Intricacies of driving an S2

[Ross]

Well I figured it would be of interest (at least to me) to hear some technical jargon and probably examples of those braver than myself on the open roa- I mean, private test track - explain some good Quattro driving techniques...

just seems that sometimes under power it understeers like a dog and other times you get that awesome feeling of the back trying to step out a little and the front dragging it in the desired direction and I'm wondering if there's some technique to getting it 'right'? Any ex-quattro rally drivers here?

[dan_b]

I can tell you good track technique, I can't tell you about good rally pendulum techniques for swinging the back end round though!

Slow in, quick out basically, but also brake earlier: if you enter a corner still on the brakes, ie. with the weight transfer still heavily over the front wheels, you'll enter the corner with major pig understeer. Brake a little earlier, come off the brakes earlier and actually re-balance the car back on the trottle: the front end will turn in a little quicker and you can then get on the throttle earlier to accelerate OUT of the corner. If you're also in the right gear, so in the right bit of the rev range (ie. the turbo's around the full boost area) you'll definitely get the lovely rear-end "quattro drift" as you power out of the bend as the weight transfer of acceleration sends more weight, and therefore grip, to the back.

Other ways to "cure" the S2s understeering behaviour? - slap a bigger ARB on the back, bigger tyres on the front and a few 100bhp more, that'll help!

[Jas11n]

Defo agree. The front of the S2 is heavy and braking even very slightly whilst actually entering a corner with a bit of aggression unsettles the car into awful understeer,
As Dan says, get all your braking done quick, settle the car in the corner with the throttle and let the turbo and AWD slingshot you out.
Got a mahooosive roundabout near where I work and I can get the car powersliding at a 45° angle to the road for a hundred yards or so coming off onto it's four exit lanes.
(only do it when coming home from a late shift [11.30pm] and when it's wet -I know I'm a hooligan)
I've an RS2 front arb, and a standard rear. My bro has RS2 front, whiteline rear and his defo wants to swap ends more than mine. But saying that his is also lowered, mines not.

[mcandmar]

Yep like a Porsche, slow in fast out

What works for me on slippy b roads is to drive into the corner like a FWD, light power on and keep the nose tucked in on your line, then just before the apex when it feels just right apply power, think RWD pushing you out of the bend from the back. Do that as hard as you like and enjoy the wonder of 4wd ....or just flick it in and 4 wheel drift

[Fat Audi 80]

I think slow in fast out will work in any situation in any car road or track.

The S2 definitely wants to be "driven" through the corner, and even a stock one has more than enough power push through a bend and bring you out the otherside way faster than you entered. Just watch out of the car coming on boost mid way through the corner in the wet. Even quattro might not get you out of that if you keep your foot in!

Cheers,

Steve