (was
headed North of Glenns Falls...).

Coming back, however, was a different story... Monday, 9:00 am, planning on
leaving around 10:00, small snow flurries start.  Weather people say it
will be rain south of Albany.  I figured I could drive through the snow,
and the rain would be no problem.  Well, I drove past Albany, turn right
towards Buffalo to join the main N/S PA highway, and it was still snowing.

Six inches of snow on the road, and I was making the tracks.  It felt OK
though.    The limit-slip diff was great, never got stuck.  So here I am,
making tracks in a sports car...  I'm going 45mph.

This idiot in an SUV goes to pass me.  He's weaving back and forth, and
looks like he's going to lose it.  I was on a downhill and did not want to
use my brakes, so I downshift.  Big mistake.  The rear end slows down more
than the front, comes unglued, I manage to straighten the car out before
hitting the grassy median (which is actually a very, very wide shallow
ditch), apply full on ABS brake, nothing to do.  Slide to a stop, stuck in
6-8" of snow w/soft mud/grass underneath.  Had to get towed out.

Overall, the RX7 is great in the snow, for a sports car.  It almost never
gets stuck (thanks to a limited slip diff. and 4 years of driver experience
in Maine), but it's really hairy... Not for your everyday driver and not an
experience I'd like to repeat, at least not in the real world, with other
drivers, bad roads, unpredictable weather, etc.

Flash forward:  January 1998, Upstate NY (once again, what's wrong with
that area), driving back from ski trip...  And there's an ice storm, you
know the one.  This time, I have a new car, my '90 CQ (Yokohama AVS S4's,
AWD, 164hp, 3400lbs).  Same deal.  Leave at night this time, sleet, snow,
freezing rain, everything.  Average 65mph on highway, had to stop 4 times
to clear ice from wipers.  The last time, I knocked 2" of ice off the
entire front of the car.  The only parts not covered were the lights,
washer nozzles (thank god for heated fluids...), and the area the wipers
cover.  Never lost traction, never got nervous, it was quite comfortable
and uneventfull, just like I'd hoped.

The only car that passed me was a brand-new A6q...  Overall, the stress of
driving the Audi in bad weather is much, much lower.  I pass people all the
time when it's pouring buckets, never mind in the snow/sleet, it's like
there's no difference between wet & dry.

I drove a 323is (among many, many other cars...) before I bought the CQ,
and it was fabulous in the dry (much better that the CQ), but the first
time I drove it in the wet, it was like the Mazda.  It lost traction,
despite traction control, and my efforts not to.  I strongly suspect that,
based on experience with other BMW's, it would be exactly the same as the
RX7 in the snow.

The Audi Coupe Quattro may not be as fast or handle as well as a BMW in the
dry, but I have only one car, and I want to be able to drive it
comfortably, safely, securely, and fast in any weather, all while being
relaxed and confidant that the car will get me where ever I want to go.  My
CQ does all that in style.

Chris.
'90 CQ (looking for a dark '91 w/low miles...)