snowchaser

I posted earlier about looking at a BMW 328D (A6 TDI will stay in my fleet) but a bit worried about hardcore snow performance (I drive through deep snow all winter). Real life experience anyone? Any feedback is appreciated. Even on the BMW forum most agreed that Quattro being more front-biased is better. If you had to trudge through 1 foot or more snow on mountain roads will X Drive be close enough to what I am used to with old school and new school Quattro? I have 91, 95 vintage cars (Mechanical Torsion but miss having ESC) plus my newer A6 TDI which is great.

Fahrer

I would say that if you are driving in 1+ feet of snow either of those sedans ( BMW or Audi) lack the clearance to keep one out of trouble. An SUV with winter tires would be better. Regarding front/rear bias, late model Audis are slightly rear biased ( perhaps 60%?) in normal conditions but that , of course, varies depending on the traction at each wheel. If driving with a two wheel drive car, fwd is definitely better than rwd in the snow. Besides the improved traction, it is easier to correct slipping under power.

Vodka G

I had a BMW X3 with Xdrive
the MK1 TTQC with Haldex
the Acura RDX with SH system
and now the C7 A6 with Torsen

both the haldex and the SH system is front bias

the X drive and the torsen system is pretty similar, but of course the SUV does have more clearance (not like i really need it in socal LOL)

directorguy7

I think most Audis still use mechanical AWD system where as BMW uses more computer controlled. Audi will always be far superior for that fact. Plus they have a lot longer history in doing AWD right.

snowchaser

How was your impression with your X drive compared to the C7 you own?

Vodka G

i havent seen much snow in both of those vehicles, but when i did, they both performed well. I will say that the X drive seems to react faster than the torsen quattro. But it could all be in my head.

The balancing and power distribution is pretty similar. both systems can send 100% of the power to the front or rear wheels.

xanmato

FYI, the C7 A6, at least with the ZF 8 speed, uses a crown gear center diff, not a torsen. Due to the way the clutch plates close from different rotational speeds front and rear, there is no 'reaction' time, no limited slip. The C7 has open front and rear differential (except for rear sport diff option). Left/right bias is controlled via the EDL system with selective wheel braking. X drive appears to react faster since bmw has tuned the system to make it look good on the roller ramp test.

ramaraju

We generally don't have much snow in Seattle area but this year was different with a lot of snow. So, I tested out BMW 535i xdrive and compared it to my C7 A6, I would say A6 had lot more control and I could take control almost immediately compared to BMW. That said, BMW xdrive is very good, maybe a very minor difference. It might vary if it is heavy continuous snow. Audi's are built to be the best All Wheel Drive until Tesla took over the place (Saw this in a video recently).

snowchaser

Thanks, everyone. I drive in over 500 inches per year with every type of Quattro since 1990. I will most likely pick up this BMW and will try and report back this winter. It does not sound like the Xdrive is far off but will performance test it in the Rockies.