torsens in factory racing quattros: confirmation

[eliot <eliot@eskimo.com>]

ok, i've found the following:

racecar engineering 1996 vol6 no 2.  page 26, second paragraph:
(this is on the all conquering 1996 BTCC audi a4 quattro)

"..the central differential either a viscous coupling with
torque split or a Torsen unit, the choices being dependent on
the circuit characteristics and driver preference."

(capitalization is theirs)

they also go on to say that the BTCC cars have a front biased
torque split of about 60:40.

i *know* that i have older issues of racecar engineering and autosport
that describe the older track racers (i.e. the IMSA GTO, trans am, GTCC
V8)  with exactly the same type of description about what the factory
does with their center diff, so the BTCC a4 is not a freak but rather
a conformist audi racer.

i WILL NOT get into an argument on whether racecar engineering has got
their facts right.  

my own gut feeling (unsubstantiated of course) about the "spider" effects
is that the cause is a combination of factors where the torsen plays a
role rather than something inherently evil about the torsen itself.


eliot