I bought my car as a daily driver (ha, jokes on me, been in the shop the whole time) and as winter comes, I've been thinking about getting stuck. One big reason I bought the Bentley instead of the Quattroporte is the all-wheel-drive, but now that I've owned and driven it, I'm wondering if the enormous weight and performance treaded tires don't sap away the advantages of four-wheel.

I know to many of you this is sacrilege but I didn't spend that much on the car ($34k, plus $7k for stereo) so it's not like I have to keep it in a museum display, I bought it to drive to and from.

The problem is, when I have to go to work, I HAVE to go to work, getting stuck in the snow is not an option. How deep (I'm in Chicago) can I reliably trust this car to make it through? My wife's Cadillac XT5 can plow through anything, it's only front-wheel drive, but I have blasted through deep windrows caused by plowing and it just trundles through.

And...do these things rust? I know the early models of Bentleys do, but what about post-VAG?

 

Yes they do rust and Pirelli Sottozeros on 21s have been fine in NY snow. Michelin Alpin or Blizzaks are good too.

 

They are excellent in snow with winter on tyres .I use the same set of alloys , just change the tyres so s to maintain the TPMS integrity.


We had the same thought process in choosing a Bentley, Obviously we looked at the relative competition, Aston , Maser Quattro Porte ,
Also they not as big size wise .
Anyhow here's my experience “ on snow “ I’ve found ( and my friends etc ) that the worst 4 WD cars are the ones with electrotwackerey, What I mean by electrotwackery is when the ABS sensors and ECU + other stuff suppose to detect a wheel slipping and direct drive to the effected , or is t away from the problem corner or axel .They usually have a button on the dash like ASR or something .....Mercedes so called 4 WD or it AWD ?

Anyhow the point is this the BEST are the simple straight mechanical 4WD like the Subaru and early Bentley GT s .No fancy electrtrotwckerey just plan vanilla centre diff splitting the drive 50/50 .

The extra weight aids it going up inclines as per vid ^^^ .
Legally here in CH we have to carry chains in the boot in 3 seasons I have never actually put them on .
I have had to put them then on Range Rovers , Cayennes but the Bentley not yet ....going up steep slopes .

The only issue I have had with the Bentley is breaking the wheel arch liner at the front .In zero to say -2 slushy conditions you get a lot of build up inside the front wheel liners near the door bottom .If this freezes over night it sticks .Next morning the weight of the ice block fractures the rarther delicate ( it’s designed for easy removal) liner .And the plastic gets brittle from say minus 10 down .

Also when it’s really cold say -10 to -20 it throws a code P1294 and the CEL comes on at start up .This is some sort of “ out side temp range at warm up “ thingy .
It goes away spontaneously when the ambient air temp risers after a few starts or I clear it .Never happens except in severe cold .

 

As far as salt and rust goes I 2x year remove the wheels ( jack mode remember) and clean and wax up the suspension etc .I use waxoil .
The jet washes in CH use heated , hot water so weekly I give the wheel arches and what chassis I can reach a good jet wash .
Having said that it’s just having a new radiator fitted as I type ..and power steering .pipes because of .corrosion I,am afraid ......the price of using it as a daily in the winter ..... You just have to accept eventually the harsh winter conditions will take its toll .......eventually.

They are great GT cars btw .
Ambient temp on this vid is - 10

 

Chains work fine on ice , all ice .
its mandatory in some countries to carry them . The police will fine you in CH if you hold up the traffic because you have not got chains .
Winter tyres are a given .

Its not just snow it’s the compound grips better below 8 degrees ( no snow ) so better handling and crucially breaking distances are significantly lower with winter tyres .

The trend in the U.K. to fit them is actually increasing as the awareness level is rising and availability increasing .

You can go up to around 30 mph on normal roads ( no snow or ice ) with chains fitted they are fine on tarmac it’s all doable .
They are particularly useful on sheep ice covered slopes and corners , stop sliding .

Its a big subject which type theses days there’s some snazzy quick fit , but generally they are a phaff .
The wheel size may be an issue .Currently I,am on OEM 19 ,s as let’s face it they ain’t no sports car, and ride majors for me over outright corning G forces . It’s easy to fit them on 40 aspect ratio over say a 30 .
The clue is in the name GT
I would hazard a guess impossible to fit them on anything over 20 inch Dia without risking damaging the wheels ?

Obviously there’s many other high end cars about all of them go for a rim ( smaller ) than the summer so they can facilitated chains if needed .Most have two sets of rims .Bigger lower profile for the summer , smaller higher for the winters in case of chains .

We often return the U.K. in the winter with the winter tyres on , they have superior water dispersement as well over the summer tyres .
Naturally we leave the chains in the trunk for the return journey home .Otherwise we might not be able to get home , the last mile or so .

But so far I have never needed to depoy them in 3 seasons using the Bentley .....such is the traction with the Dunlop winter sports .

We have Pirelli sottozeros winters on the Audi and they are good too , but the Quattro system can be foxed , ie spin wheels occasionally in the same conditions the Bentley carries on ......the point I made about electrotwackery.
So with the Audi we do chain up if ice and they do work especially in steep descents .

The worst car I have had are Mercs ....dreadful .
Porsches Cayenne is good it’s had lockable centre diff and lockable rear diff in low box .....again a lot to think about with or with out chains .
BMW x 6 is ok ish ....liked the hill decent feature

So the Bentley with winters just is plug + play ....you just drive it without having to mess about with any dash settings / locking diffs etc etc .



It a good one in snow

Hope all this real life experience helps .

 

😂😂😂
British and I are only 30 mins from each other so I know what he’s saying about the snow! I didn’t buy my car for a daily driver. I had already put it in my mind that I would put her up at a certain time of the year. I only have one set of tires and they are summer one so I didn’t want to expose them to these cold temps. Rico as a youngster, I thought about the flame thrower thing on the front, but then I figured it would freeze behind me and make black ice 😂. How I was brought up, you always had 2 car and one better had been a pickup or suv. So I always had 2 cars as long as I had my license.

 

I don't drive my Continental in snow, but I've driven my Phaeton (same AWD system) through 11 Chicago winters. With a good set of snow tires you'll have the most capable car on the road.

 

I was going to show him the radio, but the car's been in the shop almost the whole time I've owned it. First getting the radio, then getting the radio replaced, then getting the wing fixed because the radio short, then the engine out for the wastegate solenoid (when I replaced a bunch of other parts just because I don't want to pull the engine ever agin), now it's in for a left-front wheel bearing, which appears to be really common as I've searched the boards. Wonder why left front?

And, my rims were flaking the powdercoat off, not dented or dinged (car is still without it's first ding, if I park it next to my wife's 2017 Cadillac, it's funny how her's is full of what we joke is the "Private school mom road rash", all the women driving the SUVs at pickup have dents and dings and wrecked rims...

Anyway, the two-piece rims took forever for some reason, so the powder is not set and I can't pick my car up tomorrow, but I leave for six days on Friday so it will be next week sometime before I see it.

I did have it buffed and waxed, that looks great. I didn't detail the interior, it's in absolutely great shape, other than where my heel hits the door when I climb out, no big deal.

The tires have some dry rot (car was not driven much at all, always in a heated garage) so I might replace them but we'll see how it does in the snow first.