BM3car

to fight the awd vs. rwd battle.

If they can get within 1-2% of rwd drive line losses and make it no more than 50-100lbs added weight it would be pretty nice. The STi now has the torque bias setup.

The only other aspect would be weight bias front to rear. Gotta get that weight back in the car...

I just like RWD, more fun to rotate the car under power IMO... Once I can get more $$$ I want an AWD car for my daily driver, then can gut the M3 and turn it into a nice toy track car. That or screw the M3 and get an Elise.

2Turbos, NoWaiting

You don't simply add the braking and cornering forces to get the combined force, you have to consider the vector direction of those forces. For example, if a car is braking at .5 G, and cornering at .5 G, the total force is .71 G.

You can see this illustrated in the Passport G-Timer owners manual (zoom in on page 11 of the manual, which is page 6 on the pdf at the link).<ul><li><a href="http://www.escortradar.com/gt2manual.pdf">G-Timer manual showing Friction Circle explanation</a></li></ul>

ryoung

that the new A4's and A8's have gained so much weight. Jeez, the '04 A8L gained 400 lb!

Re adjustable bias: The Torsen does automatically adjust bias anywhere from 2:1 to 1:2 as needed, but more is better. Paul Lambert of Stasis told me that their 3:1 and 4:1 Torsens do significantly reduce understeer in corner exit compared to the 2:1 Torsen and allow even more power sooner.

markbradford

If you're able to put down 100% of 333hp coming out of a turn, then you're not at the cornering limit - it's just the physics of it.

Look - I KNOW the M3 is an incredible car. Gorgeous, fast, balanced, etc. AND I know the diff it has is great at putting the power down. But it doesn't change the fact that you're putting the power down through only two contact patches. It's physically impossible, ceteris perebus, for a high powered RWD car to have the same max power application threshold as an AWD car. It's simple physics.

Re: the grassroots article. In terms of straight line acceleration, wet or dry, the AWD car will have an advantage off the line due to traction constraints of the 2WD car. But, if we were to take the EXACT same car with same power level, chassis, etc, except for the drivetrain, in a longer run the AWD car will unfortunately suffer from the weight and driveline loss of the AWD system itself. We see this with drag racing A4 1.8t quattros versus FrontTraks: The quattro takes off the line much faster, with a much better 60' time. However, the FrontTrak will have a higher trap speed. The ET will usually be a tad lower with the FrontTrak, as it makes up much ground on the quattro in the second 1/8.

ryoung

one of these days I need to update the table. This really won't be that difficult, but it also won't change any of the conclusions.

markbradford

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/129/exigefront.jpg"></center><p>Don't be a pansy - you need an Exige with the motorsports braking package like this one. :-P What a badass machine!

*I actually got by this guy in the dry at Road America and was surprised to hear that he's had the car for a couple years and tracks it regularly* ;-)

markbradford

I seriously considered it last year but ended up passing. There was much debate in the motorsports forum about it and I just couldn't draw a 100% conclusion as to whether I wanted it or not.

I'll likely do it when the A4 becomes a dedicated track car. For $500ish it's a steal!

ryoung

If you're able to upshift in a corner without spinning, you're definitely not at cornering limits.

BM3car

Its the twist (RE: Torque) that will spin the tires. The vehicle must have enough torque to break the tires loose, and with the M3, it just doesnt have enough in 2nd gear + to break them loose. In hard corners it does, but centripital (sp?) accl. helps out quite a bit.

I can put down 100% throttle down as I do not have enough torque to spin the tires, even with the lateral accl. This is true for just about all 3rd gear corners, 2nd, you have to watch it in the rain, need to be smooth on the power.

I dunno, it is a debate that will go on forever, thats the fun of it. The only sad thing is that I think this is the last BMW worth buying for a while... The 7/5s are ugly, same with the Z4, and all the shots of the new 6er are the same... Even the new lights on the 3ers suck...

Common Lotus, bring us the Exige!!!

BM3car

Were you at RA in May (2002)? With the Chicago CCA? I was and that car was there, the guy told me he had the car for less than 1yr then. And when I saw him he was faster than ****, that or it was his instructor driving it, but they were smoking everyone in A group, the only cars getting by were a Z06 and a 911TT.

If you are not BSing, then you must be a mad man and REALLY have your A4 nutted out.

The only thing the guy said to me it that it was a bit gutless on the long straights.

Did you ever see that Elise from Germany with the RS4 motor shoe-horned into it? YIKES!!! 380hp, 1700 lbs...

That car is bad ***! And I could fit! Ive took some nice Vid of it. I looked into getting one, but it is VERY gray market, to register it would have been very gray area...