Anyone used a welded diff on the road?

[Chris71]

Just curious really. I was speaking to a friend who runs a sports car team the other day and he mentioned they quite often run 'spools' at Le Mans, so it's clearly not just oiks in Maccy D car parks!

Has anyone on here regularly used a car with a welded diff on the road?

[GWMD]

Not quite the same, but my Silvia has a 2-way on it. Ok it can be a pain when parking, but you soon get used to it.

[SystemParanoia]

yes, had an s12 sylvia that i drove sideways EVERYWHERE when i was younger.

parking was weird as one wheel would skip about but at high speeds it was fine.

very drifty loved it

[Captain Muppet]

I've got a welded diff in my MX5, used it on the road, even used it for months on end as a commuting hack. I've had it like that for 5 years.

There is some irritating wheel hop at car park speeds, and wet roundabouts are sometimes catastrophically understeery, but at higher speed and under hard cornering its not really noticable. Traction is excellent and it's very controlable during oversteer. In normal driving it's only the parking wheel hop that you'd notice.

If I hadn't bought the car for drifting* I'd prefer a diff with some slip, but a welder is £500 cheaper than a plate diff, and arguably just as good.

MOT have been no problem - it's been passed at several places. I've always told them about the diff just in case. My Silvia also had a welder in it, and it suffered less with wheel hop and was also fine the rest of the time.

* not in car parks but in national level competitions at real race tracks.

[rohrl]

Pablo Escobar used to tool around Medellin in a full-house Le Mans Porsche 935 before the inevitable happened and they had a solid rear axle so it must be possible.

[Captain Muppet]

rohrl said:

Pablo Escobar used to tool around Medellin in a full-house Le Mans Porsche 935 before the inevitable happened and they had a solid rear axle so it must be possible.

Yes, it must be possible.

>drives home in a car with a welded diff<

[Chris71]

Hmmm, sounds quite entertaining.

Seen a few cheap E36s going round. I wasn't sure if they'd cope with low speed driving, but doesn't appear to be too big an issue.

Just pipe dreaming - even at less than a grand for some of these examples I can't really justify it, but I'm growing increasingly desperate for a RWD fix with the 924 and the TVR both off the road.

[SooperDan]

I had one in my old E30 (was only a weedy 318i though). Only became a bit of a burden in the winter months but in every day driving I didn't even feel the difference.

[OdramaSwimLaden]

rohrl said:

Pablo Escobar used to tool around Medellin in a full-house Le Mans Porsche 935 before the inevitable happened.

More than likely a present from the American government; give him this, he'll kill himself!

[rohrl]

Here's a PH link re Escobar's Porsche.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=851...

[rottie102]

I have it in my 200SX. It's ok at higher speeds but for a daily driver - I wouldn't recommend it.

[s m]

Chris71 said:

Just curious really. I was speaking to a friend who runs a sports car team the other day and he mentioned they quite often run 'spools' at Le Mans, so it's clearly not just oiks in Maccy D car parks!

Dick Johnson Approved!

[Captain Muppet]

Chris71 said:

Hmmm, sounds quite entertaining.

Seen a few cheap E36s going round. I wasn't sure if they'd cope with low speed driving, but doesn't appear to be too big an issue.

Just pipe dreaming - even at less than a grand for some of these examples I can't really justify it, but I'm growing increasingly desperate for a RWD fix with the 924 and the TVR both off the road.

I drove an E36 with a welder in it a few weeks agos. I got third place at an autotest in it, so it seemed to cope just fine.