Steve S.

Michael, I may be a little bit more sensitive to this issue of "can the car take the mods"? Remember, I am currently fabricating two pieces to reinforce my subframe due to stress cracks caused by the aftermarket rear sway bars. I am living this issue. Again, I hope that nothing goes wrong....I would just be the guy that beefs up other stuff as well. I still envy your power...remember I only got the 12V :-)<p>Steve S.<br>97 2.8QM<br>

Drew S.

Your statement about quattro doing 71.25 HP/wheel is true only under ideal circumstances, such as when there is no wheel spin.<p>But, imagine if one end of the car has no traction. The other end will suddenly get most (all?) available power to the two wheels with traction, due to the torsen. If this were an untouched 2.8, then the amount of HP at each wheel is somewhere in the neighborhood of 190/2 or 95- HP at each driven wheel. The supercharged 2.8 would be giving 285/2 or around 142.5- HP to each driven wheel.<p>These numbers are obviously off since I don't think the torsen can send 100% power to one end of the car. But, for arguments sake, I think the increase in power to these two driven wheels is significant. And what happens when only one wheel has traction?<p>Another problem I have with this argument is that you are expressing the increase as being distributed equally four ways. However, you have only one transmission, and one center torsen differential. These components are going to feel the change as much or more than anything else. What happens at the wheels is the least of your worries.<p>Drew S.<p>P.S. I hope the supercharger is a terrific success. I think it would get me into trouble with Johnny Lawman. ;-)<br>

MichaelB

Since I am throwing the supercharger into a fwd A4, I am obviously not overly concerned. If I was going to drag race the car or constantly be running it hard, I'd be more worried. <p>One thing is for sure. If someone came up with a supercharger kit that included different pistons, clutch, transmission, CV joints, etc., no one would buy it! With all the money it would cost, they would buy an S4 for less.<p>A recent European Car magazine article focused on the negative aspects of modifying cars. It focused quite a bit on the 1.8T chip and how awful the results were (in their opinion - not mine). It also mentioned how it would probably affect reliability. Well, do you think this will stop folks from chipping the car? I doubt it. With any mod comes additional risks. Either you accept these risks or you don't.

Jim Simone

Drew, recall that the EDL and ASR systems will brake a slipping wheel in both the Frontrak and the Quattro, so that it equalizes the torque side to side (of the open differential).<p>With that in mind, you'll never have more than 114 lbs-ft at any one wheel. (BTW, I believe that torque is more important than HP in this example.) For the Quattro, I beleive the Torsen diff allows a maximum F/R split of 67% and, as such, the maximum torque load would be less than a front-driver.<p>Of course, in any case, more torque and power will result in greater wear. Whether you're willing to accept the risk is up to you.<p>Jim<br>'98 1.8T qms/Neuspeed