(no subject)

[Larry C Leung]

Not sure if the handling of the wagon's are all that different from the
sedans, but it seems to me that you are entering speeds too quickly for
the conditions. In order to give the front tires of any car bite, weight
must be transfered to the front wheels by braking or, if compression
braking is adequate, lifting the throttle. If you are simply carrying
speed into the turns, especially under slick conditions, you will get
understeer. My GTi, which is reasonably well balanced for an SCCA Solo2
racer, used to winter for the 1st two years of it's life. If I barrelled
into an intersection, especially in the wet while running on snows, it
would understeer straight through the intersection. It has to do with
driving dynamics, not the car. Handling is as much a driver thing as car
thing. One thing of note, the 4KQ and 5KQ do weigh less than the 200QA.
This needs to be taken into account on how you enter turns. It is
possible, (tried it today in the wet, on snows) to toss the 200Q by
proper combinations of trail braking, lift throttle turn in, and power
application. IMHO, my 200Q acts like a larger version of my ex-4KQ, it
just takes more room to do everything.

LL - NY

On Thu, 13 Dec 2001 21:23:18 -0800 "Dan Dwyer" <dandwyer at hotmail.com>
writes:
>Greetings,
>
>I have a '89 200 TQ Wagon.  I am fairly displeased with its snow
>handling as
>compared to the older badged 5000QTs that I've driven before and my
>old '85
>4000Q.
>
>My car wants very badly to understeer me right into a ditch when I go
>into a
>corner with any speed.  At first I thought it was because of the
>differential unlocking above 10mph so I disconnected the speed sensor
>to
>allow it to remain locked.  That only aggrivated the problem.  So I am
>wondering if my problem is from a difference in the center diff.
>
>Can anybody shed light on the center diffs of my car's vintage.  For
>example
>is it open or limited slip?  Can I retrofit a locker easily to the
>center
>diff? Does it bias power to the front greatly?  Is it correct to
>assume that
>this is even my problem??  Is it viscous or torsen?? etc...
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Dan Dwyer
>'89 200TQ Avant
>
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