Hi everyone.
With all the snow about I am unsure whether to stay in normal quattro mode or switch off the esp button. My local dealer said that I should only hit the button when I'm stuck but I got the feeling he didn't really know.
which mode should you be in driving in say 3 inches of snow? Or say in the overtaking lane of dual carriageway which is slushy?
I would appreciate help as at the moment it seems that my purchase is no better than the standard A6 avant that I used to have with front wheel drive!

 

I've only had my allroad for a few days now, but I've been driving in snow for a couple of decades. The ESP system in the allroad seems to actually be halfway decent, so I would advise you to leave it on just as the dealer recommended. Especially on the freeway, where things can happen very quickly.

(I know this reply is late, but I haven't owned an Audi for a couple of years)

 

id say leave it on-its mostly stays out of the way any how, unless its quite slippery then itll kick in.

quattro is a great awd system, it might take some getting used to in terms of feel.

 

My AR is new to me as well. Luckily we've had two snow storms here recently so I took my car to a empty parking lot and got a feel for how the car reacts with ESP ON and with ESP OFF. I would recommend you do the same so you know the benefits/draw backs for both ways. Probably would recommend keeping it ON, however it does take quite a bit of the control away from the driver. For instance I believe it has (and does) cut the throttle back under certain conditions, so if you were looking to jab the gas and power out of a slide nothing will happen. With ESP off, I could sweep around corners sorta-sideways but it was very smooth and controlled because I had full control over the throttle etc. ESP is a tad jerky IMO but in general it works well and is fairly impressive. It's very hard to make the car slide with ESP ON short of being on sheer ice or something