Torsen differential

[Alan Pritchard]

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Incidently.... How are you supposed to tow torsen cars????
-----Original Message-----
From: Brett Dikeman [mailto:brett at cloud9.net]
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 9:57 PM
To: QSHIPQ at aol.com; ssgacc at yahoo.com
Cc: quattro at audifans.com; torsen at audifans.com
Subject: Re: Torsen differential

At 6:29 AM -0500 11/16/02, QSHIPQ at aol.com wrote:

>You'd have to define 'bulletproof' better IMO.

No, actually, he really doesn't.  In this case, the concern was
whether it would present any additional reliability issues over a
non-torsen equipped vehicle, from an owner's perspective.

The answer, quite clearly, is "no", as long as the vehicle is not
towed improperly or placed on a two-wheel dyno.

The ONLY, and I repeat ONLY cases of failed torsens which I have
heard about in 7-8 years, have involved:
-monkeylads putting vehicles on 2-wheel dynos
-towing with only two wheels off the ground
-lack of tranny oil or similar problems(improper oil, too-old oil, etc)

>  I really doubt that a torsen with 150k on it preforms the same as
>one fresh from the factory.

Yeah.  I hear engines and transmissions don't show wear and perform
the same at 150k vs. fresh from the factory.  Same thing for
bearings, bushings, vacuum lines, hoses, electrical motors...

Here's a question.  Have you ever:

-had to replace a customer's torsen diff from wear+tear of daily
driving?(abuse or neglect does NOT count here.)

-opened up a used torsen diff and inspected it for wear?(no, since
they're not user serviceable)

-placed a used torsen diff on a test rig to see if it performed up to
factory spec or not?

Any of the three would represent some sort of evidence.


>The problem in racing (audi learned this way back), really appears to be
with
>any wheel lift or jumping action, then a sudden shock loading of the device
>when it gained traction again.  This appears to hold true
>rally/track/offroad.

The problem in road driving(Audi learned this way back) really
appears to be that it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH RACING.

I'm sure:

-racing vs day to day driving driver behavior
-racing clutches vs non-racing clutches
-racing/rallying suspensions with significantly harder suspension mounts
-wheels lifting and loosing traction vs. wheels staying on pavement
not doing much at all
-sport in which handbrake slides(locking the rear wheels but leaving
fronts spinning, hmm, no, that wouldn't affect a torsen at all) are
common, versus day to day driving and even track use at qclub events
where such things would never happen

...has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the subject at hand.  But don't
let any of the above considerations discount the opinion of "Bubba
The Redneck GM Racer Who Breaks LSDs."

Am I the only one who wonders why you manage to take a very simple
question, not answer it, but still manage to blow it out into a two
page rant full of anecdotal, circumstantial evidence that has little
bearing on the original question at hand?

   I sure which you would apply such energy, enthusiasm, and supposed
expertise into helping.

Seems like every time I see you post, it's just to nitpick with someone.

Curious that I hear more complaints about you than any other lister...

Brett
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