question about 4wd

[Phil@sievers.com (Phil Payne)]

Sorry about the mega-requote, but it made me laugh and I thought
the rest of the list deserved the opportunity ...

In message <33423FD0.5D4A@tiac.net> Allan Jones writes:

> Phil Payne wrote:

>> Considering the application is just a car and not a truck, the quattro
>> transmission is downright agricultural.

> Huh?!? Oh, it was you, Phil, who wrote it . . . Brits! You and your
> complete butchery of the language are something else! The "transmission
> is downright agricultural." What the hell is that!? Well, I'll tell you
> what it is . . . . Translation: "The transmission is downright of,
> relating to, used in, or concerned with the science, art, or practice of
> cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock." 'Well
> Allllrrrighty then!'

> My best educated guess is you, being British and using Middle English,
> took 'agere' - to drive, lead, act, do(aka to travel in a vehicle from
> the Greek agein - to drive), and 'culture' - enlightenment and
> excellence of broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational
> and technical skills and acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training
> , and made up some word that means, in context, a serious advancement in
> either driving methods or, more likely, mechanical aspects of a
> vehicle's drivetrain. Geez, all that research I did to figure out what
> your brutally incorrect use of the word actually meant when you simply
> could have written 'awesome dude!'   ;-)

> I had never seen the use of 'agricultural' in that context and had no
> idea if you had been correct in using it, had misused it, or intended to
> use another word but misspelled it. So I looked it up and hope I am
> correct in my translation or interpretation. Please let me know, and
> also please understand that all of my statements directed at 'Brits'
> and/or you were made with a huge amount of sarcasm. I meant no harm and
> am quite confident you will see irony and sarcasm in all of this, and
> not insults or aggressiveness. Continue to write as you do, it is quite
> entertaining.   :-)

Well, "agricultural" is a term _often_ used around here to describe the
ur-quattro's transmission.  Especially the gearbox.  It started when we
were discussing the price of parts - especially such star items as the
Sport's bonnet (hood) at close to $10000.  Someone came up with the
figure of GBP5700 for an ur-quattro gearbox ($9250) and we all made a
mental note to check our oil levels, no matter _what_ Audi says.  Then
we discovered that, as far as records indicate, _NO_ gearboxes have ever
been sold in the UK as spares.  "Well," said Martin of BR Motorsport,
"are you surprised?  It's agricultural."

The term stuck, and is now commonly used.  If you strip out an
ur-quattro's gearbox and compare it with a sports car's and a tractor's,
it's interesting which is closer.  Of course, if it weren't so, people
taking off the harmonic balancer bolt in non-recommended ways would have
much less pleasant experiences.  The drive train was designed for
homologation purposes to take 400bhp in regular applications and 600bhp
in special ones - any ur-quattro owner looking at the underside of an
S1 will readily recognise most of the components.  The measly 200bhp
that a stock 10v ur-quattro puts down it is hardly felt.

--
 Phil Payne

 Phone: +44 385302803  Fax: +44 1536723021  CIS: 100012,1660