arU4ic

First: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_river

Allow me to indulge in some discourse that likely indicates that I have fully ingested the Cool-Aidİ on Audi and the Quattro capabilities ... and you would be right.

Last night, Northern California/SF Bay Area got a deluge of rain and wind - biblical proportions - being the genius that I am, I found myself driving in the worst driving conditions I've seen, outside of a few blizzards I've experienced. Traveling from Oakland to SF.

It was like a Forza 6 (video game) - there are many high-end sports cars in this area, Ferrari, BMW, Merc, Porsche, Tesla, etc. - I was simply doing the speed limit, but M3s, 911s and many Mercedes Benzes - 30 mph, pitiful. I was dodging these things like traffic cones as they slipped and slid over the puddles and pooling water, in Comfort Mode, I just blast through, my wheels never broke free or hydroplaned in the entire 30 minute drive.

Forgive the gushing, please, but I think I'm keeping this one.

markN1689

i know the feeling for sure.

(somewhat related) I find it odd that there is so little quattro branding on the car (just one emblem on the pass. dash). Yet there are like 10 s3 logos scattered everywhere. Remove about 3 s3 logos and add 2 more subtle quattro branding (illuminated door sills?)
maybe something like this:

Diztek

will never forget the time in my a4 when i parked next to an m3 at a ski resort. snowed hard all day. when it was time to leave, as we were packing up to go home, the m3 was being loaded onto a flat bed. hahaha

XMetal00

It's all about having the right tire. Hydroplaning will occur regardless of your drive system if your tires can't evacuate/channel water adequately.


That's probably because our S3 isn't a true "quattro" system - We have the Haldex AWD

Diztek

r8 is haldex. (in reverse) haha

XMetal00

superswiss

Audis are definitely fun to drive in the rain, but the simple fact is that folks have no clue how to drive here when it rains. It's the same chaos every year. They slip and slide and crash into each other, or turn into a grandma driving at extreme slow speeds. As somebody else mentioned, hydroplaning has nothing to do with AWD, FWD or RWD. It has everything to do with tires. Some tires are more prone to hydroplaning. Wider tires are more prone and so are worn tires. Just like most out here don't know how to drive, they also have no clue about tread depth, they start the rainy season with their worn summer or all-season tires and then wonder why they are sliding around. The more available tread depth, the more water a tire can evacuate and the less likely it is to hydroplane.

I guess it's better everybody drives slow as they wouldn't know what to do if they did hydroplane and create even more of a chaos, but the number of crashes yesterday all over the Bay Area is just mind boggling. I'm just glad I don't have to commute and be in this mess.

farmerjones

I'm sorry to tell you but while you drove in the rain you cars was basically in FWD mode and the security you felt was from good tires. Unlike the Torsen AWD used by Audi in cars with longitudinally mounted engines that run a full-time AWD split your S3 doesn't send any meaningful power to the rear wheels until the front wheels are spinning. You might notice the AWD from a stand still but while you were dodging these cars in the rain it was all while in FWD really..... This is how my TT works as well (unless I am in dynamic mode with a 50/50 torque bias). Yes your car will go a lot of places, and Haldex systems work fantastic....but it's not really assisting you while you drive at-speed through the rain. Glad you found your cartable and secure in the rain, what tires do you have?

arU4ic

Hahahaha... love it

arU4ic

Well, respectfully and in good fun... duh.

It was prose not science.