How to oversteer WAS: Understeer in snow

[Rave Racer]

    You can make small changes that will allow you to oversteer without to
much trouble.  If I hadn't been out plowing last night, I would have been
out playing in my 4000.  If you use slightly older / blader tires on your
rear, or inflate the rear tires to the max (around 40 PSI on mine) and
deflate the fronts slightly (I usually go with 33 PSI), or if you have the
money to lower the fronts slightly more then the rear end (I used spring
clamps for now)  then you can increase the the balance of traction to the
front and decrease the rear.  There is also the rear strut brace which will
stiffen handling as well as promote oversteer, and you can also use
different size tires front to rear depending on how you want to balance it.

       Rave Racer
'89 Jetta 1.8L 16V GTX
 http://www.vwot.org/members/Pete.html
'87 Audi 4000 Quattro Sedan
 http://www.audifans.com/registry/view.php?action=viewCar&carid=110
'72 Triumph GT6
 http://motorcities.com/contents/01I3H011116682.html
'83 Toyota Tercel (yoda)     Possible future Sandrail donor...  Maybe

----- Original Message -----
From: Brad Wilson <dotnetguy at pobox.com>
To: Audi Quattro <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2001 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: Understeer in snow


Nick Stuart wrote:

> I was under the impression that just about any Audi that you got into
> would pretty much have the characteristics of under steering.

No question in my A6 that it shows over-steer characteristics when you push
it, just like a RWD car. IMO, that's the fun way to live. ;) Well, at least,
that's the way I'm used to dealing with cars losing control, and it is
easier for me to compensate quickly for it. My wife is none-too-thrilled
when I do it on purpose on our dirt or snowy roads. ;)

Speaking of nasty roads, I have to say that deep mud is the worst thing to
have to drive through, and the Q is easily the most capable thing I've ever
driven (both the Q-I 5000 and the Q-IV A6 were very good, though I think I
would give the slight nod to the Q-I). When our roads get REALLY bad, my
wife's car (FWD) is a white knuckler, and I always see the 4WD trucks having
no end of trouble, but I can just zip around right through it. You'd be
astonished at the number of people who don't know that Audi has AWD, or what
"quattro" means ("I thought only Subaru had that!").

Best regards,
Brad

2000 A6 2.7 biturbo quattro   http://www.quality.nu/bradw/audi/
2 turbos, 1 driver ... no limits