Bob Loblaw

Driving up to Whistler on New Years Eve at about 6:30 in the morning. Stopped off in North Vancouver on the way to pick up a friend and the side streets looked rather slick. As I found out, they were totally covered in black ice. I actually went past the street she lived on, so I pulled a U-turn on a 4-lane street to turn back. As I was in the turn, put my foot down a bit and the ESP light started flashing like crazy and I could hear the tires spinning around a variable rates. But the car tracked the turn perfectly! I was really impressed with the traction. I even asked my girlfriend if she felt anything, and she was oblivious to the fact that there was any slippage.

Then about 1/2 hour later, there was a nasty head-on collision on the Sea-to-Sky Highway in a northbound passing lane, likely due to the extreme black ice on the passing lane. Traffic slowed to about 20 kph and then started speeding up as we passed the accident. A Toyota 4x4 in front of me started slowly accelerating and all 4 of his wheels were spinning on the road under light gas and the truck started to track off the road. Once again, the Quattro kept the car dead straight.

When considering the A4, the Quattro and ESP were big sellers for me and it was great to see that they worked really well when tested. And the M2s I bought for my winter set up have yet to disappoint me. Kinda freaky to see that Toyota spinning out like that though. I guess it shows the differences between a 4-wheel drive and a more sophisticated all wheel drive system.

Silver Stealth

Good point. Not all 4WD/AWD systems created equally. Go Audi !!

RoadRager

Toyota probably had all-seasons. Tire choice makes a big difference on ice.

Avant1.8TqmStripped

I've tried on a few occasions to throw the car out of control (in empty parking lots and the like) and the ESP kicks in and straightens the car out. I have not tried at high speeds though.