re: quattro at the limit, reality check

[QSHIPQ@aol.com]

Phil Rose, bitten offers:
>BTW, my "off-road" experience happened about a week or two after having a
>4-wheel alignment done by a *presumably* reputable, ol'-timer type
>alignment specialist. However the guy managed to erase the alignment data
>before I could request a copy. I watched him do the alignment, but will
>always wonder: just _what_ were the alignment specs he used?

That's two.  Mr. Rose, please don't think your alignment shop did anything 
wrong necessarily.  I personally spent several hours with a T44 car, then 
tracked it after the alignment, and promptly got bitten, dry pavement.  

For more on why the bite might have happened, Dave E might help enlighten 
this idea (watch the T*rsen test post from yestereday).  His 885140 addresses 
what slip angle differences do to a t*rsen in a controlled environment (high 
cf in this case).  The low cf environment is never as friendly or controlled.

That's two of us with the same chassis, same device as Phil P, with the same 
"alignment" prior to the snap.  When I got bit in a 90q, it only had 1100 
miles on the clock.  Brendans A4tq had 17k on it at Mosport Park, 88 80q had 
less than 5kmiles on it....  All bites with witnesses.

Since Dave E has copywright concerns, I encourage everyone with a torsen 
center diff to get 885140 (and anyone with an 80/90q -t*rsen should already 
own it).  Many conclusions about the device are in that paper, most just as 
obvious as the ones the authors decided to concentrate on.

Scott Justusson