Rainy Day Therapy
05-13-2019, 10:40 PM
#11
AudiWorld Member
When a car looks that clean - one has to wonder what sort of obsessive-compulsive would take the time to CLP their wheel badge with a Sonicare toothbrush... The bottom photo satisfies that curiosity quite aptly. 
05-14-2019, 03:11 AM
#12
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
05-14-2019, 05:51 PM
#14
AudiWorld Member
I dont know what the polite/civilian term for the device is, but there is a piece of small arms cleaning kit which is not abrasive - https://media.midwayusa.com/producti...159/159474.jpg. :-)
05-15-2019, 02:59 AM
#15
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
LOL Don't get me started. It's the Marine in me that paints rocks and spit shines everything to begin with! 
I dont know what the polite/civilian term for the device is, but there is a piece of small arms cleaning kit which is not abrasive - https://media.midwayusa.com/producti...159/159474.jpg. :-)
05-15-2019, 03:26 PM
#16
AudiWorld Member
The boots turned tan, so that's no longer such a concern (at least on the 03 E-side), and the rock painting does usually have a point - range markers, notional this or that, random jarhead use cases.
Rainy-day therapy-wise however, i have been finding that in our recent Boston weather, the ttrs with full ESP is perfectly happy to be thrown into a 4w slide through a turn in terms of non-interference with driver input and absurdly predictable/repeatable trajectories.
This thing has some really neat handling characteristics when it comes to both maintaining and regaining composure/overall velocity despite the transition to dynamic friction coefficients with the road surface.
The ability to make meaningful adjustments during such maneuvers if desired is the truly amazing thing - most inputs will immediately snap it back to full plant; so it does err on the side of caution when permitting things that might not be characterized as "cautious" in themselves.
Trajectory changes without regaining full grip are completely possible, but require confidence of input from the driver so as not to land in that giant safety net they provide - ironically, such AWD setups often result in suddenly gaining full traction when you dont expect it (say while attempting to perform trajectory adjustments around the Z axis) and getting a close-up count of all those airbags they stuffed into the thing.
Concurrently, proper lines through corners are still held to speeds i dare not exceed on public roads, so it does actually take an act of stupid to play with the aforementioned functionality.
Sport mode ESP only makes this process stickier, strangely, as proper lines don't induce intervention by the ESP (other than the autonomous inner-brake-tapping bit it does for chassis control), while actually letting you induce minor tailwag as byproduct of adjustment to things like decreasing radii or deer. Again, most inputs will put an immediate end to the fun and re-plant the car, but it at seems like one should be able to consistently help steer with the tail-end under low-grip conditions.
Rainy-day therapy-wise however, i have been finding that in our recent Boston weather, the ttrs with full ESP is perfectly happy to be thrown into a 4w slide through a turn in terms of non-interference with driver input and absurdly predictable/repeatable trajectories.
This thing has some really neat handling characteristics when it comes to both maintaining and regaining composure/overall velocity despite the transition to dynamic friction coefficients with the road surface.
The ability to make meaningful adjustments during such maneuvers if desired is the truly amazing thing - most inputs will immediately snap it back to full plant; so it does err on the side of caution when permitting things that might not be characterized as "cautious" in themselves.
Trajectory changes without regaining full grip are completely possible, but require confidence of input from the driver so as not to land in that giant safety net they provide - ironically, such AWD setups often result in suddenly gaining full traction when you dont expect it (say while attempting to perform trajectory adjustments around the Z axis) and getting a close-up count of all those airbags they stuffed into the thing.
Concurrently, proper lines through corners are still held to speeds i dare not exceed on public roads, so it does actually take an act of stupid to play with the aforementioned functionality.
Sport mode ESP only makes this process stickier, strangely, as proper lines don't induce intervention by the ESP (other than the autonomous inner-brake-tapping bit it does for chassis control), while actually letting you induce minor tailwag as byproduct of adjustment to things like decreasing radii or deer. Again, most inputs will put an immediate end to the fun and re-plant the car, but it at seems like one should be able to consistently help steer with the tail-end under low-grip conditions.
05-16-2019, 03:06 AM
#18
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
I've also noted that the AWD AI isn't overbearing during highway merge z-axis (yaw) decreasing radius turns. Audi really has their AWD well sorted.
Speaking [rhetorically] of cloverleaf merges, why oh why are they typically decreasing radii as you approach the merge? Wouldn't increasing radii better facilitate merging velocity and thereby safety? But then we driving enthusiasts would just have to further test same, so ...
Note: the all-aluminum TTRS 5-cylinder weighs about the same as the TT/TTS 2.0T hybrid iron/aluminum setup, so about equal understeer factors with which to contend.
Speaking [rhetorically] of cloverleaf merges, why oh why are they typically decreasing radii as you approach the merge? Wouldn't increasing radii better facilitate merging velocity and thereby safety? But then we driving enthusiasts would just have to further test same, so ...
Note: the all-aluminum TTRS 5-cylinder weighs about the same as the TT/TTS 2.0T hybrid iron/aluminum setup, so about equal understeer factors with which to contend.
...
Trajectory changes without regaining full grip are completely possible, but require confidence of input from the driver so as not to land in that giant safety net they provide - ironically, such AWD setups often result in suddenly gaining full traction when you don't expect it (say while attempting to perform trajectory adjustments around the Z axis) and getting a close-up count of all those airbags they stuffed into the thing...
Trajectory changes without regaining full grip are completely possible, but require confidence of input from the driver so as not to land in that giant safety net they provide - ironically, such AWD setups often result in suddenly gaining full traction when you don't expect it (say while attempting to perform trajectory adjustments around the Z axis) and getting a close-up count of all those airbags they stuffed into the thing...
Last edited by Huey52; 05-16-2019 at 03:08 AM.
05-20-2019, 06:51 PM
#19
AudiWorld Member
Given that i'm sort of a newbie in this whole TT driving scheme, please pardon my crass ingress method, but i transitioned out of a VW R32 which i found "to be effectively driven" by taking it to the edge of grip one could suffer in a GTI, and then purposefully passing that threshold to induce AWD split (much older system, and with only 245 on tap its plenty fun/safe that way).
Applied, to the TTRS (much more gently), this technique can be used to defeat the understeer as an initial tactic. After a bit of time in it, and with the R32 being overhauled for my wife over the last couple of weeks, i've been switching off between the TTRS and the MR2 in my profile image... this has been instructional in that mid-engine cars force you to judiciously accelerate into the corner to transfer engine mass to reside above the rear wheels (downforce be damned, mass transfer!).
The mid-engine takes a bit of getting used to after the winter season, and there's been almost no day this year where it was safe to practice... so with a few hours over a couple of days under my belt i applied the same technique to the TTRS (entry speeds tamped down a bit for survivability) and found that the awd seems to mimic the mass transfer behavior by shifting more power to the rear and letting off the front enough to react properly to nuanced steering inputs mid-corner.
Despite the MR2 being direct mechanical steering (power steering in these was a deathtrap, NA chassis & rack), the whole mass transfer trick actually induces a degree of understeer because of how little mass remains over the front wheels. While i am still quicker in many cases using the mid-rwd setup for now, i have to say that the level of control during that sort of thing is night and day - if a deer were to jump out i might be in for a bad day in the MR2, TTRS will let me do anything from course correction to full-stop braking without flying off into the adjacent terrain.
Back to my recurring gripe about what the TTRS gets compared to in the automotive media: this particular MR is head and shoulders above a cayman in terms of performance (s or otherwise) - its lighter, stiffer, makes more power (even before the methanol injection), and has the dynamic suspension component to address the inherent safety issues of the preceding points - priced at half of one as built (and stated-value appraised/insured). If you're going to buy a car you can only drive for half the year if that, why would you spend anything close to the money you'd spend on your daily-driving TTRS? Is the cayman a car for someone who drives an A4 S-Line the rest of the time and wants to feel like billy badass on the weekend? The corvette is probably a better choice for it, and it's easier to write "DOUCHEBAG" in giant (yellow?) letters across that ample wide vette rump...
Applied, to the TTRS (much more gently), this technique can be used to defeat the understeer as an initial tactic. After a bit of time in it, and with the R32 being overhauled for my wife over the last couple of weeks, i've been switching off between the TTRS and the MR2 in my profile image... this has been instructional in that mid-engine cars force you to judiciously accelerate into the corner to transfer engine mass to reside above the rear wheels (downforce be damned, mass transfer!).
The mid-engine takes a bit of getting used to after the winter season, and there's been almost no day this year where it was safe to practice... so with a few hours over a couple of days under my belt i applied the same technique to the TTRS (entry speeds tamped down a bit for survivability) and found that the awd seems to mimic the mass transfer behavior by shifting more power to the rear and letting off the front enough to react properly to nuanced steering inputs mid-corner.
Despite the MR2 being direct mechanical steering (power steering in these was a deathtrap, NA chassis & rack), the whole mass transfer trick actually induces a degree of understeer because of how little mass remains over the front wheels. While i am still quicker in many cases using the mid-rwd setup for now, i have to say that the level of control during that sort of thing is night and day - if a deer were to jump out i might be in for a bad day in the MR2, TTRS will let me do anything from course correction to full-stop braking without flying off into the adjacent terrain.
Back to my recurring gripe about what the TTRS gets compared to in the automotive media: this particular MR is head and shoulders above a cayman in terms of performance (s or otherwise) - its lighter, stiffer, makes more power (even before the methanol injection), and has the dynamic suspension component to address the inherent safety issues of the preceding points - priced at half of one as built (and stated-value appraised/insured). If you're going to buy a car you can only drive for half the year if that, why would you spend anything close to the money you'd spend on your daily-driving TTRS? Is the cayman a car for someone who drives an A4 S-Line the rest of the time and wants to feel like billy badass on the weekend? The corvette is probably a better choice for it, and it's easier to write "DOUCHEBAG" in giant (yellow?) letters across that ample wide vette rump...
05-21-2019, 07:58 AM
#20
AudiWorld Member
I keep my 2017 TTS in the garage when not in use. The Nano Gray is protected by a ceramic coating I put on, works pretty good. I very rarely clean the wheels, they look good when covered in brake dust.
Must be the my old hippie war protester past that makes me do it.
Must be the my old hippie war protester past that makes me do it.