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How to drive on a slush covered hill
Here in NJ we just had 18 inches of snow before Halloween. My wife and I got caught as the storm started and had to drive on untreated slush covered roads. Followed by 4 days without electricity.
As I approached a decline I put my Honda CRV AWD into first gear (auto trans). About a third of the way down the car started sliding to the shoulder we went off the pavement, I locked up the ABS back and forth and we made it to the bottom.
Now my Michelins have 40,000 miles on them and have tread above the wear indicators. So I was thinking it was just the tires. But was I making a misstake by putting the trans in first?
I stopped at the bottom of the hill to let an Audi A4 go by. He seemed to have no problems with traction on the descent.
So I was wondering:
1) was it just that my tires have lost their traction from age?
2) Is there a difference in the AWD between the Audi and CRV that causes the loss of control on the CRV. I know that the CRV is really front drive and only kicks in when traction needed on acceleration. So did putting the CRV in first cause the rear to want to come around, and I should have had it in drive and used the brakes. Do Audis,Subarus, or Jeep transmissions actually engage all 4 wheels when decelerating in low gears as opposed to the way the CRV seems to operate?
3) Was the error putting the car in first gear since it is in essense a FWD car when descending a hill and I should only used the brakes and not the transmission to slow the car?
4) Just don't go out on untreated roads dummy 
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
IMHO it was first gear that was the culprit.
The car wanted to go down hill (existing speed + momentum + gravity) at 'X' mph, the trans in first tried to resist that. In the end the traction of the tires, for whatever reason, was less than the force on the vehicle.
The result was the tires lost the tug-of-war.
I'll bet you didn't see any brake lights on the Audi did you?
Best of luck.
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
The deeper the tread on the tires the better off you would have been. Just above the tread wear indicators is pretty much worn out in snow.
Subaru's are unique in that all four tires are driven all the time. There is no switching back and forth. I love 'em.
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
You need a four wheel drive tractor with a cab large enough for the family. Slush should not be much of issue then. You would need a business where the tractor is a business expense to write off those costs. Might want to ask about a European model built for higher road speeds
KT
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
There's a bunch of full-time AWD vehicles out there.
Just off the top of my head, Volkswagen 4Motion, Mercedes 4matic, Audi Quattro, Volvo AWD, Land Rover, Honda CRV, Subaru AWD. The list goes on & on.
While there's no arguing that tires are important, IMHO the driver is the more critical part. There's an old saying in the construction industry, "The two best off-road vehicles in the world are 'company' and 'rented' vehicles."
I watched a a fellow engineer drive a rented compact car with useless summer tires around a stuck SUV & 4wd p/up on up the 'impassable' road to a new resort years ago.
When asked how he did it when they couldn't he smiled and said "you got stuck because you weren't going fast enough, that's all, no secret".
Best of luck.
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
When I was in college I worked as a dock builder on the NJ Turnpike bridge construction. I drove an old Chevy Pickup with bald tires and a 3 speed stick. Had to drive in deep mud all day long, and yes speed and reving that old truck was the ticket to slosh your where around without getting stuck.
The guys would always spot a new kid that was stuck in the mud, knowing that the newbie did not have the technique down yet. But the "technique" really beat the crap out of the truck  .
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
I guess my point was that a lot of so-called AWD vehicles are only part time on-demand AWD, and some full time AWD vehicles have a fixed front/rear drive ratio and are not adaptive. Audi's is good and I imagine VW 4Motion uses the same technology. The Toyota AWDs I looked at a few years ago were pretty much a joke in the AWD department.
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
They couldn't have been any worse than Ford's ill-fated attempt at AWD in their Aerostar vans. They were built as RWD vans, but in the AWD format they had a pair of 12 volt drive motors in the front hubs, when the rear wheels slipped the electric motors gave some assistance.
Best of luck.
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
Better tires will always help. Under normal conditions, you shouldn,t put the vehicle in low gear. If you left it in drive, your anti-lock brakes could peform as intended. While in the low gear, the engine braking will not have any anti-locking feature to help you stay in control.
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How to drive on a slush covered hill
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...... While in the low gear, the engine braking will not have any anti-locking feature to help you stay in control.
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Good point, even if I had all four wheels locked in 4WD the ABS seems like it would be a better choice. But that is counter to what I have been doing  And with the FWD dominance of the CRV, using the engine to brake is a pretty bad practice.
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