S3 - permanent 4wd??

[s3londonuk]

Are the original S3s permanent 4WD?

I've heard it said that the Haldex makes it 4WD only when the front wheels slip. What's the definitive answer?!

[cuprabob]

S3 has Haldex. Haldex only transfers drive to the rear wheels when the fronts slip. You can get uprated controllers for around £600 which puts more bias to the rear faster.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

[s3londonuk]

Thanks for the response - what a waste to have access to 4WD and hardly ever use it!

Strange thing is as it's effectively a front wheel drive vehicle. It doesn't munch through the front tyres as quickly as other FWD cars I've had (Golfs and Fiestas)

[cuprabob]

Wheelspin causes wear and as they don't spin much they wear less. Rears wear slightly more though

[Fort Jefferson]

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Isn't rule of thumb with VAG, transverse engines have Haldex, and inline has Torsen?

[chr15b]

it's true that the rears are only used when it's detected that the fronts may slip - therefore if you drive hard enough you can simulate full time 4wd

[cuprabob]

Fort Jefferson said:

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Isn't rule of thumb with VAG, transverse engines have Haldex, and inline has Torsen?

That's a valid point. I wasn't implying it was because of the size of the car determining the system deployed it was just a generic dtatement based on the majority

[istoo]

Fort Jefferson said:

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Isn't rule of thumb with VAG, transverse engines have Haldex, and inline has Torsen?

aye... although i havent seen a non audi vag thats inline

[Tame Technician]

Older passats are A4 platform, longi. And that big VW A8, phaton is it? thats longi too.

very latest Passats ones are again transvers.


Haldex is better than noral AWD systems in the scence that you dont waste fuel driving the other wheels when there is no benefit, ie when there is no loss of grip from the two on there own. This saves on where and reduces fuel consumption + emissions.

Haldex is bad because is works exactly the wrong way round to how I would like it, (How the skyline and later GTR work) where the car is always rear wheel drive and when the rears spin and you go too sideways it powers up the front to pull it straight. Would love it if other manufactuers would think of this, but VAG like safe understeery cars so they never would.

[Fort Jefferson]

istoo said:

Fort Jefferson said:

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Isn't rule of thumb with VAG, transverse engines have Haldex, and inline has Torsen?

aye... although i havent seen a non audi vag thats inline

Bentley Continental GT.

[istoo]

forgot about the phaeton, suppose the W powered passats will have been inline.
Never seen under a bentley, but i hadnt considered it a VAG car, i suppose the lambos are in on this as well now!

[s3londonuk]

Thanks for the responses, following on here's another question....

I think some sensor may have gone as my ESP is permanently off.

Would this affect the Haldex 4WD? Is Haldex a mechanical or electrical system that transfers power to the rear?

[cuprabob]

Probalbly an ABS sensor causing the problem.

Haldex is electro/mechanical.

[Yertis]

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex. Haldex only transfers drive to the rear wheels when the fronts slip. You can get uprated controllers for around £600 which puts more bias to the rear faster.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Don't you mean quattro is true 4WD? TorSen is a (very clever) way of transferring power to wheels with grip. My Quattro hasn't got TorSen.

[cuprabob]

Yertis said:

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex. Haldex only transfers drive to the rear wheels when the fronts slip. You can get uprated controllers for around £600 which puts more bias to the rear faster.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Don't you mean quattro is true 4WD? TorSen is a (very clever) way of transferring power to wheels with grip. My Quattro hasn't got TorSen.

My uderstanding was that all the inline Audis with quattro used TorSen in the centre diff but I may be wrong

Edited by cuprabob on Monday 12th July 15:28

[cuprabob]

cuprabob said:

Yertis said:

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex. Haldex only transfers drive to the rear wheels when the fronts slip. You can get uprated controllers for around £600 which puts more bias to the rear faster.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Don't you mean quattro is true 4WD? TorSen is a (very clever) way of transferring power to wheels with grip. My Quattro hasn't got TorSen.

My uderstanding was that all the inline Audis with quattro used TorSen from 1987 in the centre diff but I may be wrong

Edited by cuprabob on Monday 12th July 15:28

[cuprabob]

cuprabob said:

cuprabob said:

Yertis said:

cuprabob said:

S3 has Haldex. Haldex only transfers drive to the rear wheels when the fronts slip. You can get uprated controllers for around £600 which puts more bias to the rear faster.

Torsen is true 4WD as found on larger Audis

Don't you mean quattro is true 4WD? TorSen is a (very clever) way of transferring power to wheels with grip. My Quattro hasn't got TorSen.

My uderstanding was that all the inline Audis with quattro used TorSen from 1987 in the centre diff but I may be wrong

I assume you are referring to the Ur Quattro that doesn't have Torsen as opposed to quattro.

The importance of the capital Q in Quattro

Edited by cuprabob on Monday 12th July 15:28

[Yertis]

Yes, the thing is that it can be quattro permanent 4WD without having TorSen. TorSen is cool, but the non-TorSen system has it's own charms and there are some odd-bods out there who claim to prefer it.