GollyGwagen (Chuck)

I'm over in the Philippines for work and I loaned my S4 to a friend rebuilding the engine in his Mercedes Gwagen (1970's 4x4) and he drove it in bad weather. He lives at 9000' elevation in Bailey, CO and didn't know there was anything different done with my car that would effect traction/handling. This made it a good "blind" test! Here's parts of his email to me:

"I sure was glad to have the Audi Tuesday night. We got that strange
combination of just the wrong weather at just the wrong time and it
turned 285 into a sheet of ice from Tiny Town to Schafer's Crossing. It
was like a war zone with all the front wheel drive cars that couldn't
get traction to climb the grades, and what traffic could still move
weaving through them in the snow storm."

"It took me no less than 4 and a half hours to get from Lakewood to my
house. But the little Audi never put a wheel wrong the whole way and
never once broke traction.... Well, I might have felt one wheel turn a
bit one time, but nothing of any concern. If I'd been in the G I would
have been pulled over for another 30 minutes fitting the chains."

So it would seem that the 4:1 diff doesn't adversly effect traction under normal driving conditions. In fact, he was really impressed with the grip the car offered compared to other 4x4's. I did just put some good winter tires on however, so that helps. When I get a chance to drive it in the snow I'll put it through it's paces and deliberately make it loose traction to see how it reacts.

furtherrad

Good findings, however. I'm considering the diff for my S, also.

GollyGwagen (Chuck)

Certainly not, I was mostly interested that it stayed as sure-footed as normal when driven carefully