Re: Re: quattro vs. Syncro??

["Smith, Kirby A" <kirby.a.smith@lmco.com>]

"Paul A. Hausman" <paul@lion.com> wrote, in part:

>I may be wrong, but, I always understood that "quattro" was Audi's
>patented mechanism to route the drive shaft to the front wheels
>through the center of the hollow main drive shaft.

> I believe syncro uses side-by-side drive shafts.

>The quattro system keeps max. mass lower and closer to the centerline 
>of the car, improving both packaging and handling. It also means the 
>front diff is about at the centerline of the car, resulting in
>closer-to-equal-length half-shafts, again improving handling.

Can't be patented just because its hollow, the 1960-1969 Corvair sent
the power from the engine through the differential drive shaft to the
transmission, which then drove the differential.   Hmmm, maybe with a
shaft extenstion and another differential, I can add front wheel drive,
and with double wishbones instead of MacPherson struts.  Yippee

:-)


         ....  Kirby  (kirby.a.smith@lmco.com)
                   New Hampshire, USA
                      2 X 1988 90q