Re: Alignment

[DeWitt Harrison <de@aztek-eng.com>]

On Thu, 14 Oct 1999 22:57:16 -0600, Bruce Bell wrote:

>Seems everyone agrees the torsen can shift torque rapidly from one axle to
>another. Everyone also seems to agree that front drivers tend to understeer
>and rear drivers are more prone to oversteer. Then *why* do we have such a
>hard time getting agreement that the shifting torque (F/R)will transfer
>behavior from Understeer to oversteer? This does not seem to be a great leap
>of logic to my small mind.
>
>Phil Payne had written:
>
>> The techniques that work with cars driving a single axle are not
>> applicable to cars that can shift torque rapidly from one axle to
>> another.  This is the key and crucial factor that renders utterly
>> irrelevant any experience with any other type of car.

Apparently, if you, or rather a highly trained specialist, performs multiple
alignments with a instrument capable of matching Audi's painstakingly
engineered torque shift compensating alignment specifications within a
nanometer or two - it's all very touchy you see -  this simple logic
becomes moot.

So will the simple logic that the torque distribution mechanism and
the contact patch to road surface force distribution mechanism are
entirely independent and may not always play nicely together,
especially under duress.

But the whole idiotic discussion is rapidly becoming moot itself.
The days of stand alone torque distribution devices are numbered.
Software will rule all.

DeWitt Harrison
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq