Re: vr4

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

> Gee, wonder why they scrapped the moving "wing" in favor of a huge fixed 
> whale tale in the take-no-prisoners, track bound twin turbo.  Why not 
> stick with the moving one if it's so amazingly functional. 

i don't speak for the porsche freaks but i believe that they wanted the
look of the original 911 preserved.  lots of 911 freaks didn't like the
turbo whale tail, but the turbo required it.  i.e. the cooling requirements
mandated a tail too large to be mobile.

in the case of the corrado, the engineering paper says that due to the
shape of the car, the wing had to be several inches off the lid to make
a significant difference, but there was one or two european countries
that did not allow bits sticking out (something to that effect), so
they solved this with the moving thingie.  sounds hokey, but the
original motivation was purely engineering.

>  If weight is the only (or even the 
> major) consideration, why doesn't your mammoth 200tq have double a-arms 
> and a light 4130 alloy steel tube frame with kevlar body pannels and 
> carbon fiber brakes? 

$$$  $imple.  

>The Mitsu 
> wasn't built for the track.

tell me it is not marketed towards those "looking for a sporty car".
and since when did i say that it had to be built for the track?
a good car will be good everywhere, on the track and on the street.

>  And, quite honestly, a lot of folks don't 
> really care about a .3 g improvement on the skid pad if it means 
> bone-jarring spikes from gravel.

wow, what an active imagination.  show me where i said that.
  
> Name me one STREET car engineer who doesn't try just as hard to improve 
> on comfort.

if you design your car well, it will be fast as well as comfortable.
it is one and the same.  it is poor engineering to have a fast car
with shitty gas mileage, and a rough ride.

> > yes, i would be really happy if audis were lighter too.  
> 
> What a cop out.  "I would be happy if audis were lighter too."  Lamblast 
> the man and his bro's car, then admit to having the same faults as his.  

so go ahead and call my car a pig!  i did it too.  only thing is i'm
not having a hissy fit about it!!!  :)  (scott, i'll buy you a beer
if i ever meet you in person)

> So what you're saying is that Audi's are completely against your 
> philosophy on how sports sedans should be built.  And you drive the most 
> portly example! 

that's right.  my v8 is too heavy for my liking.

> Why don't you sell your beast to someone who appreciates 
> it for what it does and go buy one of your beloved RX7's. 

good suggestion. 

the reason why i'm hanging on to it is:

1)  resale prices don't do justice to the condition my car is in.  if
someone came up to me and offered me good money for it, yes i would
sell it.

2) it is unsurpassed for winter driving

there are also other things that i like about it but i don't have
this attitude that either you love it 100% or hate it 100%... there
are grey areas, you know.


eliot