Quattro Vs xDrive Vs AWD - Which Is The Best In Winter Ice And Snow?

It’s going to be properly cold soon, and that nasty white stuff is going to start falling from the sky. There is a chance that you might want a vehicle with four driven wheels to help you accelerate away from a stop and maneuver through corners. This is the alleged impetus behind a lot of people I know purchasing SUVs and big pickups. But what if you just want a comfortable sedan from a European brand that is somewhat fun to drive? Do you get the Audi with Quattro, the Bimmer with xDrive, or the AWD Jag?

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mre30 - 10/31/2019 3:59:45 PM

+3 Boost

Let me save you the 10 minutes - they are all basically the same.

mpls - 10/31/2019 5:03:02 PM

+4 Boost

Audi may have invented the quattro .. but it was based on an expired patent by Jensen Motors. the first 4 wheek drive on a car was british..
As for the Xdrive sysetm, it was based on the landrover when BMW bought then sold Rover group back in the days..

mre30 - 10/31/2019 8:03:24 PM

0 Boost

X-Drive came out in about 1991 on the 325Xi, then was formally introduced on the came out on the - long before BMW ever even thought of buying Land Rover.

When BMW bought the Rover group in 1994, they split Land Rover from Rover, then sold Land Rover to Ford in 2000. They remained different companies until Ford bought Range Rover in 2006. Now they're both part of Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Tata motors, maker of the world's cheapest car.

The 2001 BMW X5 shares some parts with the 2003 Range Rover (which was basically built using the X5 architecture and launched in USA with the crummy BMW corporate 4.4L V8 (which suffered all kinds of leaks and problems in both BMW's and Land Rover products).

Section_31_JTK - 10/31/2019 7:13:53 PM

-6 Boost

Get a proper SUV with snow/ice tires, and increased ground clearance if you're on poorly maintained roads. Too bad they didn't test the Tesla against these cars.

runninglogan1 - 10/31/2019 8:42:05 PM

-3 Boost

Standard Model 3 with AWD would beat all three of these in the snow.

jeffgall - 10/31/2019 8:58:55 PM

+2 Boost

Lololololol... except the 100% torque off the line will just cause all 4 wheels to spin when you hit the pedal. Not to mention the salt will rust it away.

jeffgall - 10/31/2019 9:04:55 PM

+2 Boost

Quattro continues to impress me when the white stuff drops, Last year, early in the season, a storm hit New Jersey and created grid lock on most highways and roads. People took 4 to 5 hours to get home. My normal commute of 25 minutes took 40. Going up hill, a Ram 1500 stopped in front of me. When he tried to go, all 4 wheels just spinned. He backed up, tried again. Same thing. Did it one more time, and then started to get close to my front bumper. I hit the gas on my A6 to get around him, and marched up the hill without a problem.

Section_31_JTK - 11/1/2019 1:10:15 AM

+2 Boost

Those Ram trucks tend to have big mudder tires which are wrong for icy conditions. If you run a truck or SUV in those conditions, you need proper snow tires.

valhallakey - 11/2/2019 1:13:48 AM

+2 Boost

Absolutely right, snow tires make the biggest difference, now AWD, not SUV labels etc... those help but proper tires make by far the biggest difference!

2ndbimmer - 11/2/2019 2:16:31 PM

+1 Boost

BMW. In Chicago last year, I got calls from my Audi friends who said they couldn't go out because they barely made it up their block. I had no problems with my 330 wagon.