RE: the i5 returns??

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

	> georg kacher interestingly talks of the a6qv8 torsen being "too
defensive",
	> with a bias towards understeer.  kacher says that, with the
haldex, the a6
	> quattro would win the contest hands down, due to the haldex's
rearward bias
	> (in the tt).  it is somewhat ironical from this quarter, given all
the heat
	> in the "torsen spider" argument, that we have a road tester
finding the
	> torsen too safe, and looking for more the tail-out spice of the
haldex......

	I wonder how much of this is due to testers not having long enough
with
	the car and not adjusting to the 'slower entry and more power
through
	the turns" approach Torsen drivers use.  I find these days that the
	front never breaks away on its own. By the time it goes, there's
	enough power on for the back to go with it and the throttle becomes
	the main pointing tool.  If the front starts to slip and I haven't
	got the space (or I'm not in the right gear) to push the back out as
	well, I regard it as a driving error.

... I'd have to say that the same sort of behavior seems to happen with the
V8Q ... while the car is still noticeably nose heavy it doesn't seem to have
too much problem with throttle induced oversteer in the turns ... ;-)  

I wonder if Graydon or any of the other 5-speed V8 owners would agree with
my experiences ... but I must say that if I drive that car too much more I
may not be able to remove that silly grin from my face ... :)

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)