Quaife Diff First Impressions

[Peter H]

Quaife diff is in my FiST (installed at Skyline Ford in Salem - thanks for the good work!) and first impressions after a week in the wet and dry - OMG! It’s like the car is reading my mind, as I accelerate hard out of a tight turn there’s a strange sensation in the steering, light years beyond the OE torque vectoring, and as I get on the power there's no wheel spin, just total hookup, the car begging for more. When I first felt the diff through the steering my instinct said "torque steer", but I instantly realized that it was working with me, that it wasn't something to counteract.

The $3k total price tag (parts + labor) was steep, but I just had to take the car to the next level after investing in a tune, suspension, wheels, and tires. Plus I've read about LSD's since I was a teenager and had never experienced one myself. Now the car feels like there's nothing I could throw at it that would faze it - a game changer for sure!

 

[OneFord]

Awesome!

How long did the install take?

That's always my concern is the downtime.

 

[kivnul]

Mine took the shop about 2 days all said and one. Probably 11 hours of shop time. Also, pre-purchase all the bolts & parts ahead of time. I had an incomplete list, and some bolts are pretty spendy at Ford rates.

 

[OneFord]

Did you drop the trans yourself and bring it to the shop?

 

[jeffreylyon]

Just a PSA: Mitch from cp-e does the install on a pulled gearbox for ~ $300. I'm in the market for a used box right now to ship to him.

 

[OneFord]

Just a PSA: Mitch from cp-e does the install on a pulled gearbox for ~ $300. I'm in the market for a used box right now to ship to him.

Good to know!

Thanks for sharing

 

[Dpro]

Just a PSA: Mitch from cp-e does the install on a pulled gearbox for ~ $300. I'm in the market for a used box right now to ship to him.

Thats a good deal. If my mileage was not so low I would go for it. I am going to stick to someone local.

 

[kivnul]

I just dropped off the car with a hatch full of parts. They had to drop the transmission.

 

[Peter H]

How long did the install take?

Yeah, just under 2 days (dealer had estimated 12 hours labor). I had the diff and install kit drop shipped to them a week early so their techs could go over everything beforehand.

 

[flbchbm]

Somebody buy my motorcycle and all the gear so I can do this!

 

[Akumu]

Somebody buy my motorcycle and all the gear so I can do this!

What do you ride? Tired of dodging cagers with people with their faces buried in their phones? But that part so much fun...

 

[MRX330]

Good to hear you feel it on the streets. Some have installed a lsd and have commented it’s only value is on the track

 

[flbchbm]

What do you ride? Tired of dodging cagers with people with their faces buried in their phones? But that part so much fun...

2005 Suzuki Vstrom DL 1000. Adventure Touring...52 liter tail trunk. Givi side cases, blsck powder coating on leo vince exhaust, pegs, shifter and brake. Tons of farkles, jackets, pants, helmets, gloves, etc. Trailer included. OLD pic attached.

 

[slowcord]

Thats a good deal. If my mileage was not so low I would go for it. I am going to stick to someone local.

I remember reading M-Factory would do it for you. They wont pull it for you, but you can take the transmission to them and they can install.

 

[jeffreylyon]

Good to hear you feel it on the streets. Some have installed a lsd and have commented it’s only value is on the track

I would think that an LSD would be better on the street than on the track. At PittRace there are two turns that I have to roll out of or I'll have problems with traction (6 and 18). The rest of the time I can pretty much drop the hammer on the exit.

I'm sure that an LSD moves you into God-mode on an A/C course.

 

[TDavis]

Making me want an LSD even more

 

[shouldbeasy]

I'm very excited for the winter when I can put the car down for a bit and get the Quaife installed. I really hope the snow manners will be improved.

Good to hear it's noticeable right away, it does seem like you have to drive it a bit more 'spiritedly' for the full effect. Something which a few drivers are hesitant of and therefore think it's a track only mod. The corner exits are where I hope it's most evident.

 

[briandee]

A mechanical LSD is on my most wanted list. How well do they help with wet weather and snow conditions? I have a few places on my commute to and from work that one tire will hydroplane during wet weather and cause a nervous sensation. Does a LSD help in this type of senario? As in, I can just drive through the situation vs let off.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[kivnul]

From my limited hydroplaning experience so far with a LSD: it helps not one bit.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

When I was doing a Dodge SRT track day experience (one of the most fun dealer-provided events I have ever been to!) I ran into one of my old instructors from Skip Barber. One thing we noticed with the 2003 SRT4's on the autocross was that you could basically keep one tire smoking the entire way around the course due to the open diff (and we unofficially competed to see who could get the longest one-wheel-peel) - one of the "students" was talking about how his times would be "way better" with an LSD and that the car was holding him back, and I heard some of the best words of advice ever on the subject. One of the instructors (turned out he was one of my instructors at skip barber!) said "you think an LSD is going to make you a superstar on the track, but it's not. With your level of experience it's only going to turn little mistakes into big mistakes". It was totally savage, but now that I look back, it was totally right. The LSD *does* help a lot, but it also drastically narrows the "oopsie zone" where you can make a mistake and recover. Once I bought an SRT4 (the following year, with LSD) and started autocrossing it, I noticed two things. 1) the steering was way too slow for autocrossing, and 2) he was right. Instead of a tire braking loose to tell you to ease up, the car would understeer severely and suddenly, snowplowing through cones.

That was my long way of saying, anyone doing an LSD install - just be careful, you have to kinda re-learn how to drive the car.