Snark

I just finished a 700 mile drive to snowy Chicagoland and back. I have OEM 19" wheels with the Dunlop M3s, so a decent setup but not the most winter-friendly I could have chosen (vanity was more important to me than traction). With a big storm moving in last night I was nervous.

This morning I cleared off the RS4 in the hotel parking lot and simply drove right through the six or seven inches of snow, no fuss. In poorly-plowed parking lots and on the slushy side streets the RS4 certainly slid around, but it was easily correctible and no worse than my Jeep would have been. I was never out of control. I did see many, may cars wrecked on the side of the road today, including some SUVs, so I was happy with the RS4's performance.

Two points:

1) I did have a problem with snow and ice building up in the wheel well. Since there is so little room between the 19" tires and the body, you can get a nasty iceberg stuck there. It can make the ride a bit bumpy at speed.

2) My TPMS alerted this morning. I took it to the Audi dealership on Ogden Avenue in Westmont and they quickly found that the pressure in one of my tires was indeed 3 psi down. They theorized the 35 degree temperature drop over the last 18 hours had set off the alert (10 degrees = 1 psi, they said). They also gave the car a complete look over and topped off its fluids. I have to mention how fast, helpful, and professional they were. I didn't buy the car there and yet they didn't charge a penny for helping me out. If you live in the area, I recommend them.

daveak05

In what way did it slide around? Laterally? Or primarily the back end? In any event, I would throw a couple 50 lb sacks of sand in the trunk for driving in snow and ice. AWD or not, the front heavy car can benefit from a little added weight in the back. This was a rule I had to live by in Alaska And Lake Tahoe...I lived in both places year round for awhile.

Otherwise, it sounds like the car performed very well in some pretty slippery conditions.

Snark

The back end would start to come around when I made a 90 degree turn, for instance. But I didn't find it surprising or uncontrollable. Just counter steer a little and everything was fine.

daveak05

You still want to avoid that, because as you're busy counter-steering to correct, you are vulnerable to other things that may be happening around you in those bad conditions. Try adding some weight in the trunk, see if it makes a difference...I'm sure it will...applies to heavy snow conditions, anyway.

zzzing

what size snow tires do you have on those stock 19's? thanks.

Snark

245/40VR19