up and over Teton pass,Wy

[mntob2011]

just received my new 2011 3.6 Limited silver.. drove from Idaho Falls,Id. to Jackson Hole, Wy. what a day to drive.. In a snow storm. snow and ice covered roads the car handled like it wasnt there.. the 4 wheel drive in this is amazing just like the audi allroad with out the problems of the audi.. this is the true allroad.. the tires were ok, id like to put michalins alpine artics on. It would be amazing.. i laugh at the snow and ice.. what a vehicle.. keeping my fingers crossed that nothing startes shaking on me.. averaged 23 mpg. over and back about 250 miles.
filled the second tank intown driving and receiving 19.5mpg. love this vehicle. i cant say it enough, a true allroad.

[ob2011]

Seems we have similar setups, mtnob2011. I have the 3.6R & an allroad 2.7t. Both with studded Winterforce tires. The previous snows on the allroad were Arctic Alpins.

I think the allroad is definately a better car than the ob. It's more comfortable, handles better, and is an all-around nicer car. The ob is more like driving a SUV. But, the allroad costs 15K more then the ob (new). Unlike some, I've had few problems with the allroad, after 90K miles. New front airsprings an a new air compressor are about it. I hope the ob turns out to be just as reliable.

I bought our ob from Wackerli in IF. They did a good job servicing our Audi. Do you know of a better service shop for the ob?

Don't get me wrong, I do like the ob. It's a great all-around vehicle. I specifically bought it for driving in the snow as we live out in the country (Ashton-area).

[mntob2011]

you are right the audi is the driving machine.. my husband has a 94 s4 which he loves also had a 00 A6 which continously had problemes. so no problems with the lifting of the body or do you just keep it in one spot.. we actually have a cabin up to the north end of island park.. driving the ob will make it much nicer getting to it..i love the power distribution on the ob to the front and back. I guess i was comparing that more than the comfort. I traded in my 07 Acadia for the ob. it just didn't handle the ice and snow worth a crap. It was driving a front wheel drive. have you had any problems with the shaking some of the people are talking about?

[mntob2011]

i do think the leather seats are better than the cloth, and more comfortable maybe thats where we differ. i decided to go with the Limited because of the comfort of the interior. We also bought our OB from Wackerli, from Jason. He's a good guy. Klouws(sp) could never fix the audi the first time. I don't know of any other shops for the OB. But Rods fixes the Bmw and the Yukon for us. Hes really good. my husband knows of a another audi machanic in town but i can't remember who that is.

[ob2011]

The ob may have a better awd system than the allroad in that if one axle is on dry ground and the other axle is on wet ice the allroad won't move. The ob will, I understand. In most cases, though, I can't notice any difference in awd systems. The ob drives like the allroad on level 4.

We also bought our ob from Jason; we had to order it from the factory as there were no 3.6s on the lot. And, we're in the Island Park - West area frequently.

My understanding is that the Acadia didn't/doesn't have a very good awd system. You will likely be happier with the ob.

After having the allroad, I wasn't impressed with the leather on the ob. Only the seating surfaces are leather, anyway.

Haven't been over to Jackson yet in the ob.

[mntob2011]

i do remember on one corner where the tires gave way and the car responded and put it right back on track.. it was an interesting feeling.. handled really well going down. i loved being able to use the paddels to down shift the car to 2nd while going down. you dont need to put it in manual, it does it in drive. I guess i missed that lesson. we went over the pass and then around the reservoir i could have gone faster but i had a diesel in front and they were going actually slow. hahahaha unlike up in island park.

[ob2011]

Thanks for the great trip report. Yeah, I use the paddles, too. Especially to control vehicle speed going downhill. The only issue with using the paddles while in D is that the trans will revert to normal Drive mode at a certain RPM; about 3000 IIRC.

Do you have winter tires or the stock Conti's? Tires really make a difference, of course, summer & winter.

[mntob2011]

i have the stock tires .. jacks didnt have any michelins mxv4's or harmanys or latitudes in stock at the time ..tell like wednesday this week.. and i couldn't stand not going for a drive.. ya the conti's aren't very good but they did ok. Michelin makes the latitude in a 225/65 17 just a bit smaller that looks like a good all season tire( at least the rating from tire rack tells that).. if we live where you are or in IP i would have detacated winter tires also. i remember reading your fun you had with the dealer on the size of tires to get. you can only put 17" wheeles on the 3.6 because of the brake size. that was an interesting tread you put up. i had to laugh that the dealership didn't get that one. thanks for that one. we all know now.

[mntob2011]

i wanted to ask you why you choose the winter force? they look really good from the survys on tire rack. and also the $$$$.. also the generals altimac arctic only problem they come in 225/55r17.. and almost 30$ more each..are firestones really that noisy..
after driving up to island park this weekend.. i thinking winter tires..

[linas1]

Thanks for the trip report. Some pictures would make it great!