[V8] Finally...a chance...

Sat Jan 2 09:49:34 PST 2010

In your off-throttle, increasing radius situation, a combination of traction
(read: tires) and drag instead of active forward propulsion are what caused
the rear to break loose.  Quattro and Torsen are just along for the ride
unless you're puttin down some power, even if only a little.  Re-engaging
the clutch "locked" the rear wheels back with the rest of the drivetrain
which is why it brought things back into control.  

I lived in North Dallas back in 92-94 and experienced a Thanksgiving Day ice
storm.  I had no Quattro then, but my CGT did pretty well.  ;-)

I love the story about the iced-up hill.  Very cool.

Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: v8-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of
Brian K. Ullrich
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 10:19 AM
To: 'V8List Fans'
Subject: [V8] Finally...a chance...

Happy New Year, my fellow V8 Audiphiles. I sincerely hope 2010 brings good
things to all of you and yours. So, in the spirit of starting the second
decade of the 21st century off on a good beat, let me tell y'all a funny
story.

Like all of you, I am enamored of the Type 44. My first was a 1985 5000s
that I bought in 1989. Since then, I have been smitten. While I have owned
many other German cars (I currently own a W210 MB E430), I have just always
loved these cars.

So, when I was presented with the opportunity to purchase a Pearl 1990 200TQ
5-speed for $400, I jumped at it. 215K miles, mostly documented ownership
and maintenance, it was in relatively poor shape when I got it. After a new
clutch, all new underpinnings, brakes, lines, bushings, struts, et al., and
getting her inspected, she's now my daily driver.

Now, it should be mentioned that I live in Texas, specifically in the
Dallas-area. Not exactly in the snow belt. In Dallas, we generally get a few
days of snow flurries each year, and usually one or two days of actual snow
accumulation, along with a couple of days of freezing rain that usually
coats the city in a thin layer of ice and completely shuts down the city.

Clearly, not what our intrepid colleagues in Maine and New England deal with
each winter.

That being said, this year Dallas experienced its first "White Christmas" in
83 years. On Christmas Eve, it snowed nearly 2 inches in Dallas-proper,
which quickly became ice on the streets. Dallas was ice-locked, to be sure
(Now, before you all comment, Dallas is just not equipped to deal with this
sort of thing; there are no snow plows in the city motor pool, and the
extent of road crews is basically driving big sand trucks along the major
thoroughfares and highways, as well a couple of crews that lay down
anti-icing on bridges and things).

However, I looked at this as a REAL opportunity to see what my car could do.
So I ran all sorts of errands in this stuff, taking care to drive slowly and
determine how the old girl would operate in the ice and snow. I found some
interesting things, all of which I'm sure your guys know, but were new to
me:

1.	When driving along an iced up street with an increasing radius
curve, stay in gear. I say this because, about halfway through the curve, I
actually shifted into third. Upon pushing in the clutch, the lateral force
on the car being exerted by the curve broke it loose, and the rear swung
out. I quickly corrected by steering into the slide and staying off the
brake, while I went through the reasons WHY-IN-THE-WIDE-WORLD-OF-SPORTS my
venerable all-mechanical AWD Audi would just break loose like that. Oopsie.I
let the clutch out and she snapped back into line immediately. The whole
thing took about 8 seconds.

2.	AWD cars don't really do donuts in the ice. Since Dallas rarely
experiences icing conditions, a lot of folks (myself included, of course),
will take a moment or two in a deserted parking lot to have a little fun
spinning and sliding around. In my case, I took a 15 mph run into an empty
lot, grabbed the e-brake and swung the rear end around, then grabbed second
gear and popped the clutch. The car didn't so much do donuts as it did
PIVOT. She literally spun in a tight cirle, much like she was pivoting along
an axis. Could have knocked me over with a feather.

3.	Torsen-Audi's REALLY DO climb ice-covered hills. After dinner and
pivoting about, my GF and I stopped in a local Irish pub for a drink before
retiring. The parking lot drive is on a steep hill, and was completely
covered in about an inch of ice. All the patrons were parked down the hill,
so the whole lot in front of the bar was empty. Except for my Mimi. She went
right up that hill and parking lot with no problem whatsoever. Tracked nice
and straight. Same with going down, using engine-braking. The folks in the
bar all wanted to know what the he$$ I drove to get up that hill. "20-yr-old
Audi". "Nuh-uuuuuhhhhh..."

In short, for a few hours this year, I experienced what a lot of you guys do
pretty much day in and day out in your winters. Next stop is Yellowstone and
Jackson Hole, WY next winter. As we Texas Aggies say "WHOOP!"

Brian

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