Seattle -> Baltimore mid December

BB,
Well, now that you mention it, there are some nice onboard coffeemakers which would work right in the cig lighter..........

I agree with glc in that there are certainly circumstances where a 4WD or AWD would need chains to make headway. What I'm trying to emphasize is the legal ability to continue through a pass when the weather conditions dictate a law enforcement enforced "chains or 4WD only" passage. Unless I'm mistaken, 4WD or AWD are, in most places, acceptable alternatives to chains/cables when the local Highway Patrol prohibits ascending a pass to vehicles without one or the other. Again, this is my impression--I've never been turned back or seen what appears to be on-site enforcement (but I'm regular but infrequent Mountain West Road Tripper). Finally, as noted and agreed, if the going gets so bad an AWD needs chains, time to pull off and get a motel (or fire up the DVD player and put on a pot of coffee).

Actually, I am of the opinion that an goodly amount of poor planning, inattention, bad luck, or some of all 3 are required to find yourself in a situation where a decent 4WD or AWD isn't all one needs to traverse an Interstate highway in the Mountain West. And there are few, if any, excuses for a laptop-equipped traveller to fail to observe the various state's DOT webcams in the passes and their overall online, real-time traveller information systems, not to mention the ability to punch in a place name or zipcode and see what weather.com is showing in terms of real-time weather radar there.

As to Phoenix, St Louis, etc, sure, why not? A cross country trip is a great opportunity to do some touring. If the primary mission is to get from point A to point B, however, adding 1,000 miles is outside of the mission. Besides, there are plenty of chances to find ice or snow in NM, TX, OK, MO, etc., so the swing south does not always assure you of non-frozen precipitation travel.

Foy

Hi Foy,

I've seen people forced to rent chains on the pass to Lake Tahoe in February of this year - at that time we had a 4WD rental and no problems to pass.

The idea with the DOT webcams is excellent - I'll start collecting a new Bookmark folder full of those for our trip.

I guess it's better to drive on snow than on some frozen sludge in the south which then becomes ice over night. And the aim is really this time only to get from A to B. In summer or for a holiday trip this would have been something different.

Thanks again for your comments !

BB,
Yes, so you've seen the Highway Patrol enforcing the chains OR 4WD, have you? I imagine it varies state by state, but it seems likely your AWD Quattro will be allowed to pass when restrictions are posted at the passes or elsewhere.

The various DOT webcams are effective tools, no doubt.

We take a lot of grief here in the South about our collective reaction to winter weather. There is some truth to our over-reacting, but the fact of the matter is it happens so seldom there is no logic to having large-scale snow removal equipment. It is also true that we have ice more often than snow. I have no hesitation about driving 50mph on dry, packed snow so long as traffic is light and visibility good, but ice is another story, isn't it?

Travel safe,

Foy

Here is the California chain law.

There are 3 requirements - R1 will let you through with AWD only. R2 will let an AWD through with snow tires. R3 requires that all vehicles chain up. It also says that all vehicles must "carry" chains in chain control areas. Cables qualify as chains. Reading it carefully, it may be a bit ambiguous - you may or may not have to carry them in R1.

You may want to do similar research on the other states' DOT sites.

Thank you glc,

I will most likely get a pair of chains/cables. I've read in various other Audi forums US and German that depending on up or downhill you want to change from front to back axis chaining.
The reason for downhill with back mounted chains is that the rear does not break out that easily and you can still correct with the front tires, whereas if you have the chains in front going downhill your rear pushes and breaks out more easily. Two tons (A6 wagon) will then go downhill until they get to rest.
The ESP seems to be fine with only one pair of chains mounted. I have not seen anyone posting chains on all four tires, which I guess would be probably better but in most cases a complete overkill.

Thanks again for your reply and help.
I'm getting excited for the trip - even if it's only a A to B trip without much sightseeing stops. We'll still try to do some sort of sightseeing if we manage to get through the Rockies quick enough.

You may want to think about having 2 pairs of cables. That would be the safest way.

Unless you know for sure, again consult the owners manual, I would not risk potential damage to your car. I do not know exactly how Audi's AWD system works, but I know on some AWD systems just putting them on 2 wheels can cause damage to your drivetrain.

The theory is someone flawed anyway. If you don't have chains on your front tires going down hill, you're going to have much less control of steering and breaking - which are primarily done by the front wheels. Personally, I think those things are failry important for traveling down a mountain.

Besides, putting chains on just 2 wheels will likely defeat the purpose of AWD, and I think it will be a whole lot easier to put 4 chains on at once than stopping and switching when you are at the top of a summit.

Checked the manual and in my case it recommends chaining up the front tires only.

Looks as if I will hit 1000 miles of snow this coming week independent of I90,I80 or I70.
Will be fun to drive, I hope I only need to add one extra day for the trip (two are possible).

Take it easy. Don't try to 'make up' time in bad weather. And you'll be fine.

As for going down I-5 to LA.... I wouldn't do it. There's some good hills there, too. And I-40 through southeastern CA, AZ, and NM have many hills and snow spots. Flagstaff is at 6900 feet (almost as high as Laramie, WY).

Sykotyk