Re: 88,89 imsa cars

[AUDIDUDI@delphi.com]

> where's the contradiction?  perhaps you don't realize that "tub" means
> "monocoque" or "unibody" in more formal terms.  that was significant
> because it was the only monocoque car racing, while everyone else
> had tube frame cars.

Actually, the only 5tkq body parts used were the floor and roof ... most of
the firewall was removed (at least on the later cars; I've seen some photos
of earlier ones where it was still in place) as were the side sill and side
pillars.  Compared to its competitors, though, this is still pretty amazing
since those were all pure tube-frame cars.  BTW, if you design the rollcage
properly, it becomes a de facto tube frame ... my 4k is having its cage put
in as we speak and, in theory, I could still drive the car even if the Audi
bodyshell was completely cut away!  It might look kind of funny but it sure
would be quick...
 
> there is a quote of audi group 44 race engineer brian berthold:
> 
> "if we gave it a little more rear, the cars had a tendency to be loose -
> to break the back tires too easily, because we were running the same size
> tires front and rear.  if you go to 50-50, the danger is just that you'll
> have too much power understeer, which in a race car is absolutely the
> wrong thing to have.  if you're going to have a powerslide condition,
> you've got to have that slight rear bias to make it controllable to the
> driver, so he can steer it with the throttle."

When I visited Group 44's shop in Winchester, VA (I was in town to attend a
friend's wedding and had time to kill), I was told this was varied event by
event ... of course, racers being racers, they might have been lying to me!

     _             _              _
    / l       l o l  \       l o l  \  _   _ o  _   _   AudiDudi@delphi.com
   /__l l l / l l l  l l l / l l l /  / l /  l l \ / _  Jeffrey Goggin
  /   l l_l \_l l l__/ l_l \_l l l  \ \_l \_ l l l \_l  Scottsdale, Arizona