Re: Wider tires on the front!

[AUDIDUDI@delphi.com]

> 1. Radial tires tend to deflect (bulge) alot under weight.  Actual 
> rolling diameter of front and rear tires will be different when all 
> tires are at the same pressure, as there is more weight on the fronts.  
> (measure the height of the wheel center to the ground) I think there 
> will be more than 1 % difference right there.

I agree with you in principal but who said anything about running equal air
pressures front and rear?  I certainly don't on my quattros, especially for
street use...
 
> I think the centre diff is designed to handle moderate imbalances of 
> front/rear rolling diameters, I wouldn't worry about wider tires up 
> front, as long as the rolling diameters are close, like Mr. Goggin's 
> car.

Obviously, I agree here as well... :^)

> I don't run my Q with the diffs locked unless I am driving on a 
> surface that has some "give", ie gravel.

I always lock the center diff for autocrossing (but never the rear since it
causes way too much understeer) and don't think it's a problem.  Of course,
the tires are usually generating a fairly large slip angle in corners so it
doesn't cause the drivetrain to bind up too much...  :^)

     _             _             
    / l       l o l  \       l o   Jeffrey Goggin
   /__l l l / l l l  l l l / l l   AudiDudi@delphi.com
  /   l l_l \_l l l__/ l_l \_l l   http://people.delphi.com/AudiDudi