Blah

Since 700700 started the discussion in another posting, I am curious to find out what everybody else think about these two systems. I has an A6 3.0 Quattro for 4 years and now a 530Xi. To me the BMW (40/60 split) is far superior on dry roads but the Quattro (50/50 split) feels more assuring on snow and slippery roads. I used Goodyear F1 GS D3 summer / Pirelli SnowSport 240 winter for the Audi and Bridgestone RE050A RFT summer / Dunlop M3 DSST winter for the 530Xi.

aqkhan6us

when you compare quattro/x-drive-AWD/4-matic, the vehicles should be same category with very similar/same specifications,(wheels-rims-tires-year,) and similar/same with same road/weather(snow-ice-slippery conditions). This will give better idea and feel of different wheel drives.

VIIV

You really do need to get very specific, since quattro now refers to both Haldex and Torsen versions, and in different applications has differing characteristics. So, what follows is my opinion, based entirely on the two cars I have, and frankly limited driving in snow so far with the e60.

My A4 is permanent all wheel drive using a Torsen center differential, 50/50 split normally, automatically locking with up to 80% of torque transfer to either axle. Open rear and front differentials, electronic differential lock. The e60 starts with a 60/40 (rear/front) split and can shift 100% to either axle. X-drive uses DSC to control individual wheel spin on an axle, shifting power from a slipping wheel to the one with traction.

With the Torsen quattro system, the car tends to be nose heavy, since the engine must be ahead of the front wheels. I'd never drive a FWD Audi; you really need quattro to make them handle well. It also takes a while to learn how to handle corners when pushing hard in an Audi. You have to learn to just put your foot in it more, and trust quattro to get you through. You actually will feel a sort of transition back and forth between under and oversteer depending on which axle has more grip, and what the center diff is doing. It is mechanical, which probably was an advantage over electronic systems in the 80's and 90's, but my sense is electronics are so good now that advantage is gone. In snow, it is very easy to drive, mostly natural front wheel drive understeer coming through, very stable and safe and with good traction.

With the e60, in the dry the car feels very close to a RWD BMW, a bit more sluggish and understeering but not as much as many would have you believe. My experiences in the snow have been limited to relatively light stuff so far, but my sense is the DTC allows a bit more slip (biased to enthusiastic dry driving) which was a bit unnerving for me at first. I'm still learning to trust it will catch in time to intervene and so really haven't pushed it in snow. Right now, it feels to me that it requires more attention and care than my A4. The center clutch split is really good- I've never felt that the car isn't getting power down somewhere, or even really noticed it transitioning from rear to front.

Which is better? Like most things, it depends on your preference. In the dry, while I really like my e60, I could really wring a lot out of my A4. The only time it bit back was on a slightly damp road. In normal driving, not pushing hard, the steering of the e60 is nicely weighted adn so I tend to prefer it over the too light Audi. In snow, after my first e60 drive I was almost ready to just park it and use the Audi, but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Bottom line, I'll bet most people would prefer the BMW in the dry and the Audi in bad weather.

gorban

A couple of swedish auto magazines have done some pretty extensive winter testing on a number of 4wd cars. Among these were Audi, BMW, MB, Volvo XC70, Volkswagen etc. They ranked the BMW system as the best system for winter driving.

My father-in-law has an 330xdT on order so that one will be interesting to drive.

550isport

I have an X5 (the wife now drives) and she previously had a 325xi (non X drive), but the best apples-to-apples comparison I can make from personal experience is between a 2005 Audi A6 and an 06' 530xi in the snow, both with all season tires. I agree with 525's bottom line: the BMW behaves like a rear wheel drive car in the dry, while the Audi is more at ease in the snow. But that's a no brainer. BMW design, contruction etc... is geared toward performance, and the better a car is in the dry, the worse it tends to be in all other conditions (due to suspension geometry, weight distribution etc...). So a BMW is superb in the dry. Add x-drive (which exacts the smallest of penalites on dry weather handling) and you now have a great handling car in the dry that can hold its own in snow. Think of splitting up a dollar's worth of change. The X-drive BMW allocates 85 cents to dry weather handling leaving only 15 cents for the slippery stuff, while the Audi is more like a 60 cents dry / 40 cents slippery split. I Hope this nonsense helps.

DRP

merklebob

i've had both a 2002 a4 3liter and a 2004 3.2 tt with quattro. my wife drives a 330xi. i really dont see any real day to day differences. they are all great in the snow and ice[to a certain point]. the hill desend was not available for these audis[it may now]. i find the hill desend to be very useful and not just a toy option. as for the audi you can get a sport suspension on their quattros and there's an option to change out the preformance tires to all weather ones. the older 3.0liter [none direct injection ]had a serious throttle delay in stop and go traffic. you really cant go wrong with either can. i think the bmw is more of a luxary car than the audi[too many VW similar parts], and the fit and finish seam better [ but that my opinion.]

Ricracing

Meaning what???

The BMW xDrive system has been vastly praised by car magazines.

It has a slighly differant philosophy than the good ol' Audi's Torsen A6,
they use the Swedish Haldex system in the Skoda's, Seat's and VW's.

My own experience of a xDrive BMW was last week with a 325xiA.
Driving on ice circuits since some early 70's I must say the car was
very good to handle but clearly a RWD.


But I must say that the Audi A6 Q is a nice car also.
My first ice circuit driving experience happend in '71
with a brand new Audi 100 CoupeS (FWD)

sleek545

[i dont understand all the noise about x drive ,quatro,all wheel drive ,4 wheeel drive.What about the other 362 days per year.Go with bigger engine and forget 4 wheel drive.There are 362 days annually that you dont need this x drive stuff

VIIV

It depends on the car, where you live, how you drive, and your priorities. To each his own. As stated above, I would never drive a FWD Audi. And I always found the 4 cylinder turbo a superior engine to their 6. So it was a no brainer to me to get an A4 turbo quattro. Snow was really only a very small factor in that decision. You get lots of benefits in the dry with quattro, and some more in the rain. So even were I living in SoCal, if I was in an Audi it would be AWD. I likely wouldn't make the same choice with an e60, but I might for other cars where the alternative is FWD.

550isport

[quote name='Ricracing' date='Feb 5 2007, 03:07 PM' post='387725']
Meaning what???

X drive is the newest version of all wheel drive BMW offers. I believe it is now the only version. No e46 3 series had X drive. My wife's 325xi, like all X5s through 04' had a fixed 62 rear 38 front torque splitting diff. If the 325 you drove was not an E90, it had this system which, as you rightly point out, is rear biased. The E46 325xi makes you feel like a rally star in the snow with the DSC off!! The X5 and the E60 X cars are not so fun. They don't have the rear bias. But what they loose in fun, they make up with in added traction.

DRP