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Detroit, 9:42 PM
Tue Nov 24
23 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/23/09
Grand National, though...I'm good with this.
Personally, I want this package in an automatic, and I'm not anti-Jalop, or anti-manual, just can't do it, long-term, any more.
Caution, the really fun hobbies can kill you...if you're doin' them right.
11/23/09
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11/23/09
No. Not the same system. Audi generally uses TorSen AWD system, which apparently has been vectoring all along. The exceptions to the audi=torsen rule are the A3 and TT.
Haldex (which is the system in this opel, and also in my new audi A3) is used mainly on vehicles with transversely mounted engines, platforms originally intended for FWD.
Sidenote: most people say that TorSen is superior. I can't say yet as I have only had my car for 1 month, and no snow yet :) Also, Bugatti Veyron supposedly uses a Haldex system.
11/23/09
The "vectoring" of the haldex rear diff is a bit misleading (just like all the other marketing BS from haldex). It's a good system, but it's basically just a rear diff that can lock up. It has a single clutchpack on the rear diff that can lock the two halfshafts together, as opposed to something like the (heavier, more expensive, more complicated) tw0-clutchpack system used on the Audi and some (not all) of Acura's SH-AWD systems.
The Audi uses a system with a clutchpack on each of the rear half-shafts, which lets you disengage one of the halfshafts progressively. Because of the way differentials work, this effectively "vectors" torque to the other wheel.
The Haldex system progressively locks the rear axle, which prevents the inside wheel from spinning, but it doesn't technically vector torque to the outside wheel. Any situation where one rear wheel has a different torque split than the other would require one to have more traction than the other, and indeed, Haldex's examples show one wheel on ice, which is intentionally misleading, IMO.
That said, this system is better than having an open rear diff, and is cheaper and more compact than a system with a true center diff and two rear-axle clutchpacks.
11/23/09
#tips
11/23/09
Yeah, you know me.
11/23/09
And 4,000# for a sedan this size with manual transmission? That's just incredible.
I'm still down with OPC, just saying.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
But still, clocking in at a small dog shy of 2 tons is disturbing.
11/23/09
05/01/09
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05/01/09
In reality, I'd prefer a turbo-4 version to save on weight and fuel. But the premise is nice. Not a fan of the Haldex "we'll fax our request to the rear wheels and see if they move" system, but it's pretty good on fuel consumption and still better than pure FWD.
05/01/09
1) It is a seriously cool car?
2) We can't have it?
3) We have strange un-Amurican tastes?
05/01/09
05/01/09
I like hi-po wagons, but that doesn't mean I don't also like Mustangs, Camaros, Silverados, and F-150s.
05/01/09
You, like me I believe, are a sucker for anything "cool." I've seen well done donks I like, so I'm capable of enjoying damn near anything.
05/01/09
Thus is the sign of a true car fan.
If you cannot find something to like about every genre of car, you are not a self-actualized car fan. I may prefer hot rods and muscle cars over all else, but I find a fair few well-done tuners, trucks, etc. that I like quite often.
05/01/09
Mind you, 0-60 in 5.8 with 325 hp? That means it's as fat as the S4.
05/01/09