Did my quattro become a fwd?

[Brett Dikeman]

On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 8:03 PM,  <McCohens at aol.com> wrote:
> With the change of seasons and cheaper gas I noticed something  different
> about my car.  It is an 80 quattro, with an MC1  swap.  Winter is coming so
> the sticky tires are off and a narrower all  season set is on.  With gas
> getting cheaper I started opting for the good  stuff and also changed wastegate
> springs so now there is about 12  psi of boost.  On a recent rainy day I was
> playing around an noticed the  front wheels can be induced to break loose
> quite easily but the rears seem to be  maintaining traction.  Now I am
> wondering if the torsen is not working, if  that is possible.

If you kept the transmission that came with the MC1 engine, you don't
have torsen:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quattro_%28four_wheel_drive_system%29#quattro_generation_I

If you kept the 80Q transmission, you do.  Easy enough to check-
you'll either have a diff lock on the transmission or you won't.

Torsens are not magic; they can only transfer about 75% of the torque.
 You've gone to poorer tires, and added more power.  Under
acceleration, weight transfer is to the back, and if there's any
steering angle, you're now trying to do two things with the front
tires- accelerate and steer.  The end result is less of both
capabilities.

http://www.auto-ware.com/setup/fc1.htm

Coupled with more traction in the back pushing straight
forward...tada, understeer :)

Brett