Re: V6 torque vs 1.8lt torque

[ti@bazooka.amb.org (Ti Kan)]

Corbin E. Meek writes:
> Two cars that I wish I could put together:  Any 5cylinder normally 
> aspirated quattro and the VR6 Volkswagen. The VR6 outperforms any of 
> the Audi V-6's that I have driven, but definitely above 3k rpm's.  
> That redline of 6500 sure is far away . . . Besides, sometimes its 
> nice to do 90 at 3600 rpm's in your driving gear . . . So whos gonna 
> figure a way to get VR6 power to all four wheels?

The VW 2.8 VR6 doesn't make more power than the Audi 2.8 V6.  In fact,
the Audi V6 has more low-end torque than the VW due in part to the
variable intake manifold runners.

To wit, here are the U.S. specs for the current engines:

            Horsepower         Torque
VW VR6      172hp @ 5800rpm    173lb-ft @ 4200rpm  
Audi V6     172hp @ 5500rpm    184lb-ft @ 3000rpm

However, most VWs with the VR6s (Golf, Jetta, Corrado) are lighter
cars than the Audis with the V6 (90, 100, A4, A6, Cabriolet),
especially when you're talking about quattros.  The added weight of
the car itself is what makes Audi's V6 seem less spunky than the VR6.

Also, the VR6 has a single-plate throttle bosy whereas Audi uses
a dual-butterfly unit which gives a very different throttle feel.
The Audi's is more linear but does not give a instant response
like the VR6's throttle would (unless you really step on it).

Compare the performance of a VR6-equipped Passat against a V6 A4
(where the weight of the cars is a bit more on par) and I think you
will find that no superiority in the VR6 engine...

-Ti
96 A4 2.8 quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    Internet: ti@amb.org
 //////  UUCP:     ...!uunet!bazooka!ti
///      URL:      http://sunsite.unc.edu/~cddb/tikan/