[s-cars] The Audi as a Fiat

[Taka Mizutani]

Calvin-
All due respect, I really do respect your opinions, but you're way off the
wall here.

The aero is most definitely R&D'd. Have you watched _any_ WRC? The STi wing
is about the same size as what
was run on the '02-03 cars, maybe '04. The '05s went to the big multiple
vertical fins in the wing setup that all of the
sedan type WRC cars are running- it's way more outrageous than the street
car.

Same thing with the Evo- those silly looking shark fin tips on the roof
really work. The Subaru has them as well on the WRC
05 car.

Speeds under 100? The wings don't really come into play until you start
getting up to about that speed- no wing really does
on a street car.

They work- you might not like how they look, but they work. This is
precisely the reason why Ferrari went and took such extreme
pains to work on their recent cars- in order to avoid huge wings, you had to
work the underbody massively to still have decent aero
for such a high performance car.

I like the Evo's performance and styling better than the STi, I didn't think
the Evo was nearly as liveable (at least non-MR versions).
I also don't trust Mitsubishi's reliability nor their financial stability. I
got my car when Mitsubishi was seriously in danger of becoming
defunct.

Taka


On 7/20/06, calvinlc at earthlink.net <calvinlc at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>  Oh, I am sure it does add downforce.  But there is a tuning that has to
> be done between downforce and drag...I wonder if Subaru did that.  My guess
> is no.  Do the rally cars run the same size rear wing?  Maybe at speeds
> under 100 the trade is favorable for the size wing you have, but at higher
> speeds I'm sure it falls apart.  It depends on what the application is.
> Spoiler/wing tuning is just as important as spring tuning if you are serious
> about racing.
>
> Joe:
> As far as blinders go, I love these little cars.  And remember, I have no
> Euro pretentions...hell my fastest car is a GM product that is 34 years
> old!  For my purposes my UrS does a better job for me than the pocket
> rockets...however, if I had a space (and money) for more than 5 cars I would
> certainly consider one of these little guys.  I am personally partial to the
> EVO's styling a little more, but like the extra 0.5 liters of displacement
> in the STi.  However, that doesn't mean that there are "features" on each
> one of them that I think are ludicrously dumb :)
>
> --Calvin
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* Taka Mizutani [mailto:t44tqtro at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 19, 2006 10:32 PM
> *To:* calvinlc at earthlink.net
> *Cc:* LL - NY; s-car-list at audifans.com; Steve Voit
> *Subject:* Re: [s-cars] The Audi as a Fiat
>
> Yes, but that big wing does actually make downforce at speed, same thing
> with the Evo. It's not
> a tack-on APC wing that some kid bought at Pep Boys.
>
> Taka
>
> On 7/20/06, calvinlc at earthlink.net <calvinlc at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > >I think the Legacy can go, don't know if it's a gearing issue or not-
> > the
> > >STi seems to run out of steam
> >
> > It might have something to do with that Oh-So-Aerodynamic rear wing....I
> > don't quite understand why the manufacturer's of cars like the STi think
> >
> > that is a must.  Let junior spend $500 more of daddy's money if he wants
> > a
> > rear wing and let the rest of us buy the car for the performance it
> > offers.
> > I think there is a group of people out there who thinks the more plastic
> >
> > crap you put on a car the faster it goes....it's kind of like we used to
> > joke at the dragstrip with the guy who had 15 decals on the car...I
> > think
> > the going rate was like 0.1 seconds per decal :)
> >
> > --Calvin
> >
>
>