# 4MOTION In The Snow: Video



## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

Hello all, we got our S w/ 4motion in august and have loved every one of the 7000 miles we've put on it so far. I live in southeastern Virginia, where we usually get snow once maybe twice a year if we are lucky, and it doesn't stick around very long. This means that while other (more prepared) areas like where i used to live in Columbus, Ohio, have neighborhoods and secondary streets plowed within hours and nobody seems to notice the snow, the ~11.5" we got this past thursday is basically the end as we know it. As i'm writing this it's day 4 with snow on the ground, mainly ice at this point, the interstates are finally safe, but the main city streets are unacceptable, and the neighborhood roads are untouched. We just aren't set up for it. I took out Atlas out to play around a bit, mainly just wanted to try out the 4MOTION. Ended up having to take a postal worker to work about 35 miles away first thing in the morning before anything had been plowed and aside from a few deep spots i never lost confidence in the Atlas. I mainly left it in snow mode, never had a real need to take it out of snow mode, other than to give it a small skid or something. So far i'm very impressed with the 4motion overall, and i plan on making a "real world owners review" in the coming week once it warms up that goes into some things i've found and also some things that any potential buyers should know as well. Here's a quick video i made:



Details on how it got stuck are in the video description, really boils down to ground clearance and not carrying the necessary momentum to make it through snow that was up to my knee.


Can't get the embed feature to work but here's a link:


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

Reason why you got stuck are tires! I would get out of there in my VW CC FWD I used to have with snow tires. Put any, and I mean ANY snow tires and you would get out with no issues. 


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## juched (Nov 12, 2004)

Nice video 


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## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

It's possible, but the main reason was the actual snow depth, i drove into a really deep drift, it was upwards of 15" and over my knee, the car just beached on the snow, only took a second to get out, but there was a nice imprint of the lower front bumper and the entire undercarriage where the car was beached lol. Tires can't save you from lacking ground clearance.


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## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

I'd pay money to see a CC with like 5.5" of ground clearance drive through a 15" snow bank lol.


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

DJW3SS said:


> I'd pay money to see a CC with like 5.5" of ground clearance drive through a 15" snow bank lol.


**** man, if I knew it I would take a video of it. That was my go to ski car for couple of years here in Colorado. 
FWD with snow tires or AWD with all seasons? Always FWD with snows!


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

DJW3SS said:


> It's possible, but the main reason was the actual snow depth, i drove into a really deep drift, it was upwards of 15" and over my knee, the car just beached on the snow, only took a second to get out, but there was a nice imprint of the lower front bumper and the entire undercarriage where the car was beached lol. Tires can't save you from lacking ground clearance.


Try it, you might find amazing what set of good winters could do.


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## digdug18 (Mar 31, 2008)

I had a 4motion Passat, got stuck pretty often in the winter. I went back to a Subaru Outback, and haven’t had an issue since. 


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## Don® (Oct 11, 2011)

digdug18 said:


> I had a 4motion Passat, got stuck pretty often in the winter. I went back to a Subaru Outback, and haven’t had an issue since.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Strange, never had a problem with my A3 Quattro...ASR and ESC disabled?


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

digdug18 said:


> I had a 4motion Passat, got stuck pretty often in the winter. I went back to a Subaru Outback, and haven’t had an issue since.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


I towed out Subaru from ditch (ended up there bcs of slippery road) with. FWD CC. So what does that mean? 
Unless you compare those two cars with same tires then there is no comparison. 
Granted, Outback has better AWD then these Haldex equipped Passats. But considering what Haldex is capable to do, I would say it would be cheaper to buy set of snow tires then Outback. FWD Passat equipped with snow tires is more capable then Subaru with all season tires. 
In the end of the day, do not forget that no one died from not moving forward fast. But a lot of people died from not being able to stop or control vehicle. And my friend, it is all about tires in those situations as MANY Subaru owners know first hand here in CO. 


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## Don® (Oct 11, 2011)

edyvw said:


> I towed out Subaru from ditch (ended up there bcs of slippery road) with. FWD CC. So what does that mean?
> Unless you compare those two cars with same tires then there is no comparison.
> Granted, Outback has better AWD then these Haldex equipped Passats. But considering what Haldex is capable to do, I would say it would be cheaper to buy set of snow tires then Outback. FWD Passat equipped with snow tires is more capable then Subaru with all season tires.
> 
> ...


The passat b5 had a torsen setup.


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## digdug18 (Mar 31, 2008)

I’ve a ‘99 Legacy Outback, came from the factory with a rear limited slip differential. Excellent in the snow. I had a older A4 as well, that also sucked in the snow. I’ve owned lots of different cars. 

I lived in Colorado for a few years as well, drove a Civic back then, didn’t need snow tires, I knew how to drive. I find it cheaper then wasting money on snow tires. 

I like the B5 Passat, especially the W8 version. Might go for one of those for a summer ride at some point. Not for winter though. 


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

Don[emoji768 said:


> ;109485001]The passat b5 had a torsen setup.


Yeah, that is why I said new Passats. 


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

digdug18 said:


> I’ve a ‘99 Legacy Outback, came from the factory with a rear limited slip differential. Excellent in the snow. I had a older A4 as well, that also sucked in the snow. I’ve owned lots of different cars.
> 
> I lived in Colorado for a few years as well, drove a Civic back then, didn’t need snow tires, I knew how to drive. I find it cheaper then wasting money on snow tires.
> 
> ...


Knew how to drive but you need limited slip differential not to get stuck? You had A4 and sucked in snow?  
And point of winter tires is not about getting stuck or not. But it might be bit complicated to you to explain. 
But I might say getting stuck with Passat does require “expertise.”
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## Don® (Oct 11, 2011)

edyvw said:


> Yeah, that is why I said new Passats.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Unfortunately, Canada doesn't get the new 4 Motion Passat's.


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

Don[emoji768 said:


> ;109486361]Unfortunately, Canada doesn't get the new 4 Motion Passat's.


Did it get B6? One when they switched back to transverse engine?


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## Don® (Oct 11, 2011)

edyvw said:


> Did it get B6? One when they switched back to transverse engine?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Nah, the B6 only came FWD here.


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## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

edyvw said:


> **** man, if I knew it I would take a video of it. That was my go to ski car for couple of years here in Colorado.
> FWD with snow tires or AWD with all seasons? Always FWD with snows!


I definitely agree! Overall where I live the roads go entirely untreated, and with that the atlas was the perfect vehicle to have. For the little bit of snow we get in case of emergency it did it’s job. Actually ended up making 2 trips to the ER because my son got sick when there was a foot of snow on the ground of course, and I’m glad we didn’t get the FWD model lol. 6000lbs and front wheel drive on all seasons wouldn’t have been fun.


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## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

edyvw said:


> Try it, you might find amazing what set of good winters could do.


I’ve seen what snow tires can do and I definitely agree. Where I live we hardly get enough snow to warrant an awd vehicle let alone winter tires. It’s just nice to have because when we do get any snow the roads stay basically untouched until it melts. Secondary roads at least, it’s like a ghost town and everything is shut down you don’t have to leave unless you have an emergency or you want to go play in the snow lol. Unfortunately my son got sick and we had to make 2 trips to the ER, Atlas performed perfectly.


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## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

digdug18 said:


> I had a 4motion Passat, got stuck pretty often in the winter. I went back to a Subaru Outback, and haven’t had an issue since.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


We used to have a legacy GT, and the few other Subaru’s I’ve driven in the snow have really done marvelously. Honestly I think it’s just that Subaru’s awd system is just so good. I actually want another eventually, but the Haldex system I’m the Atlas is great, for being an overinflated Passat with awd it’s a great vehicle and does exactly what it’s advertised to.


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## EPilot (Jul 27, 1999)




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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

Don® said:


> The passat b5 had a torsen setup.



But a 2006 Passat was a Haldex (I think Gen 2) setup.

NMS (B7) Passats are FWD only


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

BsickPassat said:


> But a 2006 Passat was a Haldex (I think Gen 2) setup.
> 
> NMS (B7) Passats are FWD only


Yeah, they moved to Haldex in 2006. I think. 


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

DJW3SS said:


> I’ve seen what snow tires can do and I definitely agree. Where I live we hardly get enough snow to warrant an awd vehicle let alone winter tires. It’s just nice to have because when we do get any snow the roads stay basically untouched until it melts. Secondary roads at least, it’s like a ghost town and everything is shut down you don’t have to leave unless you have an emergency or you want to go play in the snow lol. Unfortunately my son got sick and we had to make 2 trips to the ER, Atlas performed perfectly.


I digress. Point of winter tires are not moving forward. It is overall control and most importantly, braking! 


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## ROWDYRABBIT (Jun 29, 2001)

Don® said:


> Nah, the B6 only came FWD here.


*Totally wrong!*

We did have the Passat 4 motion but you had to get the VR6.

Also got the wagon in 4 motion again only available with VR6.

Sold very very few of them so they are pretty rare.

You are thinking the B7 model.


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## Don® (Oct 11, 2011)

ROWDYRABBIT said:


> *Totally wrong!*
> 
> We did have the Passat 4 motion but you had to get the VR6.
> 
> ...


Right, sorry it is the B7 then. The B6 was offered with the 3.6L transversely mounted haldex system.


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## ROWDYRABBIT (Jun 29, 2001)

Don® said:


> Right, sorry it is the B7 then. The B6 was offered with the 3.6L transversely mounted haldex system.


Yup.

It is easy to forget that VW brought them over, as they were over $50,000 plus taxes etc... at the time. You could go over to Audi and get the same car A6 for roughly the same price with more options.

If they brought the Haldex and 2.0T instead, I would've been selling those like hotcakes because thats what everyone wanted back then. AWD at an AFFORDABLE price.

Lol VW is just starting to catch on, albeit very slowly...


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

ROWDYRABBIT said:


> Yup.
> 
> It is easy to forget that VW brought them over, as they were over $50,000 plus taxes etc... at the time. You could go over to Audi and get the same car A6 for roughly the same price with more options.
> 
> ...


The problem for VW is that it will influence Audi. Average buyer doesn’t understand difference between Haldex and Torsen, between longitudinal and transversal engine etc. 
VW has numerous cars on the shelf that would make great sale. They have Passat Alltreck in Europe that IMO would be great seller. Even though they hit the nail in the head with new Tiguan and Atlas, they underpowered both cars to protect Audi. Put V6 turbo in Atlas or stronger 2.0T in Tiguan and many buyers of Audi are going to think twice. 
I remember when Passat B5 debuted in Germany in 1996. Holy moly, it squashed Audi. Even when Audi A6 was radically updated in 1998, it never managed to distance itself from B5. 


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

DJW3SS said:


> I definitely agree! Overall where I live the roads go entirely untreated, and with that the atlas was the perfect vehicle to have. For the little bit of snow we get in case of emergency it did it’s job. Actually ended up making 2 trips to the ER because my son got sick when there was a foot of snow on the ground of course, and I’m glad we didn’t get the FWD model lol. 6000lbs and front wheel drive on all seasons wouldn’t have been fun.


Just for clarification: what weighs 6,000lbs?


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## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

edyvw said:


> Just for clarification: what weighs 6,000lbs?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Nothing lmao it was an exaggeration 


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## Chounsten77 (Jan 9, 2018)

*But what about sand?*



DJW3SS said:


> Hello all, we got our S w/ 4motion in august and have loved every one of the 7000 miles we've put on it so far. I live in southeastern Virginia, where we usually get snow once maybe twice a year if we are lucky, and it doesn't stick around very long. This means that while other (more prepared) areas like where i used to live in Columbus, Ohio, have neighborhoods and secondary streets plowed within hours and nobody seems to notice the snow, the ~11.5" we got this past thursday is basically the end as we know it. As i'm writing this it's day 4 with snow on the ground, mainly ice at this point, the interstates are finally safe, but the main city streets are unacceptable, and the neighborhood roads are untouched. We just aren't set up for it. I took out Atlas out to play around a bit, mainly just wanted to try out the 4MOTION. Ended up having to take a postal worker to work about 35 miles away first thing in the morning before anything had been plowed and aside from a few deep spots i never lost confidence in the Atlas. I mainly left it in snow mode, never had a real need to take it out of snow mode, other than to give it a small skid or something. So far i'm very impressed with the 4motion overall, and i plan on making a "real world owners review" in the coming week once it warms up that goes into some things i've found and also some things that any potential buyers should know as well. Here's a quick video i made:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm thrilled to see someone posting about from my area - I can relate to your concerns. We get so little snow in southeast VA that it doesn't deem snow tires. However, I am very interested in getting the Atlas for our beach commutes in Corolla. Have you had a chance to take it down to that area at all? There IS a snow mode on the 4Motion, but not a sand mode. I'm hoping they work similarly enough, since we don't want the Pilot (which does have it).


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## Don® (Oct 11, 2011)




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## DJW3SS (Apr 11, 2009)

Chounsten77 said:


> I'm thrilled to see someone posting about from my area - I can relate to your concerns. We get so little snow in southeast VA that it doesn't deem snow tires. However, I am very interested in getting the Atlas for our beach commutes in Corolla. Have you had a chance to take it down to that area at all? There IS a snow mode on the 4Motion, but not a sand mode. I'm hoping they work similarly enough, since we don't want the Pilot (which does have it).


Haven’t taken it down that way but maybe this summer, if you get one too we can ride down together! It has the off-road mode which may help better in sand and also has the custom mode where you can change a few things as well. Hoping to throw up a little in depth review of the 4wd system on YouTube if I can ever get the car cleaned up. I think the biggest short comings of this vehicle are the ground clearance and tires. As soon as a lift is available I’m getting it, along with some decent A/T tires and probably new wheels as well. Then I wouldn’t even hesitate taking it out on the sand. Bring a shovel and maybe some maxtrax and roll on


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## GINCH (Sep 26, 2000)

ROWDYRABBIT said:


> *Totally wrong!*
> 
> We did have the Passat 4 motion but you had to get the VR6.
> 
> ...


Also wrong. The B5 Passat was available with a 1.8T 4 motion (extremely rare) and the V6 was a 30V V6 not a VR6!


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

GINCH said:


> Also wrong. The B5 Passat was available with a 1.8T 4 motion (extremely rare) and the V6 was a 30V V6 not a VR6!


That discussion was about the b6 passat, not B5

The b5 passat w8 also had 4motion standard. The 1.8T 4M was introduced late, iirc 2004

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## Hedgehodge (Nov 7, 2008)

Bump. Snow tires make my lowered 1.8 GTI (2001) a snow plow, tires will make it go until the bumper breaks under. I thought"snow" tires were an advertising gimmick until I bought a set of 4... Life changing with fwd. I'd imagine with 4motion I'd be unstoppable until I wanted to damage the bumper or cover the belts with snow and make them slip


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## PCBHater (Sep 25, 2018)

*Nice video/tires really help*



DJW3SS said:


>


Great video! Do more! 

Agree with others -- tires make a huge difference; either snow tires or A/T tires w/ the mountain-snowflake symbol (that's what I run). But I hear you -- when you have a wet, icy drift and no momentum, you're going to get stuck. 

Last month I took my Atlas up in the mountains after a fresh snow. Drifts of 10-12" and no issues, but the snow was powdery, and I was able to keep up momentum. I met a guy with a Ford F-250 (4x4) that got stuck earlier in the day. He was running all-season tires and he spent 2 hours digging out. His higher clearance didn't help. So we teamed up so we could help each other out if we got into trouble, and I ended up taking the lead and laying down new tracks for him to follow. 

I don't have any snow videos (yet!) but do check out my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKF-9Lhe3JSBWqfnn8JtEQ?view_as=subscriber

I assembled a slide show of my camping trip to SE Oregon that includes some pics of my Atlas in the snow and in the mud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxeYLfvyQNc








[/url]Snow_Atlas by James McMillan, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## PCBHater (Sep 25, 2018)

*Driving in the snow in the Oregon Outback*

Happy New Year, VWV community.

Did a 3-day, 2-night winter camping trip in south central Oregon with my son and a friend. Here's the link to Part 1 of a 3-video playlist covering our adventures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNB2YBAEHmc

If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe! Thanks!

Atlas_winter_camp by James McMillan, on Flickr


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## Mitch82 (Oct 15, 2018)

digdug18 said:


> i’ve a ‘99 legacy outback, came from the factory with a rear limited slip differential. Excellent in the snow. I had a older a4 as well, that also sucked in the snow. I’ve owned lots of different cars.
> 
> I lived in colorado for a few years as well, drove a civic back then, *didn’t need snow tires, i knew how to drive*. I find it cheaper then wasting money on snow tires.
> 
> ...




Hi, I am sure you kow how to drive, but there is a fact that all season vs snow tire as no comparison.

All season tires are good only a few degrees around 39°F.
39°F is the limit betwene a summer tire and a snow tire.
It's all linked to the tire (rubber) hardness.
All season tires are too hard for driving in snow.

I am living in Colorado, and on a same car I tried all season and snow tires. All season tires are slippery when cold. while snow tires are perfect.

This has nothing to do with knowing how to drive or not.


Snow tires is definitely very safe.

I can tell why people are driving so slowly, it' because of their all season tires.


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## Mitch82 (Oct 15, 2018)

edyvw said:


> Try it, you might find amazing what set of good winters could do.


I have been surprised, when I moved to Colorado, to see how many people where keeping all season tire.
Actually, they never tried snow tires, and then, can't understand.
Colorado people told me that they were lazy, and this is why they don't change their tires.

I totally agree with you, trying is amazing.


From where I am, there is no discussion, you drive with snow tires in winter...


Also, in case of a crash, the insurance is looking at the type of tires, and if not snow tires, they will not pay in full, because you become responsible.
Seems that this doesn't really apply here in Colorado.


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## Mitch82 (Oct 15, 2018)

edyvw said:


> I towed out Subaru from ditch (ended up there bcs of slippery road) with. FWD CC. So what does that mean?
> Unless you compare those two cars with same tires then there is no comparison.
> Granted, Outback has better AWD then these Haldex equipped Passats. But considering what Haldex is capable to do, I would say it would be cheaper to buy set of snow tires then Outback. FWD Passat equipped with snow tires is more capable then Subaru with all season tires.
> *In the end of the day, do not forget that no one died from not moving forward fast. But a lot of people died from not being able to stop or control vehicle.* And my friend, it is all about tires in those situations as MANY Subaru owners know first hand here in CO.
> ...



Hi, this is a really good safety/prevention remark.

I heard many times people saying : I have All Wheel Drive, so it's safe, going up and down the hill...
You still have to stop, and going down, you don't use traction, but your brakes (ok, engine brakes apply a reverse torque on all the wheel, but it's a very tiny difference).

In my younger time, I had only FWD with snow tires, and I went everywhere. Even knew how to climb a hill when it was slippery. Good luck doing that with a AWD and all season tires.


100% agree with you.


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