pdaugh

I have 55K on my 2017 A4 prem plus quattro and I noticed it does not handle well on ice at all. I grew up in MN where icy/snowy roads are the norm in winter and as long as you keep a straight line, you can drive 60 or 70 plus down a two lane road as long as you keep a straight line with a 2 wheel drive car. Well this A4 seems to hunt speeding down those roads. And by hunt I mean a side to side feeling that gets unnerving even for this former MN boy. If you have ever driven over a bridge with a grid metal plate in the surface, you know what hunting is. What the Audi does is more subtle than that but it's still very much there. Just a gentle push from side to side that at higher speeds or even 40-50 mph makes you feel the back end is just going to start coming around on you.

Some background, at 20,000 miles my A4 made this horrible scraping noise coming from the passenger rear wheel on cold winter evening. Before I could get to the dealer the noise lessened and went away. At around 30,000 miles it started doing an off again, on again squeaking from the same side, usually at 25-40 miles per hour and timed to wheels going around. Meaning it would go faster as you drove faster. Of course when I bring it into the dealer, it wouldn't make the noise right? Right! However it is there and I took one of the dealers salesman for a ride and low and behold he heard it, even popping into the back seat to see if he could pinpoint but he couldn't.

So I've agreed to take the car in to the dealer, again, to see if they can figure it out. The service agent was going to line up a best choice mechanic to figure out what is wrong. Honestly I don't have a lot of faith the problem will be solved.

I figure it has to be in the quattro system somewhere but how to pin point problem when no warning indicators are flashing. Frankly if driving a quattro down an icy road feels way creepier than driving a 2 wheel vehicle down a icy road, whats the point? Granted, ice is the great equalizer for stopping, but the hunting on icy roads, is driving me crazy. Has anyone had a similar experience? Quite frankly I ready to ditch the car. My wife doesn't feel safe driving it anymore because it drives so horrible on icy roads and I don't blame her. My two WD Honda Accord feels as natural as can be. No hunting.

I'm struggling here guys. I hope someone can give me good advice. On dry pavement it feels totally normal, but icy or snow is another issue entirely.

KevinGary

bob m

Agree - what tires? I found the OEM Pirellis so horrible in the rain I sold 'em within a few months.And if bad in the rain, I would assume they would not be so good in snow.

KevinGary

pdaugh

Brand new Pirelli Centaur? Less than 5000 miles.

bob m

What took you so long, Kevin? Sold mine with less than 500 miles on.

bob m

Those are the tires I was referring to. I hate to say it, but Audi listened to the bean counters on these tires at the risk of tire performance - and I don't mean racing, I'm referring to good basic handling and thus safety.

munsabin

Very strange. I've got Nexen Winguards Sport 18's on mine. Not the best winter tyres, but they're pretty darn good. I've done a lot of driving with them on snowed over roads, even a bit of drifting, and honestly, no issues. Issues it could be:
1) Tyres are crap
2) Alignment of wheels will definitely cause this hunting you speak of
3) I would be worried about that noise as well, but I wouldn't be trying to get rid of the car, I would be looking to fix it. I suggest the next time you hear it, you record it via your phone or other device by placing it on the seat on top of a towel or something so it doesn't slide around, and as you're driving narrate what you're doing. Eg. I will be accelerating. I will be taking a smooth left. I will taking a hard left, etc...

I'm hoping your noise thing is not tied to some other issue someone had on here regarding welding on passanger rear side...
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...lemon-2952951/

Hope that helps.

HyperS4

Its ice. Its unpredictable. Not all ice forms the same way. Drive on an iced over lake and then on a skating rink. Just because they are both ice doesnt mean they will behave the same under your tire. Regardless of tires, you cant predict tracking on ice unless you have studded tires.

Glisse

Put it in ESC Sport mode and see if it tracks straight on an icy road. From your description the car is engaging wheel specific torque vectoring because one wheel is slipping, the system is slightly braking that wheel and sending torque to the wheel on the other side of the axle. Which is enough to affect the tracking of the car, although it is actually doing its job. You don't like the feel of it moving. Your tyres may be unsuitable to drive on snow/icy roads, but then you don't seem too sure what they actually are. Which says something. Such as not knowing that the type and quality of the tyre is more important than the drive system in these sort of conditions.

Engaging ESC Sport will relax the amount of slip allowed before the system activates, so it will feel a little more like an old RWD barrelling down an icy Minnesota road at 70mph or a FWD Honda, which aren't doing anything much to maintain traction. Although if you want to completely replicate that experience, completely disable the traction system (which I don't recommend).

You will also find, if you had read your manual, that ESC Sport is the preferred traction setting when you are experiencing very low grip. Such as on ice. But also if you are on lousy tyres which are constantly losing traction.

Audi models are calibrated to be running on summer tyres at 7°C / 44°F and above, or winter tyres below that. They are not calibrated to run on all-season tyres. That Audi of America choose to fit them just tells me they are happy to support those drivers who couldn't be bothered changing tyres between a real summer, and a real winter. Fine, but don't complain about grip, or an intrusive traction control calibration. Or perhaps do complain, to Audi of America for choosing a lousy tyre that doesn't work properly with the car, and to the dealer for selling it - they should know better too. They should tell you "If you are buying an Audi because you value traction, then don't put tires on it that compromise traction"

And get the dealer to check your brakes, sounds like you have an issue with one of them. That you have driven 35,000 miles without addressing whatever this issue is that appeared at 20,000 miles seems odd.

And spend a moment re-reading your original post. You really think "quattro" is some scam that has been allowed to run for a few decades, despite it being dangerously unstable compared to a FWD Honda and some old RWD bangers from the past. Or that something isn't right with your car, and you need to do something about it? Which might include changing to a dealership with decent technical staff and the ability to offer some sound advice.