[s-cars] Quattro - What Don't I get?

[Theodore Chen]

I wrote:
> keith, you're thinking like a guy accustomed to more sophisticated cars. 
> i've noticed from calvin's sig that he's owned detroit iron, and i think 
> those are the cars he's referring to.  they all have solid rear axles 
> (except for the corvette and some recent cars from GM and chrysler). 
> the torque reaction of the driveshaft causes the rear right wheel 
> to lift. 
> 
> it's common for drag racers to run more spring or compression damping 
> at the rear right wheel to combat the driveshaft torque reaction. 
> 
> a 3-link rear suspension often has the upper link offset to the passenger 
> side to counteract driveshaft torque without having to run as much
> anti-squat. 
> 
> that's why in normal street use, the rear right tire always wears more 
> than the rear left tire. 

just to clarify, the rear right tire wear is due to the driveshaft
torque reaction, not the use of more spring or 3-link rear suspension.

in a road-racing application, the driveshaft torque reaction means that
a car might have better traction coming out of left-handers than 
right-handers.  this is something you have to account for in car setup
(and design if you are modifying the suspension).

-teddy


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