T* thoughts

[QSHIPQ <QSHIPQ@aol.com>]

I just wonder.  Given that the only white paper on torsen operation was
written in 1988, how would a Rally tech inspector know what a torsen was when
looking right at it?  And what the difference was between a torsen and a
locker, or no torsen at all.  Well history has shown (and my experience) is
that the officials look for documentation as a fallback.  Out come a whole
slew of ambiguous paperwork, and the official usually, in deference to being
unfair (from being uniformed), tends to side with the accused.  Cheating?
Naw, sounds pretty fair in love and war (/racing).

Given a rear torsen swap requires no removal of the diff, I would bet that's
an easy one.  I betcha we could look at a bunch of audi races that had "trans"
swaps (the ones where torsens might have started or been previously "teched"),
and think that maybe that curious box of spiders could be easily swapped for a
"different design of the same animal".   Who would be the wiser?  Officials or
competitors that may not understand it, yet protesting specs that are
ambiguous at best?  

I argue that now that it's tougher to get away with it (cat is out of the
bag), Torsens aren't used at all.  I make the argument, that they probably
weren't really used ever.  And since audi made the homog commitment and street
car commitment to the "DGJFD" audi was indeed 'stretching' things, and prolly
right under the noses of all others.  Why?  Cuz who knew the wiser?  Even with
the 1988 paper, 10years later the correlation to an awd car seems difficult at
best.  Including with an interview of Chocholek.  Flashback ten years, before
the paper, before the correlation, before anyone knew of center torsen diffs
but audi.  

Sounds like audi had an advantage to me.  But they would never cheat.  Heck,
we know they would never cheat us out of good brakes, 6 speeds, and HP.  So
why would they cheat us or anyone else out of Torsens....

Bunch of nice dudes.

Scott Justusson