Saved by the Audi A4

After an incredibly snowy road trip through Colorado with no real snow driving experience, I have new respect for the Audi A4 quattro and its ability to stay on the road. A friend and I spent the equivalent of 2 days of driving through snowy mountain passes behind trucks, past deer, between rock faces, over narrow bridges, and around other stranded drivers. Nobody living in the mountains in Colorado owns a sedan, unless it's a Subaru, or an Audi for those who want to spend a little more. How do I start explaining how glad we were this car made up for own cold-weather skills...

First of all, four wheel drive was absolutely essential. It was the main reason we took this car for the trip over a Honda Civic even though it gets worse gas mileage (plus, we looked way more badass, but we can pretend the mileage was the real reason...). 

Second, EPS or Electronic Stability Program played a huge role in my survival. Great for driving on dirt roads to the Grand Canyon, or for staying on the road in a whiteout with a 6% downgrade. I don't know enough about cars to know how this works, but the placebo effect at least was excellent: I was a much better driver with this option on.

Third, Anti-Lock Brakes literally kept us from crashing into the guard rail the one time the wheels actually lost contact during the trip. We stopped after skidding across one lane (about 20 feet) with me standing on the brakes. 

Steering, acceleration and braking were all pretty awesome and did not wear out my tensed muscles any further. My only complaint on this end: jerky acceleration at low speeds. You can forget smooth parallel parking and left turns with this baby, but if you are buying this for riding in town then clearly you do not deserve its full capability.

My one true complaint: who the heck made the seats all stiff and performance-like in any car you may be stuck in for 3 hours in a blizzard??? Even for a nice car you occasionally take on road trips, the lack of comfort is unacceptable. I may be driving a luxury sedan with high performance, but maybe I want some comfort so my butt isn't numb halfway over the mountain with no end in sight.

In summary, if I ever find myself living in Colorado and looking for a nice car, I will be purchasing a descendant of the Audi A4 quattro.