Torsen finale ... at least for me, anyway

[OorQue@aol.com]

While I fooled myself for a while into believing that I was keeping myself 
above the fray, it's clear now that I've been drawn back into it again and 
for that, I apologize.

That said, this is clearly one of those debates that will never be -- and 
perhaps can never be -- resolved.  I think we all agree that the Torsen 
center diff continually alters the torque distribution between the front and 
rear axles ... the underlying question here -- and this calls for each party 
to make a value judgment, which is why a consensus may be impossible to 
achieve -- is whether, on the whole, this is a "good thing" or a "bad thing" 
for the driver of any car so equipped.

Among the principals to the discussion, Dave and Phil seem to think it's a 
good thing, both for everyday and track use, whereas Scott and myself think 
it's maybe a good thing for day-to-day use and definitely a bad thing for 
track use.  I like my single-malt scotch neat and my friend Jim likes his 
with an ice cube (the barbarian!) ... is one of us right and the other one 
wrong or are we simply dealing with matters of personal preference?

Personally, I've already decided the issue for myself and no white papers or 
anecdotal evidence is going to change my mind ... only first-hand experience 
will do that and since this is a moot issue insofar as Audi's current 
products are concerned -- I have no interest in owning any of them, thank you 
-- then really, what's the point?  I only jumped back into the fray because I 
felt Dave took a shot at me on a personal level and I didn't want his 
off-handed (and as yet unsubstantiated) remark about Chocholeck being more of 
a technical writer than a development engineer to go unchallenged.  To my 
knowledge, I've never stooped to ad hominem attacks as a means to discredit 
his ideas and I resented his launching one against Chocholeck merely because 
he was gracious enough to talk with me about a paper he'd written a decade 
earlier...

In any event, I consider the matter closed (again!) and promise that the word 
"Torsen" will not appear in anything I contribute to the Q-list from this 
point forward.

JG