RE: Alternative to Quaife? Why not?

["Neal Tovsen" <sixteen.volt@gte.net>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> [mailto:owner-scirocco-l@scirocco.org]On Behalf Of DIUTLEY@aol.com
> Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2000 7:14 PM
> To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> Subject: Alternative to Quaife? Why not?
>
>
> Okay, I understand that at least for of you feel that it is not up to the
> Quaife, but no one told me why.  If it is that the Velocity kit
> does indeed
> lock it up at 80%, how much more is more?  If the Quaife does
> lock up 100%
> under load, then there is a 20% difference between the two, but
> is that worth
> $1000+?  I still feel that I am missing something here.........

I could be wrong here, but here's my understanding:

The Velocity kit creates a "limited slip" differential, while the Quaife is
a "torque biasing" differential. There is a big difference here in how they
handle wheel spin. A normal differential will send power to the wheel with
the **least** resistance, which unfortunately is the wheel that has the
least traction!

When one wheel starts spinning with a Velocity-modified diff, it will
literally act to lock up the differential (up to 80% or whatever) to try to
keep this from happening. Essentially the torque will be applied almost
evenly to both wheels, regardless of which is spinning. The upside is that
more power is going to the wheel that actually has traction, but the
downside is that the wheel that is spinning still has over half the power
going to it, and this is wasted power. Further, you have reduced steering
response because your differential is essentially rendered inoperable. Not a
big deal for a drag car, but will cause lots of understeer on a
autocross/road course.

The Quaife differential is designed to put power to where the traction *is*
(opposite from a stock diff), while still allowing as much differential
action as possible (opposite from the Velocity kit). It never "locks-up" the
differential, and it never wastes power on a spinning wheel. If one wheel
has completely lost traction, virtually ALL of the power is sent to the
other wheel, and (ideally) no power is wasted trying to spin the wheel that
doesn't have any traction. In theory, this is the ideal situation, and
supposedly the Quaife comes pretty damn close to perfection.

To those in the know: is this a good/correct explanation? To David: Is this
clear? I hope so on both accounts. I have a couple friends who are very
happy with the Velocity kit considering how inexpensive it is. If you have a
stock or mild motor, this might be just fine for you. Assuming that I
eventually start working on my engine (someday when the rest of the car is
nailed-down) I'm gonna save my money for a Quaife...

Neal
88 16v


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