I have now had the chance to drive my new Cayenne V6 with the just released "Pirelli Scorpion Winter" tires, in snow, sleet, slush, and ice. The worst of it has not yet fallen, but so far the combo is amazing! Credit to both vehicle and rubber!

On snow, its almost like your on pavement taking off. Need to turn off traction control and floor it to get some slipping and sliding fun! I do however miss the flickering warning lights from my BMW's that say "Wow you Maniac, the electronics have now taken over and are working full tilt saving your ***!" whenever they kick in.

On glare ice however, just like every other vehicle, hit the brakes and you hear the anti-lock rattling away with little effect and the Cayenne ploughing ahead! Like I said earlier, technique is to plan ahead and coast to a stop with almost no brakes on ice. If its too late, brake as best you can to reduce speed, and at the point of no return release brakes and try and steer around what you are about to hit. The releasing breaks part is to regain some steering.

On near freezing water flooded roads, again like any other vehicle, you can feel the on set of aqua planning tugging side to side. Need to ease off the accelerator and carefully make very gradual corrections.

For RS-America, small correction to your list, you do not get the "electronic and map-controlled multi-plate clutch" on the "neutered" versions. You instead get a "mechanical brains" Torsen differential, with the other electronic acronym gimmicks which basically modulate the engine power and anti lock brakes to transfer torque. The system I believe is identical to the VW Touareg 4Motion system, and very similar layout to various classic generations of the Quattro system (not to be confused with the inferior Haldex Quattro on some lesser newer Audi's). These systems were always considered winter beasts, so nothing to worry about - just let it do the work! If you are uneasy, best bring your Cayenne to an unploughed empty parking lot and toss it around till you get a good understanding of what it does, and more importantly does not do in winter conditions! Can yell Q U A T T R O as you do it

 

didn't say that they did teach... just said it's the starting point

 

i have the scorpions (standard 18's) on a gts and i tested it when there was 6 inches dumped on pittsburgh just before xmas. plows were not out so i was driving on mostly virgin snow on back roads in suburbia. ive had jeeps and f150's in the past and the cayenne is nothing short of amazing and has a far superior drive system. i was clawing up hills and going around people that were stuck, without a bit of worry. i did nothing but select drive and go, it was lots of fun! also very interesting is how pasm fires the outside front wheel of a turn that you start to slide. there is some very sophisticated stuff (gyros) going on that can tell the moment you start to slide and does a great job keeping you going straight. i also tested it without pasm on in a parking lot and found that it is very easy to spin around in circles, even if you think you know what your doing.

 

I drove my Cayenne in 15+" of snow yesterday without any issues. It's very capable in deep snow. I'm running Michelin Latitude Alpin winter tires on 18" wheels.

 

2 months later, and several snow storms after my post above. i am still very impressed with this winter combo!

Never had the need to play with the off-road modes, electronics control the power distribution well !