way back when I had a 4x4 pickup truck – when snow fell I would pull the 4WD lever and all 4 wheels would be locked together – it would tear through any snowstorm I encountered in the 28 years I drove it – and while I didn’t expect that kind of performance with this cayenne, I was expecting it to feel more stable in the snow than it does – my wife’s Edge AWD feels more stable in snow than this car – which brings me to my question..what do the off road settings actually do to this car?

The owners manual says putting it in offroad 1 click gets car prepared for off road driving…? – the second click locks the center differential, which is ….the transfer case? – I don’t have the third click on my car – so if I put it in off road mode with center diff locked are all 4 wheels locked together like my old truck? – and why when it’s set that way does the transmission require manual shifting? – was this car not designed for on road driving in slippery conditions or is the AWD computer supposed to take care of that situation? – the edge will go around a slippery corner sure footed, while in this car it seems the front or rear is trying to break away – I am running continental all seasons on this

 

90% of snow performance is what tire you’re on. Is the Edge on a similar tire?

 

The electronics take care of snow traction; no need to mess with the offroad settings. The only time the diff lock could be helpful is when either front or rear wheels are on ice and other on dry pavement. Other than that, make sure you have good tires, put in Drive and go. I've driven mine through 18" of snow before; definitely some floatation with 295s all around but I got through ok. No issues on hardpack and icy roads. I run Continental DWS 06.

 

..

 

+100. Dedicated snow tires make all the difference. All-season, all terrain, M&S, etc don't count as dedicated winter tires.

 

Had a heavy SUV vehicle with wide tires that had a center differential that could be locked by the driver. Locking the center differential made a night and day difference in driving in slushy condition at moderate to high speeds. Until the center differential was locked, it felt unstable. I would expect modern AWD could detect the instability and lock the differential.

 

thanks for the input - the Edge is on 245/50/20 pirelli scorpion STR - the cayenne on 255/55/18 continental crosscontact lx30 - i looked up the tires online and it seems the continentals get slighlty higher marks for wet and snow traction - i don't have to drive in the snow too much so i would not get dedicated snows - these 2 cars are very similar in dimensions, with the cayenne being 300 lbs. heavier, but heading into a slippery curve the Cayenne always seems like it's on the verge of breaking loose - to me, putting it in the off road mode makes some difference, just don't like having to shift it manually - i bought it with these tires on it and since they had so much tread left i kept them - i've always liked the pirellis on the Edge so maybe next year i'll swap out the continentals and see if that makes any difference - thanks again

 

No need to lock the diff unless you are having excessive slip, or are stuck and need to get going. Winter tires make all the difference, specially with braking performance (AWD doesn't do anything for braking)

 

The right tires for snow make all the difference. I don't think any M&S compare with dedicated snows. On almost all 4 wheel drives once the car goes into a slide there is not much you can do but hang on take your foot off the gas and hope for the best. My favorite car for the snow was a 1971 Volvo station wagon with snows on the rear, it did as good or better than a vw bug. Once coming to Ca. in November I had to put chains on my bug to go down Donner Summit - elevation 7200' the car was like a tank with heavy chains- then I got down and the sun was out and roses were in bloom.

 

Definitely must be the tires because those are good sizes for snow. There are a few all-seasons left out there that have the severe snow rating, Vredestein Quatrac Pro being one of them: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/vredestein-quatrac-pro

 

hey reneeweiss - you brought back memories of driving my 72 superbeetle - some place had an off season sale on snows ($19) so i put them on all four wheels - was hard to get it stuck - did once though - rears were spinning at idle in first gear - me and my buddy both got out and pushed from the back then ran to catch it and jumped in - ahh youth

 

You need to read owners manual for how to use diff.

the Cayenne have electronic diff for normal driving. Rear diff is electronic and no change setting available.
your button in center console engage center and front.

locking center can be use for slow driving in snow, ice, mud, sand. Check manual but recommended under 25mph.
front locking is to get unstuck only, note, with front engaged, very difficult to steer, car wants to go straight only.

as others said, good quality tires is most important. 50% worn all season tires won’t give much traction, so always make sure you replace tires in fall.

 

It is all about the tire compound. Dedicated snow tires have a special hydrophilic compound that has supeior ice and snow performance. There really is no substitute. Also, there is the 3PMSF compound, a step down from the full blown snow tires that would be a good compromise. All season tires are a compromise between dedicated summer and winters, a jack of all trades but expert at none.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a1...-winter-tires/

All-Weather Tires Explained: Merging All-Seasons and Winter Tires (caranddriver.com)

 

as far as i can tell, the manual is useless - this is what it has to say about the driving programs - "the vehicle becomes one step more suitable for off-road driving".......?? - it does say you can only engage the different modes under 20MPH, and this i know to be true - but once it's engaged you can run through the gears to normal speeds - i don't see where it says you have to keep your speed under 20MPH with the locks engaged....only that you can't engage the locks over 20MPH - so can you drive around (manually shifting) with locks engaged? - i would thnk if Porsche didn't want the car to do that it, would automatically disengage over 20MPH - i do realize it's most likely my tires that are the culprit

 

I don’t have my Cayenne anymore but yes, I the locking diffs automatically disengage at 20mph. You can test this anytime.
if they don’t disengage automatically, you should as they can overheat.