V8 throttle body differences (observations and questions)

["Ben Howell" <bhowell@rmii.com>]

  I was pulling apart the intake manifold set-up from the manual motor
recently and came across something that piqued my interest and thought that
maybe someone could shed some light on it.

  By now there has been enough discussion about the little "wedges" that
are attached to the butterfly on our throttle bodies (they were on 5kt and
200t's too) that I shouldn't have to explain those. It also seems to be
that the general consensus seems to be that they are used to "smooth" out
the air flow and to make the transition from part throttle to full throttle
less abrupt. Correct? Some other purpose? 

  Anyway, here's the interesting part....on the butterflies from the
automatic throttle body that I have, it has those wedges on both openings.
However, on the throttle body from the manual motor, it has TWO sets of
those wedges. Imagine if you can, If the throttle was closed (and if it was
off the car), there would be one set on the top and one on the bottom and
they are on opposite sides of the flap. So, if they were all the way open,
and you were looking through the throttle body, you would be seeing the
thick side of one of the wedges and the thin side of the other and again,
they are on opposite sides. Does any of this make sense? 

  I guess my big question would be.....why did Audi make this change
between the auto and the 5spd cars? Any speculation? Educated guesses? I am
not trying to second guess Audi and I am certainly going to keep them on
there and in tack with the 5spd car, but I am just being curious. 

Laters, Ben
Thornton, CO
83' UrQ #346 PT2B
87' 4KCSQ
89' 200Q