RE: 325ix vs. Quattro

[Mark Nelson <mnelson@brls.com>]

Mike-

>They came to the conclusion that the iX had a superior all wheel drive
system. 

I strongly beg to differ.  I have seen 12 different 325ix's at my dad's
business, and both of us have looked closely at the drivetrain on these
cars and here's what we came up with:

The front driveline goes through a donut shaped hole in oil pan (no
joke), and connects to the front differential via a CV joint.  The front
driveline only sits inches away from the crank on the motor!  The front
diff is just like the rear, except it was flopped upside down of course.

The center differential, if you can even call it that, highly resembles
a transfer case out of say, a Toyota pickup truck.

The drivetrain on these cars is a joke.  As a matter of fact, a guy I
work with here has a red 2 door 325ix, and that d*** thing couldn't keep
up with my ex-5KTQ going down an extremely windy 4-lane road!!  He said
when he tried to follow my line at the same speed, he felt the car was
just going to completely break lose if he didn't let up off the
throttle.  Just so you all know, we did this on a very wide four lane
mountain road (Interstate 50) between Lake Tahoe and Carson City.
Anyone who has been on this road knows what I am talking about
(extremely fun in a Quattro). I actually expected his car to keep up
pretty well, but we were both amazed that his little Bimmer couldn't
keep up with my big sedan.

Some other interesting notes on the 325ix is that there is NO
differential locks on these cars.  They have limited slips built into
the differentials, and that is it.  I am not going to say that these are
terrible cars because they are not.  Interestingly enough, all of the
people that we know that own these cars have NEVER driven a Quattro.
Although there is one exception, Satch Carlson, who uses his 325ix for
TSD rallies.  Satch has admitted to us that he has, in some events,
co-driven in a Quattro, while someone-else-drove-his-car.  Why you ask -
because he said the Quattro was faster and handled better.

The common engine conversion for the 325ix is to drop in an M5 motor,
which gives the car around 300HP.  Very impressive IMHO.

Anyway, this is just my .02.  I've seen several of these cars, and I can
definitely tell you that they do not even compare on the same level of
sophistication of a Quattro.  If they did, then BMW would have kept
making them on past '91.  Essentially, if your friend thinks that a four
wheel drive system, that is as sophisticated as that in a pickup truck,
better rethink his conclusion, and do some research.  The 325ix is NOT
at all as sophisticated as some might think.

Best Regards,

Mark Nelson
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mnelson@brls.com
Borealis Technology Corp.
SQA Engineer
   http://www.brls.com

1990 Audi "S2" Quattro (Building for SCCA Pro Rally)

Past Audis: 1987 5000CSTQ, 1987 5000CSTQW
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