[s-cars] Front & Rear Track

[Nathan Belo]

I own a ’98 e36 M3, ’92 S4, ’95 S6, & ’00 Land Rover  D2.

When I got the M3 & took it to ORP <http://oregonraceway.com/> 1.5 weeks later for Audi Club NW’s Veloren Gehen <http://www.audiclubnw.org/main/sharing/share?id=6508339%3AEvent%3A1589>  it pushed worse than any of the Audi’s and found out I was driving it like an AWD car and mashing on the peddle at apex & had to adjust my driving to RWD.  Several ACNW instructors & the president own e36 M3’s as track cars.  I learned from the others and all the forums is to improve handling you have to square the wheels and make the front & wheels the same length.  BMW purposely does a wider track to force understeer because most drivers lack skill.

I instruct for Audi/BMW/Porsche clubs.  Joined the Quattro Club/ACNA in 1995.

Nathan Belo
Seattle

Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2016 00:44:24 -0400
From: Cody Forbes <cody at 5000tq.com <mailto:cody at 5000tq.com>>
To: Tony <tony.curran at sympatico.ca <mailto:tony.curran at sympatico.ca>>
Cc: "s-car-list at audifans.com <mailto:s-car-list at audifans.com>" <s-car-list at audifans.com <mailto:s-car-list at audifans.com>>
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Front & Rear Track
Message-ID: <987925D9-B116-4049-8453-8852C33506B4 at 5000tq.com <mailto:987925D9-B116-4049-8453-8852C33506B4 at 5000tq.com>>
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It's long and complicated suspension geometry math including the effect of wheel rates and roll centers. The quick way to say it is that, generally speaking, increasing track width on one axle relative to the other will add cornering grip on that end of the car. 

Audi's being FRONT weight and drive biased (I think you typo'd) tend to understeer like the USS Enterprise with one broken rudder, so increasing that track width helps reduce the understeer from nuclear carrier levels down to battleship levels.

BMW's sport sedans are a rather neutral weight bias. Depending on the model the engine is 50% or more behind the front axle line. Plus, of course, they are rear wheel drive. This tends to make their largest problem oversteer especially on power application, so they need more grip in the rear.

-Cody Forbes (mobile)

> On Sep 20, 2016, at 11:32 PM, Tony <tony.curran at sympatico.ca <mailto:tony.curran at sympatico.ca>> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> A fundamental question. Looking at the front and rear track, Audis are wider at front. On the other hand, BMWs are wider at the rear.
> 
> I know BMWs are rear wheel drive, but Quattro is rear biased.
> 
> Would wider rear track be more optimal?
> 
> Your thoughts?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Tony
> 
> 96 S6
> 
> Sent from my iPad
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