Thank you Quattro

[Mc-BigE]

Hi all,
I’m a very lucky person today, thanks mainly to my Quattro system.

I was driving to a mates house last night and another mate was following behind me in a 2 litre Mondeo .
I was on a typically small Irish country road about a car and a half wide.
As you can imagine we weren’t doing 20mph! And my mate behind me was trying his best to keep up with me. He was far enough behind me to just see his lights on a straight stretch of road.
I approached a bend on the road, the road was wet and had gravel on top of new tarmac, I wisely braked before the corner and power out, no problem. But about 10 seconds after the corner, my mates lights disappeared! I straight away thought the worse, I turned around back down the road and sure enough, he had buried the front end in the ditch!
Luckily I always carry I tow rope with me, so tied it on and pulled his car out with mine, I think I overdid it with my clutch slightly, because I could smell a burning smell from my car when I got out after pulling him out. And it was there this morning when I started it up, but very faint, its not slipping and I think it will be ok.
My mate’s car is not worth fixing to be honest,
it will probably cost more to repair than what its worth!

Its only Metal at the end of the day and no one was hurt.

Anyway, thought I’d share my story and am glad I’m driving a Quattro.

[maxxximus]

Glad to hear everyones Ok but Quattro isnt foolproof. Iv lost the back end a couple of times(usually on Roundabouts) but recovered easily but the potential for overcooking its always there 2 or 4 wheel drive.

[Scotty306]

How good is the quattro system?

I once managed to get my Peugeot stuck in a wet field (Silverstone car park) how would the S4 cope with wet grass & mud? anyone tried!

I guess letting a little air out would help gain some grip?

[cpufreak]

its helps with traction issues, so putting the power down is good, and cornering is thus improved as you can put power down earlier...

but when there is no grip, laws of physics still apply, and you'll still slide..and the extra weight of the quattro may make the slide worse.

in regards getting out of a field...have seen 4x4s get stuck in the same field that I was able to get out of without issue in my old Ibiza. Tempatation is to rev, unfortunately this usually just causes wheels to spin, and thus getting stuck....I tended to find 2nd gear in the ibiza (it was a PD130 TDI) with enough revs to stop it stalling but not much more worked pretty well.

[gavsteryoung]

Quattro in the wet has to be one of the best systems out there, even tho its old and mechnical rather than the newer Haldex systems.

Just to show how good it is, using a G-Tech Pro I recorded 0-60 in 5.95 seconds I tried the same thing on the same road but it was tipping it down and I did 5.91 (my car is standard hence the slow figures )

But as CPU says, quattro has very little to do with stopping, the S4 is a heavy motor and the brakes certainly feel it. Also because of the 50:50 power distribution and non 50:50 weight distribution the S4 can have a habbit of running wide or understeering (something they have improved on the new cars).

Lift off Oversteer is possible and great fun..... S4 in the snow is a right hoot as long as you have plenty of room to play....

[confusionhunter]

Another G-Tech Pro User!! COOL!
Did you know you can edit the PASS files afterwards to see your performance if your vehicle weuighed less etc... that was my fav discovery!! Sorry for the Hijack, but back to quattro.
my understanding is thet the haldex isnt superior to the torsen but just better suited to transverse fitted engines... and road cars (60/40 torque split front/rear) Besides more to go wrong in the Haldex......
Id prefer a torsen......I think....

[Mc-BigE]

My mate’s car is not worth fixing to be honest,
it will probably cost more to repair than what its worth!

He has now scrapped the Mondeo and looking at buying my S4!

i wonder why!!!

every cloud..............