Having recently purchased a vrs 4x4 I was wondering what people’s experiences with Haldex 4x4 in the snow is like. I believe mine is Haldex 5 (2018). Is the system any good in the snow (couple with the proper tyres of course). Is it good even with summer/ all season tyres? 

 

I had a Subaru Impreza WRX S a few years back and even with summer tyres it still well out performed most cars on the road, especially on inclines, so I wonder how the Octavia 4x4 will compare.

 

 

 

 

We had significant snow two years running. The first year I had the original tyres on and the car took me everywhere I needed to go home including driving around other cars that had been abandoned in the snow. This year I had changed the tyres for Michelin Crossclimate +. The car performed even better and was the envy of other people I work with. I ended up delivering people home from work when their vehicles couldn’t make it. 

21 minutes ago, MediumDave said:

We had significant snow two years running. The first year I had the original tyres on and the car took me everywhere I needed to go home including driving around other cars that had been abandoned in the snow. This year I had changed the tyres for Michelin Crossclimate +. The car performed even better and was the envy of other people I work with. I ended up delivering people home from work when their vehicles couldn’t make it. 

 

That’s good to know, I had cross climate + on my last vrs (fwd) but I did not encounter any real snow so I have no idea if they would have performed well, nice to know they have a marked improvement over normal summer tyres!

 

Modern Haldex is very good although still can't match Subaru's permanent symmetrical AWD system although you don't get the fuel penalty.

 

With good allseasons or winters Haldex will handle anything the UK can throw at it as long as you have ground clearance.

 

 

4 hours ago, logiclee said:

With good allseasons or winters Haldex will handle anything the UK can throw at it as long as you have ground clearance.

 

 

 

☝️ What he said...

I came from permanent AWD in Audi and Haldex 5 is just as good under normal winter conditions. And we get plenty of snow and I have challenged several H5 cars in deep snow, no problem with nordic winter tyres. 

1 hour ago, BGB said:

I came from permanent AWD in Audi and Haldex 5 is just as good under normal winter conditions. And we get plenty of snow and I have challenged several H5 cars in deep snow, no problem with nordic winter tyres. 

Thanks good to know, if it can handle Nordic conditions then it’ll breeze the UKs light snow fall (if we get any)! 

I will upload a video or two from driving in snow.. 😁

 

Tested the Octy 4x4 quite well in snow.

 

The photos below.. First started off with driving on "plowed" area, then had to go through 20cm+

 

Bought 4x4 as i have a steep hill going 2x right when going out of the garage. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Accim85 said:

I will upload a video or two from driving in snow.. 😁

 

Tested the Octy 4x4 quite well in snow.

 

The photos below.. First started off with driving on "plowed" area, then had to go through 20cm+

 

Bought 4x4 as i have a steep hill going 2x right when going out of the garage. 

 

 

Thanks, will be very interested to see the videos!

As others have said, just got to allow for the Haldex to initially activate..compared to the more mechanical only diffs of a Scooby....

 

Haldex latest generation is very good, way faster than the ones in the old MK4 Golf platform......just drive "with it" not "against it" as the computer will try to predict what you do, based on your inputs...so don't back off half way into a situation...keep it steady & let the Haldex & the electronics do their thing....

couple of demos in this video of last winter's track... including Octavia, Leon, Subarus, S3... https://youtu.be/agQO2LjdwXU

you'll see that most of them can drift nicely given enough space  

 

 - Bret

 

 

Well I've either had or currently have Torsen, Haldex 1, 3, 4, and now the Octy which is Haldex 5 in the fold. On TS860 tyres it has never failed to get me where I need to go. But (as said above) if you have the ground clearance it is nowhere you could not have got with sensible driving and the same tyres with 2wd.

 

I find you don't have to think as much with the 4x4 you just put your foot down and go, no front wheel scrabble, even 90 degree turns in the wet. The car sorts itself out very well, just don't over-think it. Even in good weather you certainly feel a reassuring push from the rear end when cornering.

 

There was a big jump in performance Haldex 3 to 4 not so much 4 to 5 but it improved. The latest 2 generations pre-empt slip much better and spend more time in 4x4 mode like for starts and other situations getting rid of much of the previous "reaction time" issues associated with Haldex.

We have Torsen in the Swift (allegedly) and I'm a convert - it's truly awesome. I'll agree, that's drummed "Don't overthink it, let the ESP help you out, press the pedal" into me. My next will be 4x4. The difference in grip on packed snow or ice is significant. Can't wait to punt the 90bhp Swift round the track a few times, it should be a blast. 

 

 - Bret

I ve driven few different 4x4s in real snow - hyundai, skoda, subaru, bmw. Ofc the subaru performed the best although for normal snow driving, I don't notice that much of a difference. Maybe the biggest difference is drifting which is easier with subaru awd, but as said, for regular driving it feels similar to me. Others are comparable. 

 

For me biggest plus of 4x4 is starting in a snowy hill and accelerating hard in slippery, wet,.., going out of corners quickly where aditional wheels in wet for examole help you stay in lane..

 

Many times 4x4 owners overestimate the cars ability (and their own) and start overtaking, going fast downhill, which causes more trouble then.. 

 

 

Edited 30 June, 20196 yr by Accim85

11 minutes ago, brettikivi said:

We have Torsen in the Swift

 

Unlikely, the Swift has a transverse engine and wouldn’t have room for a Torsen if I am correct (Similar to all MQB from VAG). 

 

As far as I can read the Suzuki also has a pretty bad fwd biased 4x4. 

9 hours ago, BGB said:

 

Unlikely, the Swift has a transverse engine and wouldn’t have room for a Torsen if I am correct (Similar to all MQB from VAG). 

 

As far as I can read the Suzuki also has a pretty bad fwd biased 4x4. 

you are correct; now I search some more, I realise I'd interpreted Viscous Coupling as Torsen, which it isn't. So this is more like the older Syncro system than Haldex. Yes, it is FWD biased, but to be honest I'm very happy with it that way.

 

and the green Octy in the video is @Petunet with the white Leon being @Jaco2k.

 

 - Bret

I used to love the old Ford Sierra 4x4 systems.

 

Epicyclic centre differential with 34%/66% split. 66% to the rear axle and an old school limited slip diff in the rear axle, no ESP, no traction control.

 

Modern systems are more efficient and perhaps offer greater grip but the grip was fantastic and on low grip surfaces when things started to slide you knew 100% what to expect from the car. It would react the same way every time. It was a joy to drive on low grip surfaces.  I had three of these, my early Impreza Turbo Series McRae also had a similar setup.

 

My later AWD cars with Torsen and Haldex have offered great traction on low grip surfaces but not the fun as you are never 100% confident in what it is going to do.

 

As others have said just keep your foot in and the electronics should sort things out.

 

Lee

Edited 1 July, 20196 yr by logiclee

@MTwedVRS This is pretty much what you can do with winter/all season tyres on a Haldex AWD. I have done similar in the VRS, its ace!

 

This was taken on one of the main A roads in the Midlands.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, BigEjit said:

This is pretty much what you can do with winter/all season tyres on a Haldex AWD. I have done similar in the VRS, its ace!

 

Yep looks very familiar, but conditions don't have to be anywhere near as bad to be leaving most things by the wayside on the slightest of inclines.

Not the best video, but one from me.. 

 

https://youtu.be/qoT2Axhrjko

I run mine on Continental Winter Contacts in the winter months.  It's grippy and traction is good even on snowy slopes ... better than I was expecting.  On the Scout you get off Road mode as well with hill decent which is a nice feature.

 

Generally I prefer the 4x4 even in summer months, the traction and sure footedness is great.  Even on the twisty back roads and when hitting standing water it feels better. 

15 hours ago, BigEjit said:

@MTwedVRS This is pretty much what you can do with winter/all season tyres on a Haldex AWD. I have done similar in the VRS, its ace!

 

This was taken on one of the main A roads in the Midlands.

 

 

 

Might have cleaned the snow off the bonnet, and other areas

To be fair with winter tyres you would have managed any of those conditions on 2WD even RWD.

 

Parts of this speeded up but you get the idea.

 

 

Hiw do you upload a vudeo from youtube to look like that and not as a link? Thanks 😀

On 02/07/2019 at 18:56, BigEjit said:

@MTwedVRS This is pretty much what you can do with winter/all season tyres on a Haldex AWD. I have done similar in the VRS, its ace!

 

This was taken on one of the main A roads in the Midlands.

 

 

 

 

 

Great video, i had seen this on YouTube before, really shows how good they can be!