Hi all

I'm thinking of trying with on a circuit race mini
is it worth doing, how hard is it to turn at low speed?

Is it just a matter of welding up the spider gears

Any feedback appreciated


Thanks

Stewart

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1275

All I can offer is from friends who raced mini's at Stanthorpe's Carnell Park several years ago , the course was half packed clay , half bitumen and they used locked diffs with rubber uni's and were of the opinion that rubber uni's were the best as they gave a little bit of "give" to make it more usable with the locked diff .

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My NB Historic race car came with a welded locked diff.
It used a front sway bar to lessen grip on one side to help steering.
At speed on the track was OK and quite drivable.

In the pits.... was the pits... real struggle to move away when parked or manouvering onto the trailer. Real hassle and stalled frequently (quite embarassing) unless you used big revs (equally embarassing). If you had to push.... urggg... not fun.

Once on the move slowly was steerable but needed heaps of effort to turn.

Major pain when carrying out maintenance at home and moving around.

If not done right they are potentially dangerous... (Mine was heavily welded up to ensure no issues - basically all internals FILLED with weld.)

I changed to a QUAIFE asap... and is a pure dream in comparison.... but they do cost $$.

In summary wouldn't recommend it ... but can be done...

I had a mate who did this, and then he used it on the road.

If you let go of the steering wheel (or it was wrenched out of your hands by the sheer torque) then the car would try to turn around in traffic. Good at speed, but bloody dangerous at lower rates of knots.

He shattered his inboard CV's eventually. Luckily in his own driveway when he drove in from the street.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I witnessed a turbocharged race mini hit the pit wall at Eastern Creek about 10 years ago going 200+kph. The car was a write off and was caused by a locked diff (axle on passenger side snapped, all drive to the right hand front wheel).

Daniel

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Videos - Turbocharged A-Series on Dyno & at Wakefield
Mafs waz not my strong subgeckt at skkol

could be a silly question, but did the guy driving actually live?

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real men race downhill - keiichi tsuchiya

I was about to ask the same thing, 200kph+......

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

The pit wall runs along the edge of the straight so he hit turning, not straight if you get my drift.

The car broke the shaft just after the start/finish line and took an exteme hard left turn into the wall. The car hit more or less front square against the wall and spun 2 or three times before stopping on the oppsite side grass down near the drag racing start line. The driver got out and took a step or two before collapsing on the ground, no major injuries though.

The whole front of the car was pushed in and the floor/roof was creased etc, write off.

My point is that had he not had a locked diff it wouldn't have happened, it may have blown the engine from over rev though I spose. Whether an LSD would have made a difference I'm not sure but definately an open diff would have not forced the car to turn so violently.

daniel

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Videos - Turbocharged A-Series on Dyno & at Wakefield
Mafs waz not my strong subgeckt at skkol

thanks for the replies

i can now see that there will be a lot of hassles
Not so much at speed on the track.
On the haipins i can see problems with effect trying to turn in
& resulting strain on the driveshafts/joints

But does it reduce lap times?
What is it like in the wet compared to a open diff?

might put this idea on hold

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1275

A limited slip diff is the go,,, spend the money & buy a Quaife type Torque Bias diff, they are sweet as a nut

I`ve used locked diffs for years on the oval dirt speedway circuits & they work well there--> """When set up properly" in conjunction with the right tyre-stagger & weight jacking to suit each track, but bitumen/tarmac racing is a different kettle of fish, i highly recomend "NOT" using a locked diff for bitumen/tarmac use at all.

The Torque bias diffs are exccellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you will love it & never look back!!!!!!!!

spend the money, it`s very well worth it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

thanks for the advise
looks like something else to add to the wishlist
depending on the circuit would a LSD be worth 2-3sec min improvement on a open diff?

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1275

depends on the circuit,,, but yes 2secs is pretty roughly right

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.