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tailpipe
October 18th, 2004, 19:25
I keep reading articles about how Audi plans to become a more focused manufacturer of sports cars and a true competitor to BMW. This pleases me very much because I think Audis look good (or at least they did until Audi got its very own Chris Bangle in Walter da Silva) and Audi quality has always been excellent.

But what i should like to know is exactly what Audi proposes to do to make this promise a reality. Martin Winterkorn said that Audis would move over to rear-wheel drive platforms but this plan was vetoed by Bernd Pischetstrieder, head of the Volkswagen group, so what next?

Can front wheel drive ever be better than rear wheel drive? What if the weight balance was made more equal by moving the engines well behind the front axle, could it still drive the front wheels? Where can I find the answer to these questions?

RS4Ever
October 19th, 2004, 03:13
now do you mean that the current audi's that have only front-wheel drive (no quattro of course) were considered to be moved to rear-wheel drive?

what im asking is.. they will still keep the quattros; but for whatever audi model that has front-wheel drive would have rear-wheel drive.

not going to be touching the quattros right?

tailpipe
October 19th, 2004, 12:36
What I mean is that a rear wheel drive chassis would have become the standard for all models, but quattro versions would still be available.

Essentially the advantage of a rear wheel drive layout is better handling and steering by having one set of wheels providing the power and the other set the steering. It also allows the engine to be placed well behind the front axle ensuring a more even weight balance with most of the cars mass in betweeen the two sets of wheels. Thus the chassis is more responsive and drivers tend to "feel" what the car is doing more intuitively. Rear wheel drive effectively pushes the car around corners.

By contrast, front wheel drive requires the engine to be over or in front of the the front wheels. You get the opposite of a Porsche 911, which has its engine behind the rear axle, with all the weight at the front end. A front wheel drive pulls a car around corners. However, with the front wheels steering and driving the car you get an effect called torque steer where high power engines tend to pull the car from one side to the road or the other. Most manufactuers can reduce this effect, but in higher performance cars it is a less than ideal solution.

Four wheel drive can be added to either layout.

For purists, a rear wheel drive layout provides the optimal solution. The catch is that rear wheel drive cars can oversteer (rear end steps out potentially causing a spin) in wet conditions or if an inappropriate amount of power is applied. Front wheel drive cars tend to understeer (car goes straight on instead of turning around a corner). Understeer can easily be corrected by applying the brakes, but oversteer is more tricky to control and requires greater driver skill. Thus front engine cars are inherently safer and easier to control.

Audi reckons that it should stick to front wheel drive for all these reasons. BMW and Mercedes-Benz, on the other hand, have rear wheel drive platforms. Audis have been historically criticised for not being as dynamically competent as its competitors. It's an interesting debate.

The question is whether technology can make a front wheel drive handle as well as a rear wheel drive car or rear wheel drive car as safe as a front wheel drive car.

Until these issues are resolved, our RS4s and RS6s will never corner as precisely as BMWs or Mercs.

(If any technical gurus can add to the discussion, your knowledge would be interesting as well as helpful.)

RS4Ever
October 19th, 2004, 16:19
thanks for that clarification.

thats what i was thinking.



hey tailpipe.. btw, how are sales of the new A6 coming along in the UK.. i mean, are you seeing them out on the streets? are they becoming popular?

if the status here (in Atlanta, GA) interestes you- then they have a (1 ..heh) new A6 out on the stealership lot... more for show i think, although it has a price tag (4.2V8 $52,000) .. actually i think this is the time they said (in past) they would start selling here in the US... or maybe more near in November.