>VW got lucky on the A1, they designed something that was cheap and easy to
>manufacture.

Yup. And every subsequent Golf GTi has been slagged (outside the US)
as a poor handler, including the V6.

>Theoretically the suspension design on all fwd vws sucks ass
>(Torsion beam WTF? anybody ever heard of A-arms and independent suspension?
>not VW).

This IS an IRS setup. Each rear wheel moves entirely independently of
the other, just like swingaxles & other IRS setups. And though
extremely simple, it is very effective, with little or no camber
change on the stroke (unlike the usual semitrailing-arm setup, which
does suffer camber changes).

>BTW the A2 is a better handling platform than the A1.

Not according to the magazines. At least, not outside USA. The US A1
"Rabbit" must've been bad.

>Also, ALL front drive cars are understeering pigs to some degree,
>think about it, (hint-weight transfer).

Tell that to the Fiat 128 I once had. So much oversteer, it was
unstable in a straight line. My 89 diesel Corolla wagon doesn't
understeer at all on twisty roads either (in fact the tail can stter
it quite nicely), though around in-town cormers it will.

>The Euro cars and US cars are
>virtually identical except for the engine internals, emissions control and
>safety features.  There is no difference in the suspension.

Virtually ALL US models get soft springs and undamped dampers. This
includes such as BMW. The early US Golf (Rabbit) handling was slagged
by Australian magazines, while the Aussie-market ones were lauded.

--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut