Tran X Vs Quaife Lsd - Which One Into Which 205 ?

[RonnieG 0]

Yup - The more debate we have on this the more I want to put the Tran X into my track car. As I'm doing that first that gives me a month or so to see if I can swap/trade the Quaife for another plate diff and if not I'll just use it this year for Autocrossing etc and then take it from there….

 

Alan - For the first year I ran the Mi16 with Toyo Proxes without baffling, the oil level always slightly over max and no surge issues that I knew of from the std gauge or oil light - Not that saying much cos they take so long to react.With the history of surge issues I installed a mechanical oil pressure guage at the same time as starting to use the Yoko A048's last year. This indicated at 2 bends when pressing on at the Knockhill track in Scotland the pressure was falling to about 5 psi for a couple of seconds so I knew the engine was on borrowed time if I kept that up….I've now bought a baffled Gti6 sump with it's oil temp sender (They're a different thread from the Mi ones) from the Gti6 Forum for £40 delivered and I'm fitting that just now along with a 15mm spacer in the oil pick up pipe and oil pump baffle plate I made too. This will make the oil capacity approx 6.5Ltrs but should make the Mi as resistant to surge as the Gti6. I've also got the Gti6 windage tray but I'm going to save fitting it till later on and just fit it if required. Also planning to fit an 'In your face' 25 psi oil light later on too.

 

JamesR - Trying to work out my best set up for the Tran X for my track 205. I've stripped it apart fully to check/service/suss it out and it looks brilliant - Almost as new with very little, if any, wear on the plates, cross pins, ramps etc. Spoke to Tran X & they have faxed me through a breakdown diagram of the diff. It came with a fully interlevered setup but with no PAS I'm going to go with the lightened build for the plates. Not quite so sure about the ramp angles - Tran X recommended 30/60 but more people on here seem to prefer/changed back to the 45/45 set up so think I'll try that first - I think the 45/45 set up is the less aggressive but it still feels a bit of a 'dark art'….

 

 

I take no-one here has had much experience with a Quaife ATB in Autocross/purely off tarmac conditions ??

[kyepan 291]

I take no-one here has had much experience with a Quaife ATB in Autocross/purely off tarmac conditions ??

if you read their blurb on the Quaife website its seems like its the must have item.

Edited April 3, 2008 by kyepan

[Matt Holley 11]

I found my atb diff hard work when I first fitted it but I really like it now, I have done a few wet track days with it and it did really well, you just load it up and it grips and goes, and on dry days everyone that has been out in it commented on the grip out of the bends.

 

I have never driven a car with a plate diff so maybe when I do I will prefer that but I got my atb diff in a rebuilt mi16 box at a good price so thats what i went for

[tony perks 1]

My opinion Bin the atb, If you want traction then fit a Tran-x, wether for tar or grass, I run a Tran-x with 45/45 ramps and loaded to the max, steering heavy yes but then the castor angles i run................,Also mine not so much clonks but rattles when the oil is cold and the plates grab get on stage for a few miles and its silent.

[Craigb 2]

I've just gone from an ATB to a Tran x and the difference is amazing coming out of corners. The tran X is more direct and launches you forward . The ATB is better than no diff , but as someone else pointed out they do tend to hunt for traction which make them feel a little vague at times

[jonand 0]

I take no-one here has had much experience with a Quaife ATB in Autocross/purely off tarmac conditions ??

 

I've used both in my 200+ bhp autograss racer - and they are chalk and cheese. The TranX every time for loose / holed surfaces - far more consistent and confidence inspiring. I sold the Quaife.

[cybernck 400 1 Cars]

a rather interesting thread .

 

a couple of years ago, general idea was that ATB's are better all-round diffs than plate ones .

[Sandy 189]

LoL, I've never thought that, but as you say, plenty people insist that it's the case.

 

I think it's maybe down to power. Up to a certain point power wise, the ATB copes well and seems to have a great effect on traction out of corners; but increase the power/torque (or reduce the surface grip) to the point where traction can be broken fairly easily and the ATB goes bonkers, but a well set up plate type goes to the next level. It's also related heavily to the suspension set up and chassis/frame stiffness.

Edited April 8, 2008 by sandy309

[guffe 2]

Can anyone tell me how much torque Tran-X diff can handle? Their website doesn't help much.

[tom_m 0]

the maintenance schedule is a key issue. the wear rate on a tranx vs a quaife. not everyone wants to removing their diff for a rebuild every 5000 miles

[James_R 3]

That's only an issue if it's a competition car, and they last out longer than 5000miles, advice I was given was for track/fast road use every 2-3years, and it takes 2 hours tops to get the diff out.

 

For the perf gain over an ATB i'd pay it gladly (that and an engine never seems to last longer than months in my car anyways)

[Rob Thomson 6]

The Gripper LSD in my old 106 used to get rebuilt every ~1000 miles maximum, and there'd always be something broken.

[mfield 20]

Also mine not so much clonks but rattles when the oil is cold and the plates grab get on stage for a few miles and its silent.

 

I'm having this as well, when cold it rattles away and really doesn't like tight turns at crawling speeds but once warmed up it's pretty quiet. Just need to sort a drop link touching the hub on full lock to tell for sure.

 

What oil should i be putting in ? could this be why it sounds abit harsh when cold ?

[Doof 11]

This is so annoying, the plate diffs sound like the better option, but all this rattling and whirring scares me into thinking about getting a quaife...an impossible decision yet again!!

[Craigb 2]

Doof , i don't see it as a difficult decison , if you are planning to drive the car on the road , fit a quaife.

 

For track or off road , then fit a Tranx.

[James_R 3]

If you're planning to dirve the car then fit a plate

 

If you want to talk abotu driving it fit an ATB

 

Once a plates broken in the noises go.

 

I've been using std pug box oil with mine no problems.

[mfield 20]

If you're planning to dirve the car then fit a plate

 

Was having a joke with a mate on the weekend about how the tran-x diff pulls you into the corners, thus concluding he clearly wasn't driving it hard enough

 

Can't wait till the end of the month to try it out on the track .

[Henry 1.9GTi 36]

just to re ask those people with Tran-X plate differentials, any more interesting points on service schedule? Anyone taken one apart after 5000+miles of road and track day use, what was the general condition, just the plates to replace?

 

I really want a tran-X but everyone I talk to says fit and forget. A freinds car with 220bhp and 240lb/ft of torque performed really well with the quaife in the dry, no inside wheel spinning and just powered out of corners without a hint of understeer.

 

Decisions! help

[philfingers 5]

just to re ask those people with Tran-X plate differentials, any more interesting points on service schedule? Anyone taken one apart after 5000+miles of road and track day use, what was the general condition, just the plates to replace?

 

I really want a tran-X but everyone I talk to says fit and forget. A freinds car with 220bhp and 240lb/ft of torque performed really well with the quaife in the dry, no inside wheel spinning and just powered out of corners without a hint of understeer.

 

Decisions! help

 

Yes I have. I stripped my 10k mile one from my old road rally 309 and also the one from my 205 tarmac car at the same time. Took lots of pics and measured them all. I will try and do an article at some point on how to strip and check them but will post results when i get time,

 

Phil

[RonnieG 0]

On the maintenenance front - I believe the amount of maintenance Tran-X plate diffs are supposed to require is way exaggerated.....

 

After the research I did on this forum I bought and totally dismantled 2 Tran-X plate diffs this year to put in both my 205's - The first was second hand, approx 2 years old was estimated to have done approx 15K road miles, around 20 trackdays and had never been previously taken apart. I then sold my Quaife ATB and bought another brand new Tran-X which I had to dismantle to change the plate configuration and ramp angles to the stiffest setting.

 

On dismantling to carefully examine the internal components in the 2 diffs the level of wear in the plates or any of the other components for that matter in the used one was absolutely negligible compared to the brand new one - Almost magnifying glass type stuff.....

 

As philfingers has mentioned if you need any instructions on setup/dimantling I also have these and its worth researching to try and get the setup 'right first time' as you do need to dismantle the diff again to change the settings.

 

On my experience if you do say 10 trackdays & 10K road miles a year it would be around 4/5 years before a Tran-X diff would require further examination....

Edited November 4, 2008 by RonnieG

[All Praise The GTI 3]

damn it! i wa going to stick with the fit and forget idea but after ive just read that last post now im not sure. although i dont think i drive hard enough to worry about a plate diff lol. il just have to see how much money i have when either comes up for a good price

[Alastairh 47]

I miss my Tran-X

 

Great fun, best mod i ever done.

[philfingers 5]

My 309 one was showing next to no wear and tear, just the one plate with a slight burr on, possibly a tiny bit of debris, tho I am meticulously clean when stripping them. This was a brand new unit when I got it in 2002

The one out of my Tarmac car had done around 10 events including Mull 3 times so has had some (ab)use. There was more eveidence of burring on the plates, probably down to debris again, but not enough to warrant changing the plates.

I've never used a ATB diff, but the challenge guys generally used TranX and have used the two I have I wouldn't see any reason to change

 

phil

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

I miss my Tran-X

 

Great fun, best mod i ever done.

 

Gotta agree with that! On a corner between the 'Ring entrance to Adenau (the country lane bit) I never braked and the diff just pulled me round. Bewildered to say the least!

[Baz 421]

I'm after one in the not too distant future too...

 

There was meant to be a group buy on Kaaz's a few months ago, not sure what happend to that though tbh!