BEN99W Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 The concensus on this boards seems to be that the Quaffe LSD is vastly superior to the Sierra LSDs. However it also looks like it would be a significantly more costly alternative as Sierra units seem to be about a hundred quid. Why is it favoured so much? (Is it just that everyone on here works for Quaffe?) Quote
furtive Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 And to extend that question, if I've got the Escort diff in the Westfield housing, is the Quaife internals the only (best?) way to go? Quote
chazpowerslide Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 And what's wrong with the Seirra LSD Quote
Blatman Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 You guys need to do a search. The various diff options have been extensively explained on a few occassions. A summation would be; Quaife ATB (for either Sierra or Escort diffs, there's a unit to suit each) Fit and forget. No clutch pack to wear out, no special oil to use. Quiet, efficient, and easiest to control, (IMO) when the going gets tough, because it's infinitely self adjusting. No empirical evidence of the most talked about problem of possible aggro if you lift a driven wheel, then land heavily. Plate type diff. Noisy, need careful setting up (pre-loading), will wear out clutch packs, needs specific LSD oil. Expect to have to strip it and fit new bits every so often. Improperly adjusted/pre-loaded diffs can cause understeer. Boggo Sierra diff is IME OK. Some have reported problems with wearing out the viscous unit that controls the LSD action, but I have never actually seen or heard of some-one having to replace a diff because of this problem. I stand to be corrected (almost immediately, no doubt) on that. Quote
Nick M Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Well, not quite immediately.... The only one I know of which was sent to the great scrapyard in the sky was one that Windy was using a few years ago in his yellow Westfield. Other than that I think they stand up pretty well. The one thing I would say is that, in terms of feel, the standard viscous diff and the Quaiffe unit are worlds apart. I was taken for a couple of rides round a wet Brands Hatch and the first car had a viscous diff. You could feel it working, but it lacked finesse. The next car had the Quaiffe LSD (escort one, so not quite the same) but it was *soooo* much more progressive and a lot smoother. I was umming and ahhing over plate type or ATB but I know which one it will be now, and it won't have plates in it..... Quote
Mark Stanton Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 and for Furtive - if you got the Westfield casing with escort diff - bite the bullet and get yourself an ATB Quote
Nick M Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 bite the bullet and get yourself an ATB And double the value of your car in the process Quote
steve_m Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Blatman, Dax have had a viscous diff burn out on their 350bhp demo car but that has seen some abuse and the diff wasn't designed to cope with that much power anyway. Once I've built my car I'd be interested to see what difference there is between the ZF plate LSD I've got and a Quaife ATB. Everybody tells me the plate diff will be noisey and a bit of a handful on the road - it's got me worried now ! Phil Stuart said all the c******m challenge (?) cars use plate diffs so I took his advice and got one. Never driven with a LSD before except a road car, 3 series BMW - whatever they have. Anybody think I've made a mistake ? Quote
Blatman Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 So that's 2 confirmed burnouts of Sierra viscous diffs. How many are out there? How many on Westfields/c******m's/Dax's/Sylva's/any other kit car that uses them? I'm feeling quite confident........... If it's mostly for track use, then diff (or any other) noise won't be an issue. If it's a road car with a few track days a year, then it may be more troublesome. A c******m challenge car is supposed to be a road car that you race, IIRC, but I don't recall seeing that many being driven to L7Club meets or events, and I go to quite a few. They mostly get trailered around, raced, then put away again, as far as I can tell. One thing for sure is that you WILL have to have a plate type diff out, and fettle it, from time to time. An ATB you won't. Quote
markboyce Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 blatters, Not wanting to keep quoting; but Phils words were along the lines of " you remove a lsd diff out of a seirra that has done 120k miles and expect it to work like new" The scrappers one I got hold of was ok ish when I put it in, although after 16 trackdays it was totally shot and acting like an open diff. The replacement I got hold of was also shot, so I then gave up with them. Main problem with the standard ford fitment lsd is refurbing costs so much money, special fluid for the plates isnt easy to get hold of, plus cleaning everything out etc its easier for the company selling you a diff to recommend something else! Hence I went with the Quaife ATB unit, fit and forget; until you decide to change diff ratios again! No regrets however, works very well IMHO. cheers mark Quote
Blatman Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 Don't mind being told I'm wrong........and I stil can't believe the stupidity of anyone who thinks that a diff with 120,000 miles on it is going to last as long as a new one, but few people give this sort of thing a second thought when spending out on their "cheap" slippy diff, then come out saying that Sierra diffs are crap/will break etc etc, leading to the urban myth that a boggo Sierra LSD is not suitable in a Se7en......... Main problem with the standard ford fitment lsd is refurbing costs so much money, special fluid for the plates isnt easy to get hold of Standard Sierra LSD's do not need special oil, and have no plates to re-new. Clutch type LSD's do need special oil (which isn't that hard to get hold of. Any half decent Motorsport supplier will have it), and do have a clutch pack which will wear out at some point. So another vote for the fit an' forget ATB then.....it's the right solution for so many reasons........ Quote
Bananaman Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 Is the Quafie ATB LSD an exchange unit i.e. do you have to have a Sierra diff with the correct ratio & then get the Quafie stuff fitted or do you buy it as a new compleate unit? Any ideas on cost? Who & where to get it done? Andy Quote
Graham Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 Quaife will supply just the diff (i.e. no casing or cwp) for around £500. They don't supply cwp's or casings for the Sierra diff. They wouldn't expect a Sierra diff in exchange. Quaife website Quaife recomended these guys to me... ROAD & RACE TRANSMISSIONS The Bullock Shed Filston Farm Shoreham Kent TN14 5JU United Kingdom Tel: 01959 525105 Fax: 01959 523001 Not used them yet though. Quote
peterg Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 Road & Race Transmissions is Phil Stewart's company and what he doesn't know about Quaife products probably isn't worth knowing - a very helpful guy (who races a C*terham ) he even let me turn up at his house to collect a rebuilt gearbox on a Saturday afternoon as I couldn't get down before then and needed the box back in on the Sunday Quote
markboyce Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 Standard Sierra LSD's do not need special oil, and have no plates to re-new. Yep, I meant the fluid that goes in the actual lsd part. Once contaminated with the oil in the diff used for lubricating the c&p its becomes much less effective and the diff will eventually turn into an open diff. the cost of rectifying this and the availability of the fluid means they get scraped rather than repaired. cheers mark Quote
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