22 replies to this topic

[warning634]

This is a very very interesting read, I was always under the impression that a LSD was a must for a mini rally car! It great to read your comments cooperman that your mini runs a x-pin diff and people have found it quicker then minis fitted with a LSD. This gives me ideas, for my new gear box

[rally1380]

This is a very very interesting read, I was always under the impression that a LSD was a must for a mini rally car! It great to read your comments cooperman that your mini runs a x-pin diff and people have found it quicker then minis fitted with a LSD. This gives me ideas, for my new gear box

 

Couldn't agree more.....I always thought that an LSD was a must.  It is probably more pub bragging rights than anything else and if it saves me money all the better.  A friend of mine runs an MG ZR rally car with a funny diff in it and he is scared of it and doesn't like it....saying it jumps around the road and very unpredictable.  I suppose there are different diff's for different surfaces....a diff for tarmac may well not work on gravel and vice versa.

[mini93]

 

This is a very very interesting read, I was always under the impression that a LSD was a must for a mini rally car! It great to read your comments cooperman that your mini runs a x-pin diff and people have found it quicker then minis fitted with a LSD. This gives me ideas, for my new gear box

 

Couldn't agree more.....I always thought that an LSD was a must.  It is probably more pub bragging rights than anything else and if it saves me money all the better.  A friend of mine runs an MG ZR rally car with a funny diff in it and he is scared of it and doesn't like it....saying it jumps around the road and very unpredictable.  I suppose there are different diff's for different surfaces....a diff for tarmac may well not work on gravel and vice versa.

 

 

Diff's for tarmac and gravel are completly different. Tran-X (now Quaife owned) supply one of the best plate diff's out there.

I used to work for AB motorsport who ran 205's very succesfully, all of which used Tran-x differentials. Tran-X have an advantage of supplying different ramp angles on the cages, so you can choose how you want the diff to behave. at least within the selected ramps and preload. They were set differently for different surfaces. Most of which wound rather tight as the tarmac

They also ran M-Sport Fiesta's from the ST to the R2's which used (i think) a Sadev Differential. Another plate diff

[Cooperman]

None of the successful historic Mini drivers uses an LSD to the best of my knowledge. I know Russell Brookes was very critical of the Mini with the LSD which he drove on the RAC and he first made his name driving a Mini.

My son did an event on tarmac in Belgium with Jim Maker in an 'S' and they ended up in a ditch. My son said it was the diff which caused that to happen when they slid a bit wide and the diff pulled then straight into the ditch.

I have tried them, but unless it's on a track where I know absolutely where the road is going I simply cannot make one work for me.

However, all the RWD rally cars I've driven and navigated all  had LSD's after about 1969 and they were fantastic.

I'm sure more modern front-drive cars can use LSD's, but maybe not Minis due to their somewhat unique short wheelbase.

But, and it's a big but, there are probably better Mini rally drivers than me who do get on with one. In fact, I believe Sid Ormerod used on in the '90's in his 'S' on historic rallies and he was very quick.

[Artful Dodger]

Anyone used the quaife ATB diff in a rally?

Idea of it if you don't know is to bias the torque to the wheels, progressively and smoothly, like an LSD, but with no set locking torque, it's completely progressive, so no snatching.

Like a std diff but with the benifit of no spinning wheels? Must be a good idea! Costs about 900-1000 to install though due to the parts needed but..





Don't think I really needed one but:D hay ho its in now! Not driven it yet but..

[ybrig1]

If you are doing loose gravel rallies, like I did an LSD is a must. I did the Dukeries National Rally in 1982 and without the slipper diff I would still be there now. It was sand and muddy. We passed 2 minis in 1 stage both stuck in the mud. We finished 2nd last, but we also only had Goodyear Rally Special tarmac tyres on, not knobblies! Try a slipper diff and see if it works for you. If not go another route.

[rally1380]

If you are doing loose gravel rallies, like I did an LSD is a must. I did the Dukeries National Rally in 1982 and without the slipper diff I would still be there now. It was sand and muddy. We passed 2 minis in 1 stage both stuck in the mud. We finished 2nd last, but we also only had Goodyear Rally Special tarmac tyres on, not knobblies! Try a slipper diff and see if it works for you. If not go another route.

 

Expensive experiment though to decide if you don't like something or not.  I always thought a LSD 'was' a must, but Mr Cooperman has been right on more than one occasion when offering up advice (everytime actually!!!). But as you say, until you try something you just don't know.

 

Would like to try a cars back to back on mixed surfaces with different diffs to see what suits me and the way I drive. For now the current X pin will do the job as my rally 'career' is still at the shakedown stage.

 

Artful Dodger....full review of the ATB when ready please....????

[Rob Jones]

This is a very very interesting read, I was always under the impression that a LSD was a must for a mini rally car! It great to read your comments cooperman that your mini runs a x-pin diff and people have found it quicker then minis fitted with a LSD. This gives me ideas, for my new gear box

 

 

Depends on the type of surface you are running on ... tar/gravel and wet or dry and how the diff is set up, like Mini93 has stated.

 

I have been running a Tran-X on my forest spec Mini for the last ten years in the forests, and yes it can be a handful, especially going down a straight, when it "just happens" to jump to the side of the road! But the pull you get out of corners is so much better than a standard diff. The diff has been professionally set up by an ex-Raliart transmission specialist using the 45/45 ramp angles, giving lock up of the diff both on acceleration and slowing down, therefore not needing the brakes so much! and a balanced preload. I find it is ideal for the type of event I do, but you have to treat it with a bit respect ... it can bite back and it has done in the past! and you have to get used to it.

 

 

 

 

BUT ... I would never use it on wet/slippy tarmac. I did a local tarmac stage event in the wet at the Trawsfynydd Ranges a few years back, and the first few stages were spent off the road more than on the road! Also a stage event at Anglesey Race Circuit, run in the dry, I just couldn't turn the steering wheel to go round the tight chicanes ... in the end, I was dipping the clutch and free wheeling round them, not ideal!

 

If I were to do a mixed surface/road event, I would resort to putting in a standard/Xpin diff or the Quaiffe ATB. I have navigated many a Peugeot 205GTi on road events equipped with an ATB and they really work in that type of car, but I dont know about the Mini.

 

This is my opinion and experiences ... but everyone has their own.