Why everyone needs to find an empty(no berms) parking lot, and
practice drifting, starting, stopping, and turning.

Sudhir

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 21:24, Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@mac.com> wrote:
> Not my experience with my Syncros. Perhaps I don't drive like you. I have done one emergency maneuver with a Syncro, at highwy speeds (roughly 100kph, 60 mph). Vehicle in front of me (miata) spun out. I swung out of his lane, on to the shoulder, and then around him. I'm sure without the syncro traction I would have spun out on the shoulder or median.
>
> The side roads (what I was travelingon) here in Northern Virginia (Tyson's/Great Falls area) are twisty, not particularly well banked, with little if any shoulder.
>
> Of course, I automatically drive differently in snow than on drive pavement (give myself more space, prepare for turns a lot further back, etc.) Not all folk do (and the consequences are evident by the SUVs in the medians, and the interesting donut patterns in the snow at intersections.)
>
> The thing most folk forget when driving 4 wheel drive vehicles, is that the drive train is great for getting moving, but braking and turning still rely on the same principles that affect 2 wheel drive vehicles. Newton's first law of motion.
>
>
> On Jan 31, 2010, at 1:52 PM, David Marshall wrote:
>
>> You need to drive an Audi quattro... ich liebe mein A4!
>>
>> The
>> problem with a correctly working syncro is that just driving along it is
>> only a 2WD.  It will be a 2WD *until* there is a difference in speed
>> between the front and rear wheel speeds.  In a correctly working
>> system will take about 1 or 2 wheel revolutions for the VC to fully
>> engauge and the vehicle will become a 4WD.
>>
>> Now, take a 90deg
>> intersection at 50 km/h like you would in the dry only cover it in ice and
>> then a layer of snow on top of that.  Do it in a Syncro and then do
>> it in a quattro.  With the Syncro you will have the back end come out
>> because those wheels are going to spin while the fronts do nothing other
>> than get slowed down by the snow.  One the rear wheels start spinning
>> you will start to loose control.  In effect you better be quick or
>> else you will get into a horrible spin.  With an all wheel drive like
>> the Audi quattro it is always 50/50 front and rear so one end won't spin
>> even for an instant faster than the other end.
>