Is Quattro worth the increased weight and price?

[TomScrut]

I personally like having a car with 4WD (I have had 2 so far with a third on the way), I like the traction in the wet, I like the traction in the snow (when it does), and I like the torque vectoring on my Golf R. All of those are (in my opinion) worth the costs, although all the cars I have had are 4WD only (S4, Golf R, S5 on the way) so I havent had to fork out for the option which is a significant cost.

But as has already been said, 4WD doesn't help you at all in the snow when trying to stop or turn!

Greg66 said:

Some people like a car that adds drama (terror) in fast corners and some people prefer fuss free (dull) speed. Take your choice: it's all down to personal perspective.

This is a good point, I personally prefer the fuss free approach, perhaps why I like fast Audis, and why a lot of people don't like fast Audis.

[redrook]

Yertis said:

I'm intrigued by you guys who say winter tyres are a better option than quattro. Do you check the weather before every journey then fit tyres accordingly?

Lol, you're "intrigued" because you're ignorant. The weather has nothing to do with it, it's the temperature. Winter tyres are far better in low temps than summer tyres. You fit them in Nov and remove them in March. How hard is that? Or you do what I do and have crossclimates all year.

Anyone who thinks that 4WD is a safety feature has a fundamental misunderstanding of cars. As for all of you who claim to spin the wheels of your FWD in the wet so easily, I suggest you learn clutch control just like the 99% of other drivers out there. Your average A4 with 140 or 160 bhp is not a powerful car by any standard and its not going to spin its wheels unless you make it through inept driving. I've driven a FWD 2.0D for three years and not once do I recall spinning the wheels. Oh, and lots of Scottish highland driving too.

Quattro is great, but it's also expensive and 99.99% of people wouldn't notice the difference. It also doesn't help you in the snow unless you have the right tyres. In the wet, how about just driving like everyone else and you'll be fine!

Edited by redrook on Thursday 24th January 10:59

[redrook]

charge said:

Quattro is a no brainer!!
After 4 quattro audis, the last two being A8's, my shock was uncontained after being given a new A6 2.0 tdi from the dealer when my two year old car ended up with no interior heating.
I will not go into the bks I have suffered with the car or dealer, but the A6 without quattro I was given as a loaner is downright bloody dangerous!
I was lulled into a false sence of security as on the move it seemed OK.
Pulling out of a roundabout was an eye opener though!
You put you foot down... Nothing, then a hideous mooing noise, it creeps away then decides to find its turbo and then traction controls it way out finally.
Who pays £40k for this?
Whoever it is, find a bit more for the quattro for christ sake! And maybe a bit more for a 3.0 litre?

Sounds like you're so used to relying on 4WD that you've forgotten how to drive.

[ruggedscotty]

So Quattro an advertising gimmick.... I think not....

I ran a 2.7 TDi over 100k fwd manual. Now running a 3.0 tdi Quattro, difference is there. Its more suited to wet greasy roads, not just for the rally stage but for normal every day driving. Yes if you go from the end of your street for a mile to the train station you may not appreciate it but doing mile after mile on various roads and at various speeds you really do appreciate the extra grip that you get from having 4 wheels driven.

[Glosphil]

Kell said:

That's what I meant. Do them myself. As we have two cars, and I priced it up at £20 per wheel to do via KwikFit, I didn't fancy paying £160 twice a year just to swap them over.

That's a rip-off. I have used a number of local garages over the years to swap my summer/winter wheels and never been changed more than £20 for all 4. In March 2017 the place I usually buy tyres charged me £10.

[TomScrut]

Glosphil said:

Kell said:

That's what I meant. Do them myself. As we have two cars, and I priced it up at £20 per wheel to do via KwikFit, I didn't fancy paying £160 twice a year just to swap them over.

That's a rip-off. I have used a number of local garages over the years to swap my summer/winter wheels and never been changed more than £20 for all 4. In March 2017 the place I usually buy tyres charged me £10.

Surely the £20 per corner is for swapping tyres on the same wheel and then re-balancing?

[Lucas Ayde]

Glosphil said:

That's a rip-off. I have used a number of local garages over the years to swap my summer/winter wheels and never been changed more than £20 for all 4. In March 2017 the place I usually buy tyres charged me £10.

My local tyre place charges me £20 to swap all four wheels ... over and done with inside 15 mins. It's one of the benefits of buying a dedicated set of rims for Winter use.

Definitely I wouldn't pay for a quattro system just for snowy weather but having AWD is very nice generally, especially if the alternative is front wheel drive and you have a decent amount of engine power. Much better for pulling out at junctions and for slippy conditions. Currently with a Golf R, previously with a fwd TT. I wouldn't go back to fwd.

[redrook]

Greg66 said:

Conversely a winter tyre won't stop you as quickly in the dry as a summer tyre. And as I said, we have lots of dry days in winter.

The Vreds are recommended on FFRR as being good year round. After a few summers' use, they're fine.

It's nothing to do with wet/dry, it's to do with temperature. Summer tyres will be brittle in colder temps and thus not grip/stop as well as the winter tyres. Winter tyres are all to do with performance at low temps, forget about wet/dry, there are plenty of summer tyres which are great in the wet.

[redrook]

ruggedscotty said:

So Quattro an advertising gimmick.... I think not....

Who said that? Although it is a bit actually, it's Audi's best piece of marketing. Most people do not need it - a fact which is evidenced by most cars being FWD. If you can afford it, it can be nice, but it's not even close to being necessary or even advantageous most of the time. And most people can't tell the difference between what wheels are being driven because most people are not like us on here gabbing about cars in minute detail.
That being said, I will probably be getting a quattro soon. I drive 16K miles of horrible country roads all year round and it would be nice to have. Most people don't do that.

Edited by redrook on Sunday 3rd February 23:48

[steve2]

I have a A6 3.0 TDI quattro shod with Uniroyal Rainsports and find it brilliant in the wet and dry.
We have had snow down here and it copes with that ok, just have to watch the braking distances although I tr6band take the wife’s RAV4 which is fitted with winters all year round, the difference in braking between the two on ice and snow is like chalk and cheese.
I used to have an A4 1.8T fwd which in the wet would spin up so easily it was embarrassing.
It is funny to see that Mercedes and BMW have also got 4 wheel drive models,

[laurenz]

This has probably been done to death now, but I have a C5 and C6 quattro and am not planning on going back to 2WD. Quattro makes the cars pretty much all-purpose and unstoppable, so I can drive safely at speed all the way to Italy and back in a weekend, with two mates as co-drivers, trusting the car. Crossclimates are fantastic tyres and the combo is unbeatable if you like to make progress, as they say. On the road in real life, festival campsites can turn boggy, a sign to a beach becomes an opportunity and not a warning, and the Allroad is true to its name.

[AudiSport]

I really can’t be bothered with changing my tyres to suit weather conditions, and as I don’t drive within an inch of my ability and the cars performance I don’t notice the extra weight either.

I do like to make the occasional bit of ‘progress’ up a wet slip road, sharp exit from a junction without any drama and enjoy the planted all year round feel of the car - which is usually containing the most important possessions I have. So in short, I really like Quattro!