supercraig Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Let's be honest, if they were that good more people would have one, and I have seen, erm, none on the roads sice last month, in fact come to think of it, I've only EVER (!!!) seen two on the roads, some car eh??!! THOUGHT I'D FRESHEN YOUR MEMORY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonl Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 [ QUOTE ] The QUATTRO on todays cars is not the same that sowed the rally and BTCC seeds back then!! [/ QUOTE ] I know, but then you shouldn't make a sweeping generalistation about Quattro. Be more specific, it is as varied as different cars in the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shao_khan Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 The Alfa is a nice looking car - cant buy one as I have no idea where or even if htere is a dealer within 100 miles of me - so that makes warrenty and service an issue. As for the new RS4 - ugly bit of kit with not much IMO to justify the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evosapper Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 I think the RS4 will be a much better looking car if in black, the blue shows that new grill a little too much........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evosapper Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 We were discussing the A3/Golf platform, neither of which has a proper all wheel drive system............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonl Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 [ QUOTE ] We were discussing the A3/Golf platform, neither of which has a proper all wheel drive system............ [/ QUOTE ] ...and why not, share with us your wisdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcanderson Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 A3/Golf uses Haldex clutch system... proper Quattros use Torsen central diff. There is a big difference. (Mind you .. my last Audi was an RS2.... things may have changed since.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonl Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 [ QUOTE ] proper Quattros use Torsen central diff. There is a big difference. [/ QUOTE ] Quattro is a brand name... if audi decide to brand their Haldex system with it then it IS a proper Quattro as far as they are concerned. I agree the Torsen system is better, but i want to know why evosnapper thinks "Quattro is a poor mans all wheel drive" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcanderson Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 I noticed that in EVO.. they list 'boomy' engine as a touch wearing as a neg in the buyers guides at the rear of the mag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Going back to Alfas, we use a Vauxhall dealer to service our vans and they are also an Alfa franchise. Now Vauxhalls have improved alot of late but are still average on reliability/service. We've got to know the service manager well and he tells us straight about Vauxhalls short comings, when we asked him about the quality of the Alfas he said it was shocking and a constant nightmare. There is no back up from Alfa regarding problems and no one knows what to do if there is something out of the ordinary. He said they made Vx's look like Rolls Royces Be afraid, very afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evosapper Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 I think that any car that drives the front wheels in normal circumstances and then when slip is detected at the front provides the relevant power to either of the rear wheels should not be branded as QUATTRO, have you ever wondered what steps in first the ESP or T/C, or the HALDEX when slip is detected? I for one took my old S3 out on a airfield in the wet to see the difference and found with ESP disengaged slight rumbling understeer turned to full on nasty understeer when the power was delivered to the rear. I find it difficult to believe that any engineer can get the best out of a car when it has been set up to drive 99.9% of the time with front wheel drive to suddenly be able to switch to all four wheels being driven with out a problem!! This is why the last generation of A3/TT and this generation of A3 QUATTRO are a bit of fraud, if you are going to sell a car on the fact that it is 4 wheel drive then the car needs to be permenant 4 wheel drive and set up as such. I've been lucky enough to own enough cars to know the difference with the old Lancia integrale being the best I've had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonl Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 [ QUOTE ] I think that any car that drives the front wheels in normal circumstances and then when slip is detected at the front provides the relevant power to either of the rear wheels should not be branded as QUATTRO, [/ QUOTE ] Why not???? Why would the car power all 4 wheels if they're not needed? It has the ability to power all the wheels, that's the definition of AWD over 4WD (And AWD is what Quattro is all about) If you want 4WD, buy a Defender! anyway we could go on all day, you've had S3's and you've had Lancia's, so you know your sh!t... Quattro might not be the hard core enthusiasts choice, but it's not the poor mans choice. It's a well proven performance setup for most people who don't drive everywhere like Shumacker. Anyway, it's going in the R36 and I bet any money a GTI too at some point, possibly the Anni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercraig Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Going back to Alfas, we use a Vauxhall dealer to service our vans and they are also an Alfa franchise. Now Vauxhalls have improved alot of late but are still average on reliability/service. We've got to know the service manager well and he tells us straight about Vauxhalls short comings, when we asked him about the quality of the Alfas he said it was shocking and a constant nightmare. There is no back up from Alfa regarding problems and no one knows what to do if there is something out of the ordinary. He said they made Vx's look like Rolls Royces Be afraid, very afraid. [/ QUOTE ] In that case alfa's must be bad, I had a vectra sri 16v turbo diesel for a company car for 3 years and 120000 miles, for the amount of things that went wrong, the jobs that weren't done as promised, and for the times I was promised a courtesy car to no avail, I would NEVER consider spending my hard earned cash on a Vauxhall or recomend them in any way, even to my worst enemy..... With that in mind those Alfa's must be the worst cars in the history of the universe..... Sorry was I generalising..... Maybe I should by VW as I will never, ever, ever have even the slightest niggle..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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