I was surprised how good the KO2 BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A's were on compact snow and ice. I was up in Seattle on business and a bad storm hit, I had chains but didn't need them, even in the steep hills and crazy steep parking lots up in Bellevue. This was on my 07' Touareg, I will never run LT tires on the Atlas...
I ran studs for years, but was very impressed with these tires I might not replace my aged set (tires have a shelf life due to ozone of around 8 years, hence when you buy new tires look for these dates as they can sit on the shelf for a year or more and even some expire there).
We got 4Motion because of our lifestyle, but it is no 4X4 like the original Touareg with lockers, low ratio, and air. Some folks on the Touareg forum even found an OEM switch to mechanically lock a mythical front diff...yet to find said diff but several have purchased the part and are working towards mechanical center, rear, and front diffs.
I have to say I am glad the Atlas isn't a true 4x4 either...range would be terrible with all that extra weight and the floor would be higher limiting the interior space we all love. For example my Touareg front passenger seats don't even have a flat floor because the transfer case and stepper motor are below and take up legroom, not to mention the center console would be higher and wider to accommodate the transmission between you and the front passenger...yup the Atlas works for us as is. I am not modifying it at all.