Re: Road Skill

[PDQSHIP@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-09-18 17:28:26 EDT, you write:

<< my point is that if you equalize the braking and the bhp i'm not
 convinced that 50-50 and LSD is better than AWD.  look at the racing
 results.  tell me why the audis are beating the bimmers, even with
 a weight handicap and an uneven weight distribution.
>>>  Eliot, look at exactly what is on the car in suspension geometry and
wheels and tires, the answer doesn't translate well to the road running
version....  AWD has always been a great argument in racing, and it wins, cuz
there is no better system for putting hi HP to the ground, but we're talking
HP levels that no current road audi has right now....  That's the racing
argument....  And there aren't torsen center diffs in the audis either, they
are specifically set for REAR bias....   Hmmm take out the Hi hp, and leave
the rear bias......  Hello....
 
 as for 50-50 weight distribution and limited slip being the holy grail,
 i don't agree one bit.  i have a miata with a torsen rear end and the
 ideal 50-50 weight distribution.  you think i'd choose this over the
 q on a wet or snowy day?  you'd have to be smoking some serious weed
 to think that!   no doubt a miata's no M3, but 50-50 and LSD doesn't
 automatically turn everything into an unbeatable combination either. >>

Not going to beat a q in snow, but you put the proper tires on the M3, eliot,
and for wet weather you might have a slight traction advantage to q but
again, the laws of physics apply everywhere, so back to the M3 (your miata
applies only 1 here), better brakes, better suspension, better weight
distribution....  CONTROL (and this IS my argument) goes to the M3 everywhere
but the lowest of traction conditions.....  Been on this list quite a while
eliot, so have you....  Not a lot of posts with q's blowing away many of the
hipo cars (none re the M3) in much of anything but lowest traction
conditions....  Lots of posts in the winter tho, and lots against the 4x4
trucks watching in awe....  But you need really hi hp to gain the q advantage
in a road car, cuz q's inherently are not 50/50, do not have hi enough hp to
weight, and don't have great brakes.....  That can be VERY limiting and
equalizing when the laws of physics apply to anything but snow, and water is
more of a tire design and suspension argument than a q argument for
control....  

Just thinkin again...

Scott