TORSEN at the envelope

[Eric Renneisen <renneie@hlthsrc.com>]

Well, ever since all of that talk about Torsen vs. non-Torsen I have been 
wanting to test out my Torsen Coupe in an empty parking lot.  I have owned 
my beloved Fraulein for about 9 months now but hadn't pushed her hard 
enough to find her limit.  It was raining yesterday, and I had just finished 
cleaning out the entire interior (no more potential projectiles!), so I 
decided that the time was right for a little fun.

Some here have described the Torsen Q's as unpredictable when pushed to 
the edge, and I was curious to see (feel) what they mean.  The first thing I 
noticed was that the edge was not easy to get to!  I had to get quite a bit of 
speed and yank hard on the wheel to break anything loose.  Of course, I'm 
using my previous understeer-a-plenty 4KS FWD as a reference.  My main 
problem was body roll.  I was really _less_ concerned about sliding into a 
light pole than flipping her over!  After a few runs, I started to get a feel 
for her.  At higher speeds I could induce oversteer with some creative 
weight shifting; at lower speeds and tighter turns she understeered.

I now understand the unpredictability comments, though I think more 
experience and a larger parking lot will help me figure her out.  My first 
concern is getting the suspension improved (let me know when you've got 
one, Eric F.).  I'm reasonably sure its still got all original parts at 105K! 
Enough rambling, just my .02.

A word of caution:  Don't do this at a large hardware place.  I used Home 
Depot's lot and came home with a nice shiny screw embedded in my tire!

Eric Renneisen
'90 CQ 20V  -  my 'running-iron'  ;^)
Chattanooga, TN

Bob D'A is gonna get me on this one - I really should stop referring to my 
car as 'she'.