Date:         Sun, 30 May 2004 23:27:13 +1200
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:      Re: no VW sports cars?  Brakes!
In-Reply-To:  <40B9149C.17533.1F6BDC@localhost>
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>re Dauphine with 4-w disc brakes.
>
>I'm surprised.  I shouldn't have mentioned the Dauphine since I'm not really
>familiar with it, but the reason I did is the memory of a fatal accident
>(early 60's).  It was late one night in France and the Dauphine passed me
>going like hell in a mountainous area.  A bit later I came upon the accident
>where he had apparently failed to make a curve.
>
>Odds are it was his error but at the time, I remember the general feeling
>was that the Dauphine was a wanna-be sports car and people were going to be
>killed in them trying to drive like it was.  But perhaps that was wrong.

The Dauphine was a suprisingly sophisticated wee car. Like all
rear-engined VWs, it had IRS. But I'm not sure how well that renault
swingaxle worked... perhaps this was that particular car's undoing.

To my knowledge only VW, Porsche & Mercedes managed to get swingaxles
right. The others (Skoda, Triumph, Hino, not sure about Tatra)
certainly didn't. Fiat's so-called 850 Sport (actually a 903) could
never decide whether to oversteer or skate the front end in corners...
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut