First drive (for me :-) -- A4 2.8 fwd

[Ti Kan]

Fisher, Scott writes:
> > Also, on
> > the A6 cars, disconnecting the servotronic relay makes it all better.
> 
> Ah, that's the thing Andrew has talked about.  But it sounds different from
> what's going on in this car.

The A4 series doesn't have servotronic, so that's not a factor.

> [ S4 feel v. A4 ]
> > This is partly due to the wheels/tires
> > but there is probably a different amount of assist dialed-in 
> > on the sportier S4.
> 
> I wonder if there are different camber settings too?

According to the Bentley manual for the A4/S4, there is a small difference
between the standard suspension and the sport suspension in the camber.
Standard is -35' and sport is -50' both with +- 25' tolerance.  The S4
has the sport suspension setting.

> I'm embarrassed to ask, but what's the front suspension architecture on the
> A4 -- struts, most likely?  I'll go take a peek later...

No.  Audi had gone away from struts altogether on the current A4/6/8 cars.
Up front is something like a double wishbone suspension, except that the
two arms of the each of the wishbone pairs are not rigidly coupled to each
other.  They each have a pivoted end that connect to the suspension upright
piece that contains the hub, such that the steering is not pivoted around one
strut bearing as in previous models, but around two pivots which then
describe a virtual axis centered right in the middle of the tire footprint.
The springs and shocks are still located concentrically, but the top of the
assembly is mounted to the body via rubber insulators and the bottom
connects to one of the lower links.

For pictures of this 4-link design, check out my web site:

	http://www.amb.org/ti/audi/

Look for the relevant links under "Other items of interest".

For A4 quattro models, the rear suspension is a true double wishbone
with upper and lower control arms.  While you still have the car you
should take a peek inside the wheel well and under.  It's a mighty nice
design.

-Ti
01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
 //////  http://www.amb.org/ti/
///