lifting rear wheel on ur-q

[glen powell <gpowell@acacianet.com>]

>>My question is: Does the full power distribution (i.e. all to one wheel) really
>>happen that quick... like in a fraction of a second? I would think that there
>>is a bit of lag time... and that unless you have the wheel up in the air for a
>>couple of seconds, it's not going to have a noticeable effect. And besides,
>>isn't there a bit of residual rotation at each wheel to balance and carry the
>>car through for that split second?

The loss of traction, power delivery and acceleration is total and instantaneous
when the diffs are open. The advantage when running locked in auto-x with sufficient
power is major and unmistakable, I think on the order of 1+ sec on a long course,
an absolute eternity in auto-x.

>I do notice that the QSW feels much more stable when the center diff is locked
>in the rain. I like the feeling it gives. But it now scares me to think that it
>might "bite me" by hydroplaning easier (unexpectedly that is... I don't drive
>faster than it makes sense for the conditions)... or oversteering on hard
>braking. I guess I'll just keep this all in mind, so that I am prepared to try
>to address either scenario should it happen.

>So far, my BTDT is that is "feels" and performs better with it locked in the
>wet. I guess time and experience will tell me for sure what is best... :-)

I always run center locked in the rain/sno/ice on non-ABS qs. The extra stability
is very real, just use good judgment about your speed for the conditions at hand.
If ABS is an option I run open as the advantages of ABS outweigh the additional
stability [this is very subjective and I expect that others will have a very different
opinion on this point]. I never run at any kind of speed with center and rear locked
due to the potential nastiness of locking the complete drivetrain at speed under
hard/panic braking.

-glen

-glen