Re: Audi Kool-Aid, Pt. II

[Dave Eaton <dave.eaton@minedu.govt.nz>]

you have to be careful with these comparisons...

walter rorhl went on record in a recent car mag praising awd (especially
quattro; interesting from a porsche test driver) saying, "even if it gives me
only 2%, i want that 2%".

a good driver in a poor car would embarass most of us in a good car, regardless
of the drivetrain configuration.  would i be able to beat biela in my rs2 if he
drove a fwd a4?  doubt it...

have i beaten my friends in a ferrari 355 over a 60-minute drive over a 'b'
road?  you bet.  have i beaten a euro m3 over 600kms?  absolutely.  maybe thats
because i'm a better driver, maybe because of the awd factor.  maybe both.

i am firmly convinced of the benefits of awd, and i have dicussed these with
people such as rorhl, all of whom have agreed.

it is also useful imho, to differentiate between 'real world' conditions, and
the track.  real world means that, yes you know the road, but not that well. 
you know the type of corner, but not if it's clear and dry.  etc.  i have
almost swapped ends in an m3 because of an unforseen patch of wet in a bad
place through a corner.  for a class driver, this is all part of the fun, for
you and me, it's a nightmare (the classic 911 white knuckle experience; you
know, the sort that gets easier after a few beers).  quattro, to a great
extent, lets you drive faster and more comfortably to these sorts of
conditions.

this was what caused 'performance car' to make the nissan gtr 4 of the 5 awd
machines they tested in the february issue.  it isn't real awd, and so gave
their testers less confidence over a wet welsh 'b' road. (the phrase 'snap
oversteer' was used).

on a track, everything changes.  light weight becomes the holy grail (certainly
more than hp).  a look at the track times of your local circuit will confirm
this (check the formula fords, or the seven's times against the production gt
class).  against these sorts of considerations, drivetrain configuration
becomes considerably less important.

audi's pr coup with the a4 quattro racers was to convince many doubters that
quattro (even weight disadvantaged as it was) could comprehensively out-perform
rwd and fwd machinery.  i know quite a few people who still have difficulty
with this result, particularly that against the rwd beemers.

btw, wrt your comment on clinton, i find it more than ironic that the culture
which has given us the term 'casual sex' seems to have a problem with a person
allegedly performing it...

-dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q

>
>    Avi, I think it all comes down to how you define "perform."  (Unlike the
>phrase "improper sexual relationship,"  I believe there are at least a few
>reasonable meanings to the term perform.  That's my Clinton dig for the
>evening!).  My point in the Audi Kool-Aid thread and Tribune Review thread
>(late December) was that the quattro system does not mean your Audi will
>handle/perform better (be faster) than a good rwd car in the twisties in
>decent weather.  Now it seems to me that some listers are confusing that
>with how comfortable the car makes them feel behind the wheel when they
>drive aggressively - this is also a reasonable view of the term "perform."