DoubleClutch

when taking uphill corners under hard acceleration?

This happened to me tonight and I was quite suprised to find myself in the other lane. The rear tires must've taken all the power and pushed/plowed the front end.

plug1

I have noticed something similar to that when i accelerate hard....and then brake fairly fast...

Bill S

Don't blame Quattro. Uphill + hard acceleration = unweight front end = little traction for steering

DoubleClutch

True! If I did this in my Acura, I'd probably get lots-o wheel spin.

amiro

But if back wheels have all the power, wouldn't you oversteer, and fishtail?

Bill S

that there's just insufficient traction up front for steering. Even on a flat road, you're not supposed to accelerate at the beginning of a turn to avoid understeer due to unweighted front end. (Race cars often brake lightly as they begin turns for this reason.) Uphill grade only adds to the problem.

It's true that accelerating uses up traction on drive wheels, which with Quattro could be front, rear, or both. So if his front wheels started to slip and power shifted to rear, I imagine he could wind up with traction problems there, too, leading to possible 4-wheel drift.

But I think the very light front end due to grade and too much throttle would be the main problem in his situation. After all, even on a rear-wheel-drive race car, I believe that drivers correct oversteer by adding throttle to shift weight to back wheels.

eharleq

Yep, matter of degree. Rears still had traction.