Quaife Or 3J On Road Car

[vossy 0]

The Quaife is more than up to the job. I had one in my 106 and it transformed the car at Combe.

It will pull you around a bit on the road, but not to a dangerous amount.

Fit and forget.

For a road car that will do a couple of track sessions a year, the plate would be overkill.

[wicked 103 3 Cars]

For a N/A Gti6 road car, I tend to prefer a Quaiffe; doesn't need servicing, has no clunking, you don't notice it while parking and does the job.

The boosted engines I refer to have ~250lb/ft kicking in when you floor it; by nature more unstable than a N/A engine.

[blandy 29]

Rather than start another thread. I have a gti6 engine with no powersteering and a quaife quick rack so steering is very heavy at low speeds but the car is only used on track so low speed is minimal mainly manovering in and out of garage and onto trailer etc.

would a plate diff make a huge difference to the steering or should I go quaife?

 

Having never driven with a diff before I'm sure either will be a improvement but I'm guessing long term the plate diff will give the best results but will it make me steering unbearable?

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

Plate diff and power steering

[blandy 29]

Trouble is I like the quick rack so I'd have to fit a xsara rack to get close to what I have + all the extra pipe work, pump etc which won't be cheap I guess.

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Do it once do it right!

 

If you put a Quaife in anything with more than about 150ftlb you'll be taking it back out for a plate anyway.

 

Al is spot on above.

[blandy 29]

Do it once do it right!

 

If you put a Quaife in anything with more than about 150ftlb you'll be taking it back out for a plate anyway.

 

Al is spot on above.

That's ecactky what I want to achieve. Is it likely to be that bad without power steering though? Even at a lighter setting?

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

It will fair drag the car about even on lightweight, that's from personal experience on my red car with 211 ftlb

[alync406 4]

You could fit electric power steering, saves having to change the rack and everything.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

I've run plate diffs with no pas and it's ok, however power steering will make the car far more enjoyable to drive and faster. Can be done very cheaply too, especially with a quaiffe quick rack to sell on....

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

The amount of plate diff's I have installed, Mainly 3J and people wonder why they even bothered fitting the ATB which says it all

[blandy 29]

Whats the price like between the 2?

[Ams 23 1 Cars]

Blandy a 3J and Quaife ATB are closely matched price wise (around £6-700 depending on the vendor). I've had only one previous front drive car with an ATB diff (a TRD unit) and I liked it primarily because it was free. But given the choice of spending around £6-700, a plated LSD is what I'd go for everytime because it outperforms an ATB diff hands down when driving with a purpose. However an ATB diff beats a plated LSD for hardcore parking action.

 

 

[dcc 855]

Had a 2.4 turn rack with plate diff and no pas. Was difficult to park. Fitted pas and no longer have any issues, but it does catch you out sometimes with the diff snatching and you not expecting it due to the pas

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

I find that PAS helps take a lot of the snatchyness away, kinda acts as a steering damper.

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

As long as you are not a chimpanzee and can feel what the car is going then it's no problem. You can feel when the diff is locked solid, at that point you need to lift your right foot slightly to regain effective steering!

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

Lift???

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

When in doubt, flat out!

[Biggles 65]

Lift???

:D

[Ams 23 1 Cars]

Forgot to add that my 205 is also a road car and I had 2.6 turn PAS installed along with the 3J LSD (from advice on this board) which indeed makes it very easy to live with whether daily driving or driving hard. Like Allen said the PAS acts as a damper so I don't feel any negative steering feedback from the LSD at all, the car just nicely pulls into the corner when the LSD is locked during cornering which feels great. It's configured to 50/90 ramp angle with 25/35 lbs/ft preload.

To counter clunking from the LSD clutch pack slipping during low speed tight turns/parking I just tactfully dip the clutch pedal during manoeuvering, you get used to this in no time. Certain MTFs/ friction modifiers can soften the clonking to a less pronounced chatter. I was initially using Fuchs Sintofluid (noisy) but recently I switched to Total BV and it's much quieter.

[blandy 29]

So the general consensus is to fit a 3j but would need p/s to cope with it? which probably means waiting to afford to do both lol

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Lift???

Yeah, you know, that thing you do in the Proton when you have a wheel on the verge and the diff tried to drag you into a ditch...

[Anthony 1,003]

So the general consensus is to fit a 3j but would need p/s to cope with it? which probably means waiting to afford to do both lol

You don't need PAS but it's beneficial.

 

It's not a 3J, but I ran a Tran-X on my daily driver 205 for a year or two and that was fine despite not having PAS. You certainly needed to keep both hands on the wheel when pressing on, particularly in lower gears with lots of steering lock wound on, but it was never overly snatchy or unruly with the diff set to the milder settings.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

Yeah, you know, that thing you do in the Proton when you have a wheel on the verge and the diff tried to drag you into a ditch...

 

Edited that as it was too offensive and I love you really!

 

The open diff is nice when you're up to silly speeds though!!!

Edited May 26, 2015 by allanallen