Excuses to buy a MKVI

[NewGolf]

Good to get your opinion there NewGolf. But just because you went past a driver isnt really the most credible way of judging which car is the better at handling.

The fact is the R32 is quicker when driven round a track by a pro driver. it doesnt matter what feels faster... all that matters is what is faster. I have said on here previously that my brothers GTTDi feels faster than my R32... but I know for sure it isnt.

I wasn't judging the car to be better by me overtaking 1 driver, nor do I think you should take 1 car doing 1 lap of the TG track to set a benchmark for that model against another. My opinions are based on my experiances of driving both, in anger! For us to have this discussion in depth, have you driven an S4? I seem to remember JC's comment of the S4 against the M3 was "This is harnessed lunacy". What if the TG test driven S4 was down on power and the R32 at its peak, not a fair comparison IMO. I've driven 2 S4's now and 3 R32's, they are both different animals. The S4 is a seriously powerful car. When test driving the GTI and R32 from having driven the S4 to the dealer, my wife found the GTI the faster of the 2and found the R32 "flat", her words not mine. No offence to any R32 owners, nor am I dissing the car. 

[R32UK]

TBH a pro driver testing a car around a test track is quite a good basis for a comparison... and i doubt audi would give the TG boys a car which was down on power.

My point is... even tho you say the R32 felt flat this is not the best basis to say that the Torsen is better or more capable than the Haldex.. which is kind of what this thread has turned into. Chrissy who owned an R32 and now has a RS4 was unable to spot any differences despite pushing them both. I am not knocking what your opinion is as like I said previously.. I havent driven a S4. My point is that although the haldex is classed as twitchy... I have only found this to be the case in one instance, and admittedly I was over cooking it.

Aside from that I would just say that the figures dont lie... I have heard many pro drivers say that the Haldex is a fantastic system

[luca]

I mentioned that a well setup rwd/fwd car would be just as quick or quicker than a 4x4 in the dry. The best thing to do to a car to increase performance is to shed as much weight as possible. If fwd doesnt work as well as 4x4 in the dry why has the megane r26r lapped the ring way quicker than all of the other hot hatches inc some supercars which are also 4x4.
In the wet the 4x4 will obviously be quicker but wheres the fun in having the car do all the work for you?
Theres nothing more rewarding than controlling a sweet rear wheel drift and knowing that you did it and not the car.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Do you happen to know if the APS R32 had its Haldex permanently locked on in race mode?  Because if so, then you can get whats called "transmission wind-up" on 4WDs with the centre diff locked.  Being as the Haldex is not a diff, if it were locked fully, then cornering would produce the characteristic twitching on corners.

Incidentally, all this 4wd corner twitching reminds of identical symptoms from RalliArt Mitsubishi Evos and Gallants, which also use electronic "diffs".

....It has a 3-way switch, one being Race mode. I don't know if Marcus has it switched to Race constantly.

But does the race mode (presumably being the most "aggressive" set) actually lock the Haldex clutch permanently?

I'm looking forward to sharing my soon upcoming Quaife experience. I think, but I'm not certain, that such diffs can be fitted to R32's front and back.

Hmm, the same (part no) Quaiffe diff wont, because the final drive internals of the front box will be very different to the rear final drive.  I'm not really sure, but on thinking about it, I doubt the R32 rear end could use the Quaiffe, because it can't use EDL on the rear.