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From: tohaapanen@watrose.UUCP (Tom Haapanen)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: front wheel drive steering
Message-ID: <7836@watrose.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Feb-86 19:20:24 EST
Article-I.D.: watrose.7836
Posted: Fri Feb 21 19:20:24 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 24-Feb-86 20:59:05 EST
References: <1127@ihlpa.UUCP>
Reply-To: tohaapanen@watrose.UUCP (Tom Haapanen)
Distribution: net
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 35

In article <1127@ihlpa.UUCP> ibyf@ihlpa.UUCP (Scott) writes:
>
>Ok you net.auto fans, here's one for you.  I have only driven two
>front wheel drive cars,but noticed in both of them that they tend to
>drift to the right side of the road.  This is especially noticeable
>when accelerating.  Is this a phenomenom common to front wheel drive
>cars, or did I just get lucky to have two that were out of alignment
>in the same way?  Thanks in advance.

(in a later article he mentions that the two cars are Skylark and Skyhawk)

This is a phenomenon known as 'torque steer' and it results from
unequal amounts of torque being transmitted to the two driving front
wheels.  The problem increases with engine horsepower; it's
unnoticeable with 50 hp, but with 200 hp you will have problems
keeping he car on the road under full acceleration.

The issue can be avoided in the design phase by making the driveshafts
equal length (as they are in a RWD car), but with a transverse engine
it is less expensive not to do so, so the problem is often ignored.
Witness the J-car and X-car that you have driven.  Apparently the
problem has been corrected on the Turbo J-cars (necessary!) by making
the shorter driveshaft thicker at the mid-point and thus giving the
two shafts equal angular momentum.

The problem was never as serious with the Rabbit/Jetta/Scirocco, and
the new Golf/Jetta have practically equal-lenght driveshafts.


				   \tom haapanen
				   watmath!watrose!haapanen
I'm all lost in the Supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
Guaranteed personality				 (c) The Clash, 1979