Advice from Quaife (or other ATB / LSD) owners please

[muckipup]

You will still get understeer, but you now have the ability to use the power to pull the car round the corner.  You do have to change your driving style and it will take you a while to get used to the diff when using the power when you usually wouldnt be able to.

Thanks Alex - just out of curiosity, did you have a UK source for the Peloquin diffs?

It just so happens that Backdraft Motorsport are Peloquin agents. 
http://www.backdraftmotorsport.com/shop-vag-2.0tfsi/atb-differential-for-2.0-tfsi-6-speed-maual-02q/flypage.tpl.html

Silly me - should have checked that! 

[vRSAlex]

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Just out of curiosity (not about to change from my Quaife), do Peloquin offer a DSG version yet?

Yes they do.  2wd and 4wd.

[QD MBE]

I had a Quaife fitted.

It is a great mod, however Quaife have an excellent and very strong reputation, and this led to a very round the houses diagnosis to a diff problem (it was basically clunking when taking the drive up)

Happy with the reputation, but a Flywheel, engine mounts (full set) were changed under a VW warranty (good service manager) before their agent decided to give my diagnosis a bit of credence.............  No great diagnosis, just the clunk was there as soon as they had fitted the diff!

Had a few other problems along the way, caused by a shoddy refit of the gearbox.  (good job I know how to repair looms)

New diff fitted, and all was sorted! 

[Janner_Sy]

if straight line is your tracton and your lightly wary of getting over steer then i reckon your best bet is to get some top end tyres.  By top end im thinking the new R1R or these new Michelin supersport tyres when they are released.  This is initially cheaper but over a few years and miles they will need replacing more often.  For ultimate tyre grip mileage has to be sacrificed.

the problem is though tyres are a consumable, if you could get an LSD and then go for a slightly less extreme tyre like the PS2, eagle F1 and have a similar amount of grip.  this will be more initially expensive, but you consumables will not need changing so often.  so in the long run i think this is the sensible option

[RedRobin]

the problem is though tyres are a consumable, if you could get an LSD and then go for a slightly less extreme tyre like the PS2, eagle F1 and have a similar amount of grip.  this will be more initially expensive, but you consumables will not need changing so often.  so in the long run i think this is the sensible option

....That's interesting and something I hadn't thought about. My tyres (GY and Dunlop Asymmetrics) seem to be lasting longer and I couldn't understand why.

[danishmkvgti]

the problem is though tyres are a consumable, if you could get an LSD and then go for a slightly less extreme tyre like the PS2, eagle F1 and have a similar amount of grip.  this will be more initially expensive, but you consumables will not need changing so often.  so in the long run i think this is the sensible option

....That's interesting and something I hadn't thought about. My tyres (GY and Dunlop Asymmetrics) seem to be lasting longer and I couldn't understand why.

RR i think that Janner refers to soft tyres without LSD will need replacing more often than harder tyres and LSD, not as the LSD makes your tyres last longer.

[Janner_Sy]

the problem is though tyres are a consumable, if you could get an LSD and then go for a slightly less extreme tyre like the PS2, eagle F1 and have a similar amount of grip.  this will be more initially expensive, but you consumables will not need changing so often.  so in the long run i think this is the sensible option

....That's interesting and something I hadn't thought about. My tyres (GY and Dunlop Asymmetrics) seem to be lasting longer and I couldn't understand why.

RR i think that Janner refers to soft tyres without LSD will need replacing more often than harder tyres and LSD, not as the LSD makes your tyres last longer.

coorect.  soft compount ulrqa high performance tyres such as the toyo R1R would give very good grip, but wouldnt last that long.  Using an LSD and a slightly harder compound tyre, you could get similar grip/traction levels but with cheaper tyres that will last longer

[muckipup]

I have decided to go for the LSD when time and finances allow - my commute with all its twists and some tight twists in dips cries out for a LSD and I am reassured that the LSD does not remove all the understeer/feel for traction. It is still very much a 'luxury' item for me though.

What I have been very surprised about is the difference in prices between UK distributors of Peloquin or Quaife ATBs and particularly the difference compared to USA prices. Also, where a Quaife may be more expensive in the UK than Peloquin, a look at APTuning.com in the USA shows Quaife to be cheaper. I don't get that given that Peloquin are US and Quaife are UK    I will probably visit the US in the next few months and have an engineer friend over there who regularly comes to the UK so I may chance it.

the problem is though tyres are a consumable, if you could get an LSD and then go for a slightly less extreme tyre like the PS2, eagle F1 and have a similar amount of grip.  this will be more initially expensive, but you consumables will not need changing so often.  so in the long run i think this is the sensible option

That's a very fair point, Sy. It is certainly the sensible option for me as I do a 60 mile round trip each working day and a fair bit at weekends - I'd be changing tyres like my underwear (i.e. once a month  ) if I went for the extreme performance options. I have also decided that I will be doing the summer tyre / winter tyre thing given recent experience with say PS3s or Sessantas and Wintracs. The latter may not be a performance thing but I value keeping the car on the road.

I currently have Vredestein Ultrac Centos on the car which are very much summer tyres imho - they were a bit 'lollopy' and non-confidence inspiring until I put a few more psi in them but they have soft sidewalls to accomodate some 2012 EU tyre noise regulation. Unfortunately, like others, when the temperature went below about 5 celsius the rubber hardened up and became were uncompliant. Great summer tyres though and the grip may even beat the Sessantas despite still being a bit less confidence inspiring.

[djhorace]

I had a Wavetrac in mine and it was good, but i would advise against the outlay unless you absolutely want to rag the tits off it on a track.

Yes on a road it will help pull you out of a roundabout or corner on a dry day, but it will remove the steering on a wet day under hard accelaration at lower speeds in a lower gear when you lose traction. More than once I ended up on the other side of the road as a result of this happening when I first had it fitted. Yes you work around this, but its not all a bed of roses with an LSD.

[vRSAlex]

I had a Wavetrac in mine and it was good, but i would advise against the outlay unless you absolutely want to rag the tits off it on a track.

Yes on a road it will help pull you out of a roundabout or corner on a dry day, but it will remove the steering on a wet day under hard accelaration at lower speeds in a lower gear when you lose traction. More than once I ended up on the other side of the road as a result of this happening when I first had it fitted. Yes you work around this, but its not all a bed of roses with an LSD.

I have to say that it is a great addition to a road car for road use.  I believe the Wavetrack to be quite a harsh diff and takes alot to get used to it.  In the wet you do have to have good throttle control, but once mastered you will have loads of fun.



Dont forget to factor in that the Quaife doesnt come with bolts or bearings which can add another £100 or so onto the price.  Peloqions comes with ARP bolts and bearings.  PM me for a quote on a Peloquins if you want.

[djhorace]

From the experience I have (driven cars with Quaiffe, Peolquin and Wavetrac), the Wavetrac is the most superior of the three based on snatchiness/harshness. In addition, the technology behind it appears to be the most advanced (good information on their website).

I agree you have to master the LSD, and I did, but you have to be careful too - worst case on an open diff is wheelspin. Limited Slip Diff when it does let go will have the car continue in the direction momentum was taking it before it broke traction in my experience (hence why you need to master it  )

[muckipup]

I had a Wavetrac in mine and it was good, but i would advise against the outlay unless you absolutely want to rag the tits off it on a track.

Yes on a road it will help pull you out of a roundabout or corner on a dry day, but it will remove the steering on a wet day under hard accelaration at lower speeds in a lower gear when you lose traction. More than once I ended up on the other side of the road as a result of this happening when I first had it fitted. Yes you work around this, but its not all a bed of roses with an LSD.

Ahhh, now this is the response that I was both expecting and worried about as it balances with the theory of how I thought and LSD might react going round a corner in the wet i.e. inside slipping in the wet, outside ok then LSD throws power to the outside, result of outside breaks traction and we're in the ditch on the far side of the corner   whereas the early understeer would have given warning, been easily controlled and allowed for a bit of easing off.

Dont forget to factor in that the Quaife doesnt come with bolts or bearings which can add another £100 or so onto the price.  Peloqions comes with ARP bolts and bearings.  PM me for a quote on a Peloquins if you want.

That's a fair point Alex, I forgot to add ARP bolts to the Quaife cost which stretches the UK price differential further.

...and thanks for the offer re. Peloquin. However, the post from djhorace has really got me thinking now. At 41 years old, I am hardly an inexperienced driver but would never pretend to have the skills of a racing driver! On saying that, it may be a bit academic as I never rag it around corners in the wet on public roads as I am aware of my limitations

[danishmkvgti]

Don't get scared of  a LSD, as everything else you need to learn it's quirks. At 41 you must have tried to master more than one of the female spieces; not being able to read the first one right hasn't put you off trying to understand the next right??    

Just drive as the conditions allows. At an age of 42 i still try to learn more, within a fortnight i'm taking a course in winterdriving in the golf to learn more about it, just get cracking mate  

[djhorace]

What you learn with an LSD is that the throttle is not an on/off switch

I would sooner have four wheel drive though and am pretty annoyed with myself now for buying another car with the same set up as the last one.

[muckipup]

What you learn with an LSD is that the throttle is not an on/off switch

I learned that very quickly with the K04 turbo!