Re: torsen: just a lot of hot air

["Jouko Haapanen" <joukoh@vtoy.fi>]

-----Original Message-----
From: eliot <eliot@eskimo.com>


--snip--

>do we have testimony from mr stuck, beila or bintcliff?  nope!  aha, "i've
>raced before in the past, so i *KNOW* that the racing audis are much
>better behaved than the evil road cars". (see above)


Having been with Hannu Mikkola and other lesser Finnish drivers at the
Finnish Audi quattro winter driving school the last two years, sat through
the theory, driven and been driven at 10/10ths, I'vee yet to meet Boris the
Spider.  The controllability of the A4 mit Torsen is up to the driver.
Period.  Having played with race cars in the past as work and hobby, and
having a resonably technical background, I've thought and though about this
thread.  I was out on the weekend on a track with two different A4 quattros,
a 2.4 30V V6 and a 1.8T 20V, both 5-sp manuals.  I repeated a lot of the
activities from our school sessions.  No bite, not even a nibble.  I took
out our Passat 2.8 30V syncro today, same story, except for a lot more
pitch/yaw/squat/dive - not my kind of fun.  Having driven a 250hp
MTM-prepped A4 with rally Michelins/studs on the track, I must say that that
car was wholly predictable as well.

>ok, so a 75-25-75 torsen audi can misbehave given a specific set of
>conditions.  BFD!! is any one else here aware that in a 911 if you lift
>off at the limit you will go into the hedge backwards?  some people
>actually like that!


I guess my whole point is moot.  I find the predictability of my Carrera
quite satisfying as well.


Jouko Haapanen
Pori, Finland
97 A4 1.8T quattro - 240 predictable horsepower in Torsen mode
89 Carrera 3.2 Coupe - 231 predictable horsepower in open diff mode