Dynosaurus Rx

[Mann Law <mannlaw@indy.net>]

	I thought the point of Randall's post was quite clear, but is 
becoming muddled the more people write about what they think he was 
talking about.

	Months ago, there was a long discourse on which is better, RWD, 
AWD, FWD.  As I recall, Scott said [in essence] that on dry RWD, Randall 
was of the belief AWD was best, or at least better.  Then came the 
question of testing.  I specifically recall Randall writing [and I agree] 
that you can't have a meaningful comparison of which design is *best* 
until you factor out all differences between models, thus arriving at the 
"same" vehicle [springs, power, weight, etc.,] which you can now run 
against different design [RWD v. AWD, for instance].  In essence, you 
can't have a true comparison test until the vehicles tested are 
identical--except for the design you are meaning to test.  For example, 
which puts out more power at 5,000 rpm, turbo or supercharging.  Well, if 
you turbo an I5, with no other changes, but supercharge a 426 hemi, what 
the hell kind of comprison test is that?  It does not, in any way, answer 
the question that has been posed by the test:  Which puts out more 
power?  

	On the question of dyno testing an AWD by disconnecting a 
driveshaft / driving that same car without a driveshaft.  If I understand 
what is now being talked about [I must admit I have skipped over a post 
or three] the answer is simple:  *IF* you can dyno test a car accurately 
by disconnecting a driveshaft, you can indeed drive that same car / 
truck, in that same condition, down the street or around the track.  
Problem is, if you do nothing more than unhook the rear or front shaft, 
you still have the weight of the unhooked [now inactive] drive axle 
assembly, you just are not using it anymore.

	Frankly, I think the debate proves up Randall's original point, 
which was:  You can't compare apples to oranges---unless of course that 
is the purpose of your test in the first place, how does an apple compare 
to an orange.


	Whew!  I assume those arguing for and against the point 
understand exactly what a dyno is and what it does, right?

	BTW, back when this debate first took off, I said you need look 
no further than the BTCC races to determine what is best---in a series 
where many of the variables are taken out of play.  They added weight to 
the AWD Audi, in order to make things "fair".  

	Thanks for your time,

	Bruce