Hi

Anyone had experiences of driving the vrs in snow with normal tyres on im currently running avon zz5 on the front and dunlops on the rear.

Ive never purchased winters i know they make a difference but i wont be changing tyres. Does the dsg make it hard work or easier. My mate has an a6 dsg and ploughs through no real issues but its a diesel lump and no where near as spirited as the vrs...lol

It makes it easy. you just use the throttle with care.

The XDS also helps.

but you will need to see in different situations if you want the TC off or on.

 

george

Nice one george, ive got snow forcasted the end of the week..........the fun begins.

you can always use the paddles for engine braking approaching junctions, just as you would a manual..... (best thing is still winter tyers )

DO NOTHING IN A HURRY is my best tip after 47 years driving. Find a clear space (empty car park and have a minor slide, and learn how to correct it. Find how much power to apply-in a Vrs,I'd suggest second has a nice feel). Always steer to bring the car straight. BUT NEVER in a hurry. I find that after 47 years ,it all comes automatically, and when that happens, all you need is a bit of practice each year. OH- NEVER get complacent. Get stuck- forward/ reverse shunt most times gets you out. After that ,it's cheap carpet under front wheel time. I keep a pair of cheap front mats in the boot. Get stuck and they go under fronts. Drive off to normal ground and go back to pick them up. Drive off.

I find the little 1.4 good in snow- lots of torque at low revs- that means higher than normal gear. Go practice- it's good fun learning how to drive in snow- just find somewhere big ( not like me where I graduated on the A697 in the middle of one of the UK's worst winters in a blizzard )with my nearest and dearest on board.

Top tip with the mats ive got loads in the garage i ll throw a set in. Practice makes perfect eh........

Put a few feet of string on the mats and tie that to the back of the car, then they drag along behind you until you can stop where you know you can re-start more easily.... But honestly, just get cold weather tyres. The difference is phenomenal. It doesn't cost more if you wear out one set in the winter and another in the summer as long as you plan to keep the car a while

^^^ until you experiance winter tyres and realise after years of "learning" to drive in those conditions that you can actually brake hard on snow, and even manouver on ice, you will never realise just how good they are nowadays.... and as for the cost ? you are doing the SAME mileage on one set of tyres, so technically , although you have to fork out for the winters, you will NOT put the miles on the summer tyres, and not have to replace them as soon...so you are not actually spending ANY more money, as I repeat, the same miles on one set of tyres......

I don't have a new-fangled whatchamacallit flappy beef curtains gearbox, but I can confirm that the difference is like night and day. The costs are an initial outlay then that's it, you replace as normal, winters or summers. Two sets every time here

DSG won't be an issue per se - only if you get stuck it gets confused (as I did in the Scircocco).  In that situation, I had to turn the TC off and just boot it.  Excessive slippage on one wheel just caused it to bog the engine down at idle irrespective of throttle position.  XDS just brakes the spinning wheel (putting it simply) so doesn't work as well as a proper LSD but should help a bit.  Not got stuck in the Fabia (winters for me..) so can't comment.

XDS is an 'Electronic lock',  the word 'Brake' is often being confused as in 'The Brakes',  the Electronic Locking diff does more than 

just making a Pair of brake pads nip at a single front disc.

 

ESP does that at the discs, thats where switching the Traction Control off can help

for setting off, putting it into manual works better for me, the dsg gets a little confused at times in D

Well i ll just wait and see thanks for the tips guys.

My experience of the vrs in the snow is that it's shocking. The best thing you can do is get some winter tyres on as soon as you can IMO

XDS is an 'Electronic lock',  the word 'Brake' is often being confused as in 'The Brakes',  the Electronic Locking diff does more than 

just making a Pair of brake pads nip at a single front disc.

 

ESP does that at the discs, thats where switching the Traction Control off can help

 

VW Vehicles with XDS have a standard open differential. There's nothing electronically lockable on the diff.

 

EDL brakes a spinning wheel when it loses traction so the torque isn't spun away by one wheel loosing traction,

 

XDS is an extension of EDL, it still uses the brakes but will brake the inside wheel in a corner when high torque is applied BEFORE it breaks traction. This improves traction and reduces understeer.

 

I doubt you will reach the cornering and torque levels to activate XDS on snow, you will be relying on EDL once a wheel starts spinning.

 

Although EDL and XDS are good systems I'd also echo others, winter tyres make a night and day difference.

 

Cheers

Lee

Edited 2 December, 201312 yr by logiclee

I had no issues in mine with winter tyres. I was able to get through a fair depth of snow thanks to them and didn't have any slippage or spinning. Not sure how it would have done without them, but I imagine the DSG wouldn't have liked it.

Looks like im getting talked into winters. What about winters on the front, or is all or nothing.

Looks like im getting talked into winters. What about winters on the front, or is all or nothing.

 

All or nothing unless you like spinning a lot!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cBSWEhimdA

 

Cheers

Lee

I got my fabia in the january of this year when we had some heavy snow and I had no issues with the standard dunlops and the dsg seemed to cope well. ive got vredesteins on this year so we'll see how it goes.