E30 Zone

Has anybody got one of the Quaife ATB diffs?

How do they compare to the standard LSD?

I'm considering the options for slippy diffing my car:

1) Make something which fits in the open diff to limit the slip
2) Seek out an LSD (how much do these sell for)
3) Bite the bullet and buy a Quaife jobby.

Any thoughts?

Cheers!
Alex

i think maybe the lsd components will fit into the open diff casing but wether or not these can be brought seperatly, i dont know! as for the price of a lsd, u will expect 2 pay around Ԛ£200, depends on wether the person knows the value of what there sellin, as for the quaife diff, these r amazing bits of kit and r alot of money, having never witnessed 1 on an e30 i cant say how good they would be, but u would surely have a lower slip rate so it would be good...... not 2 mention it would handle alot more power, dont quote me on all of this as it could be wrong!

whacking a quaife on is the best thing u can do diff wise--if u have the Ԛ£700ish required....

they have no clutch plates too which means they will last agessssss......

I've used Quaife diff's and gearboxes, and broken them.

Quaife are one of the most unhelpful and arrogant companies I've ever dealt with.

The ATB diff's are lovely to use , they never fully lock which is ideal providing you don't want to do donuts. (They will still do donuts, but not as easily as a plated LSD)

Imo by far the best route for BMWs is to uprate the standard LSD to a 4 plate system and set the locking by adjusting the pressure ring ramp angles.

You have an infinite choice of lock in either direction which you can set for your specific requirements.

If Quaife don't have a unit on the shelf, they'll only manufacture when they have an order for 10 units.

how does you do that then? do you need an lsd to start with?

Jhonno wrote:how does you do that then? do you need an lsd to start with?

You need a standard LSD unit.

Some people increase the locking by inserting extra plates or even just wavey washers, this is not advisable as it increases the preload on the LSD cluster.

A better way is to machine the end plate/housing to accept the extra plates with standard preload and increase the locking by changing the cup/pressure ring ramp angles.

This picture shows ramp angles modified to increase the locking equally in both directions. (Power on and over run/lift off)

Must admit I've not really got any idea of how a plate type LSD works

Anyone got an exploded diagram by any chance?

I'm guessing that the shallower angle gives more lock up? Or is that totally wrong.

Must admit I've not really got any idea of how a plate type LSD works

the pressure rings in the pic above run with the slipping part of the diff between them, they're encased in a cylindrical housing with a clutch between the outside of them and the outer casing.

The housing is fixed to the crown wheel on one end, when there's too much torque slipping inside the pressure rings, the shafts climb up the ramp and put pressure on the clutches to lock the diff'.

I'm guessing that the shallower angle gives more lock up? Or is that totally wrong.

That's correct mate. less torque required to slip up the ramp and lock the diff/drive the spinning wheel.

If they're crudely 'uprated' by packing with an extra plate or 'wavey washer' internally, they're running with extra preload and can wear quickly.

The four plate upgrade is not required to increase the locking but is much more pleasant to use if done correctly.

i was looking at the quaife lsd, but i was told that you wouldnt really notice any difference unless your driving hard and pushing your car to the limits, how much this is true i cant say

dale325i wrote:i was looking at the quaife lsd, but i was told that you wouldnt really notice any difference unless your driving hard and pushing your car to the limits, how much this is true i cant say

It depends what you mean by driving hard.

The Quaife ATB units 'show themselves' more readily than standard BMW LSD units.

The Quaife ATBs are lovely to use, Quaife as a company, aren't.

As someone mentioned earlier, the ATBs have no plates, however they do wear out.

Quaife will not supply individual parts for their units at all. They manufacture batches only 'to order' with no extras/spares. Whole units only if you break a part.(Providing they're in stock)

As soon as any 'movement wear' occurs in the unit, they wind themselves up and twist internally, they are not as durable as the BMW LSD unit.

Mmmm, that's interesting. Quaife claim that their diffs won't wear out.

Don't think I can afford one at the mo either way. Spent about Ԛ£450 on the bottom end of the engine this week and have another Ԛ£300 odd to spend on the head

Turbo-Brown wrote:Mmmm, that's interesting. Quaife claim that their diffs won't wear out.

I don't doubt that they do, I've wrecked thousands of pounds worth of Quaife products and I've had no assistance repairing them.

One poor example was with a Ford box that had a Quaife 'pro' gearkit, reverse gear failed and we stripped the box expecting to just have to fit a new standard reverse gear.

I was mortified to find that the standard Ford reverse gear had trashed the Quaife competition layshaft.

Quaife actually admitted that the Ford gear must have been stronger than their gear on the layshaft but refused to even discount a new layshaft.

I wont touch Quaife stuff ever again, I've lost count of the number of ATB Subaru front diffs I've seen broken.

Oh dear, this isn't sounding hopeful

Just fitted an ATB to a mates Pug 205 Mi16 turbo. Hope it's alright!

I'm guessing (hoping) M3Compact that you're into competition though and thus put a lot more force through these things than mortal man?

Yes, the Quaife stuff has been broken in 'competition' use, which is the excuse they always give, 'justifying' their lack of responsibility for failure.

Most competitors are competing on a budget and treat their supposedly superior equipment with a certain amount of sympathy.

Competing or not, doesn't alter the fact that the standard Ford reverse gear was harder than the Quaife layshaft tho'.

Just fitted an ATB to a mates Pug 205 Mi16 turbo. Hope it's alright!

As above, the Quaife ATBs are lovely to use, even in FWD, they're not made of chocolate, they're just not as strong as some people expect.

M3Compact wrote:I've used Quaife diff's and gearboxes, and broken them.

Quaife are one of the most unhelpful and arrogant companies I've ever dealt with.

The ATB diff's are lovely to use , they never fully lock which is ideal providing you don't want to do donuts. (They will still do donuts, but not as easily as a plated LSD)

Imo by far the best route for BMWs is to uprate the standard LSD to a 4 plate system and set the locking by adjusting the pressure ring ramp angles.

You have an infinite choice of lock in either direction which you can set for your specific requirements.

If Quaife don't have a unit on the shelf, they'll only manufacture when they have an order for 10 units.

Cansomeone tell me how and whereto get parts?

I think the point is that you can't get parts, only whole units - and only whole units when they have them in stock.
Shame, because I'd be interested. Maybe a group buy for 10 units would be a good idea one day?

or just stick to a bmw LSD

Cansomeone tell me how and whereto get parts?

there is a thread here on how to uprate the bmw lsd to 4 plate using atlas lsd parts. not sure that there's many folk completed it yet tho.

edit. here it is http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sd&start=0

why not just use a torsen diff from a z3?

What's the difference between torsen and clutch pack?
Better for drifting?

Speak to Kevo on here he can help with what you need