Torsens, UFOs and God...

[audidudi@mindspring.com (Jeffrey J. Goggin)]

I'm still unsubscribed to the Quattro List (and will continue to be
unsubscribed for another six weeks or so) but judging from the private email
and telephone calls I've received over the past few days, I gather the
debate on the subject of Torsen diffs continues...

Yesterday, I talked at length about them with Scott Justusson on the
telephone.  By the end of our conversation, I had concluded that 1)
objectively, we're both pretty much on the same wavelength about how these
things work and why, and 2) subjectively, we both have the same BTDTs as
evidence to support our conclusions about their behavior.

However, after having much the same discussion with two other people later
in the day and utterly failing to convince them there's a darker side to be
considered here, I now realize that reaching a consensus about whether the
Torsen's unique characteristics should be considered a benefit or a drawback
is impossible.  Those who have first-hand experience with its darker side
(among whose number I include myself!) will never, ever forget it, and those
who haven't, will have a hard time understanding what all the fuss is about.

Unfortunately, this seems to be one of those issues like UFOs or God: If
you've seen one or the other (or even think that you have!), it's difficult
to take seriously anyone who tries to convince you they don't exist.  On the
other hand, if you *haven't* seen either one yourself, it's hard to be
convinced they exist simply because somebody shares their personal
experience of them with you.

Audi clearly chose to use the Torsen diff in its production cars because it
works better than an open or locked diff for normal, everyday street use by
normal, everyday drivers.  By the same token, Audi chose *not* to use a
Torsen diff for its racecars, presumably because it didn't/doesn't make them
any quicker around a racetrack when driven by professional racers.

Depending upon who you are and where you're driving -- on the street or on a
racetrack -- your perspective about the relative merits or demerits of a
Torsen center diff will vary.  What's 7/10ths for me might be 10/10ths for
you; what's 10/10ths for me might be only 7/10ths for Walter Rohrl ... drive
below this hard-to-quantify threshold and the Torsen center diff works just
fine; cross it over it, though, and the "problems" that Scott, myself and
others have noted WILL eventually make their presence known.

Since very few of us have ever driven our Audis to the absolute limit -- and
by definition, this means on a racetrack since no one with even a modicum of
social responsibility can drive this hard on the street -- it stands to
reason that only a few of us will ever have any first-hand experience with
the Torsen's dark side.  Just as it is with life's other great debates,
searching for unanimity on this issue is destined to fail...

Mind you, that's not to suggest that I don't enjoy a rollicking discussion
now and then ... I am, after all, a professional negotiator of sorts!  :^)
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   / |      _| o    | \       _| o   Jeffrey Goggin
  /__| | | / | | __ |  | | | / | |   audidudi@mindspring.com
 /   | |_| \_| |    |_/  |_| \_| |   http://people.delphi.com/audidudi
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