RE: But which urq suspension is BETTER?

[JustaxPHX@aol.com]

>yes but you fail to acknowledge that the decrease in ride height (1/2 inch),
>the increase in track (1.75") along with the complete removal of the rear
>anti-roll bar and the change in the spec of the front anti-roll bar, the
>wider, lower profile tyres and the revised springs and dampers might...
>
>just might...
>
>be responsible for the better handling characteristics.  is this really all
>that much of a puzzle

To be completely honest, Yes, it is still very much a puzzle to me.  The fact
is that Audi *didn't* change the track width or lower the ride height ... they
installed 2" wider wheels with a 21mm different offset and tires that were
31mm shorter, and it's not clear from the limited information that's available
whether the resulting changes in track width and ride height you mention were
intentional or merely a byproduct.

However, I do know that if you take any other car and install wheels that are
33% wider and tires that are 31mm shorter, the odds are that you'll screw up
its handling, not improve it.  If, in fact, these changes do result in
improved handling -- I have never doubted this possiblility, mind you -- then
it strongly suggests (to me, anyway) that the handling of the earlier versions
was seriously compromised.  Given the Ur-Q's competition-based design brief,
though, this strikes me as being highly unlikely...

If the suspension was originally designed around 8x15 wheels, then why did
Audi wait four years to install them on what was their top-of-the-line car?
If the suspension was originally designed around 6x15 wheels, then why did
Audi leave the existing suspension pickup points alone when making such
dramatic changes to it?  Either way, as it seems to me that the suspension
design was at best a compromise during a substantial portion of the car's life
and given the Ur-Q's place in history, I find this notion worthy of pursuing.

The only documented change that Audi ever made to the basic suspension
geometry of the car was to relocate the rear tie-rod mounting points; every
other change that was ever made was essentially cosmetic in nature, not unlike
changing the color of paint, or compensated for changes brought about by the
wider wheels and shorter tires.  Why is this so hard to understand?

JG