996 4WD system Tip

This may be a silly question, but how do you know if the 4WD system works on the C4S? I was backing off my friends drive in the snow last week and the car was stuck, only the rear tyres were spinning and the traction control light came on, my friend who was watching said the front tyres did not spin at all. It seemed to me to be like a 2WD car which was embarassing with a 4S badged car! Now, I am only running summer tyres and I realise they are not a Land Rover, but surely the front tyres should have helped provide traction?

If you were backing off your friends drive and the front wheels were not spinning, they were gripping and pushing the car whilst the back wheels had no grip and were therefore spinning. The four wheel drive system in the 996 usually sends most of the power to the rear wheels and to the front only when needed. Four wheel drive does not mean that the car will be able to overcome ice for example. If you were spinning your wheels, you were creating a patch of ice under the car and therefore the car would find it difficult to move. I also have a Range Rover and whilst it is excellent, it still works better in the snow conditions with winter tyres than without. At Christmas this year, we drove to the French Alps to ski and I watched a BMW X5 slide off the road in front of me in poor weather. (we heard on the news later that 15,000 cars were stuck in the snow). When we stopped to help, we found that he did not have winter tyres or snow chains, but thought that as his car had four wheel drive, he would be OK. That was not the case. I have driven my 996C4S throughout the winter previously (once, a few years back, I drove to my office in London from Kent and it was sunny in the morning and there was a snow storm in the middle of the afternoon. I was caught out driving home). I did not get stuck and the car kept moving. The only issue being other people without four wheel drive being stranded and having to drive around them and the low ground clearance that made the car become a snow plough with the heavy snow coming down so quickly. The four wheel drive does work and work well but it is not a Range Rover.

Need to get urself an urquattro This is a proper 4 wheel drive system which is why it whipped the floor on the Rally scene in the early 80s Nothing else comes close - Engineers have made it 4 wheel drive too clever. The very first quattros had 2 locks that you could lock or unlock independently The next version was better as you had to lock the middle lock before locking the rear. The Torsion Diff stated the downward slide as it started to automate the system Its been downhill from there - the TT/A3 quattro isn a REAL Quattro When Audi bought out the TT they gave one to A German and one to a UK company to look at the possabilty of putting a proper fore aft 5 cylinder quattro system Love my 4S its so smooth

Thanks for the advice chaps. I will think about a winter tyre swap at some point I think then for sure. I can then run two sets of tyres for the car maybe. I think the local PC holds on to your other set for you if you swap them over. I think my confusion was around that I did not see the front wheels spin though, only the rear. I appreciate that snow tyres give more traction though.

My wife has an A4 Avant Quattro (four wheel drive is favoured in our household) and it is pretty good. However: THE original Ur quattro is a stunning car. You are right. Nothing can touch it. Even now.