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Thread: Welded Diff's & Trackdays

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    Guest chrispy's Avatar
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    Welded Diff's & Trackdays

    Hi guys,

    I've got a 4.3 welded diff to go into my S14a which i am building as a track car.

    I bought the welded diff as i wanted to try one as my VLSD was a bit weak.

    But what i want to know is who has used a welded diff in an S-body on a grip Trackday?

    Any good?

    p.s not driven the car with the welded diff yet.

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    Guest mattrbs14's Avatar
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    It's definitely do-able but not the nicest ,with a welded diff unless your stepping the back out intentionally ie drifting then the car just wants to go straight the whole time.
    I took mine round donington and it felt like it was actually under steering with a welded diff (barely legal tyres didn't help)
    For drifting yes ,for track days no

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    Guest Steve_20085's Avatar
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    Tried it once and that was enough, if your driving it properly then the back will be too twitchy entering corners and it'll lock up whether you want it to or not, I'm genuinely surprised I didn't get black flagged and pulled off, track days aren't really about skidding round corners as I'm sure you know and a lot of people on the track weren't a fan of it.

    If you want a diff for a grip car then buy a proper one, I guarantee if you do one track day with it you'll take it back out.

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    Guest zeppelin101's Avatar
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    I thought it was brilliant in my 180. Just ran slightly lower tyres pressures at the front and a little more at the back and bumped the damping up on the rears a touch as well.

    Little bit of understeer on the way in, but with a bit of an adjustment to your line then you can get on the power sooner and neutralise it without going fully sideways everywhere. Just because it's welded doesn't mean you're always going to be on the lock stops.

    Try it. If you don't like it, sell it and get something else. Personally I won't be swapping out for a "normal" diff any time soon.

    Not everyone likes their cars to behave the same way (on track) so the best thing to do is try stuff out for yourself imo...

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    I thought mine was ok

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    Guest Stevecarter200's Avatar
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    IIRC plenty of BTCC cars used to run welded diffs back in the day. You just need to change set up and driving style to suit. I never found it a problem when I had a welder.
    I'm NOT the Chairman anymore, Ken was. He still likes poo though. Its not Jim either now. Ooh ooh, its now Doc!
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    Guest Daz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveCarter200 View Post
    IIRC plenty of BTCC cars used to run welded diffs back in the day. You just need to change set up and driving style to suit. I never found it a problem when I had a welder.
    Wasn't that before LSD's were invented?

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    Guest zeppelin101's Avatar
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    V8 Supercars in Aus still use Spool diffs IIRC which are the posh version of a welder.

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    Guest Daz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zeppelin101 View Post
    V8 Supercars in Aus still use Spool diffs IIRC which are the posh version of a welder.
    I didn't realise that. Just found this talking about it.

    IIRC, the trade off is traction and no torque steer vs. understeer and scrub. In the case of the Sierra, it made them far more predictable and driveable on boost, allowing the power to be applied earlier in the corners. It turned the cars into point and squirt machines where the best technique was to square off the corners as much as possible. This advantage was deemed greater than the tyre preservation and lesser turn-in understeer of an LSD.

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    Guest Stevecarter200's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daz View Post
    Wasn't that before LSD's were invented?
    Im fairly sure LSDs were invented before the 80s.
    I'm NOT the Chairman anymore, Ken was. He still likes poo though. Its not Jim either now. Ooh ooh, its now Doc!
    Blue '89 S13, 362 bhp, slowly getting more battered. Spec

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    Anyone who's car just 'wants to go straight on' with a welder, has shit tyres and/or alignment.

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    Self confessed player of the pink oboe docwra's Avatar
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    Aye, its a much better bet than a standard diff IMO.
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    Guest chrispy's Avatar
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    Some interesting points here.

    I'll deffently try the welder then as i'm getting new tryes for the front & getting the car set up properly geo wise.

    Cant wait to get it back on the road!

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    Guest Dave270r's Avatar
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    Lots of old racing cars ran locked diffs. As you can see from some posts, we are back to killing nuns in bus stops and murdering children

    You may need to adjust alignment, tyre pressure or driving style to suit.

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    Guest immy21's Avatar
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    I was unexpectedly surprised as I quite liked mine on track, it created a very predictable, playable and adjustable chassis. Medium acceleration or off throttle gave a nice very mild push from the rear, gentle throttle gave a very mild push from the front. I'm sure car setup plays a big role, not sure why but it worked well on my car. I detested the welder on road though so got rid.

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    Guest M200sex's Avatar
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    Don't do it; you'll die upside down on fire

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    Guest michelin's Avatar
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    I used a welded diff for 2 years in the nippon challenge. All it does is snap out a little under braking no big deal once you know its going to do it.

  18. #18
    Guest BLAKTOOTH's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by michelin View Post
    I used a welded diff for 2 years in the nippon challenge. All it does is snap out a little under braking no big deal once you know its going to do it.
    Just stumbled upon this thread. My experience with a Kaaz 2 way is it behaved very much like a welded diff and acted as described by Michelin. The on/off nature of it was fine on acceleration but caught me out a few times on deceleration. Lifting off mid corner on hot tyres meant the car would snap sideways like somebody had ripped up the handbrake, scary. The Kaaz was just too damn aggressive for my liking. I'm pretty sure it could've been setup better with less active plates but I wanted a 1.5 way that wasn't so agricultural so splashed out on an OS Giken beauty. I haven't tested it on track yet but it behaves very nicely on the street. You wouldn't know it was there it's so quiet and well mannered. It's also been setup with less lock so shouldn't try to kill me like the previous one did. Proper setup, in my opinion, is crucial. All of these aftermarket LSD's regardless of 1.5 or 2 way come with far too much loading. This might be fine for the drifters and the 1000bhp+ Race cars but it's too much for the average driver in a moderate powered, circuit driven, track steed. Just my 2 cents.

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