Audi Kool-Aid, Pt. II (long)

[Greg Johnson <gregsj@iea.com>]

Fellow Audians: Matt Pfeffer wrote an interesting
summary from Perf Car. I looked for the mag in t3
places in as many days and could not find it, so I
appreciated his synoposis. No flames coming from me.
Matt wrote/quoted, among other things:

>"On wet asphalt the q was .6 faster 0-30.
>On ice it was 4.5 faster.  Those were the big
differences."

Here in the "North Country" (Spokane WA), at least 50%
of our driving is seemingly done in the wet or on snow
or ice. Drivers who live in a place that does not
"enjoy" rain or freezing temps *might* not need a
quattro, but I sure love it where I live.

>"Verdict:  The advantage of 4wd in regular driving is
clearly marginal
>in a 193hp car.  In the dry the fwd A6 was virtually
the equal of the q, and
>even in the wet the q's measurable advantage was very
slim.
>    The q system doesn't increase the cornering grip
on offer; it merely
>allows more torque to be used accelerating out of the
corners, which isn't
>the same thing."

This confuses me -- if q drivers can use more torque
accelerating out of the corners, isn't that going to
get them out of the corner more quickly?

>Lessons:
>2)  The quattro system only reaps big benefits for dry
handling in a high hp
>environment - BTCC, IMSA, etc.

We are clearly under-utilizing our q systems. This is
terrible waste. Minimally, we all need to double our
HP! ;>)

Driving a chipped '91 200tqw and loving it!  GregJ