Quaife vs gripper diff/ m factory

[NorthloopCup]

So quality wise the quaife has the upper hand as the Origional, but the Mfactory does the same job for a marginal saving.

Gripper, in trackday spec will last 3 years you've just text me and uses Red line mt90 oil. I would assume then your more likely to have a gearbox out to repair synchros again before the gripper needs looking at? The service kits are pretty cheap aswell looking at them.

Out of interest how much lock does the quaife/Mfactory diff provide as a maximum and what range can you get from the adjustable gripper?

Right let’s try and put this into some sort of rule of thumb information for others then. ??

The lifespan of a gripper entirely depends on how much preload it’s set up for and how much use it gets. For example, a race spec diff with 120nm+ of preload will last a season of racing. If this is a front running car it’s half that as maximum grip is required 100% of the time.

The trackday spec *should* see you through 3 years of Trackdays and road use, but add in to that the variables of oil spec used/how much time the car spends on track per session. Frequent oil changes and good quality oil will help any gearbox last - and that includes the synchro rings and bearings.

Plate diffs make the oil dirty because of how they work. They also generate a lot of heat due to the design. The plates wear over time/use and this in turn contaminated the oil, hence why oil changes are so important.

Quaife/mfactory work on a gear setup (search Torsen diff - they’re all a copy of each other!!) and they NEVER transmit 100% drive/lock up to either wheel. It’s constantly shifting the power to the wheel that needs it, and gives them a snatchy feel. For some this is an unnerving feeling. Difficult to say on quality, but having seen the mfactory/rsx racing diff vs the Quaife, I’d spend the money on the Quaife. That’s all personal preference though. @Nathan Evans may share a different opinion. Lol

There’s a video of 2 cars in the tricolore trophy from a good few years back that shows a Quaife vs a gripper in a race situation very well. Out of the tight hairpin at Mallory the gripper has the edge. But, in a trackday scenario with a trackday setup on a gripper, I don’t think it would be as noticeable.

With regards to those rebuild kits, yeah they’re good vfm. But I’m afraid they have the new style synchro ring in for 1st/2nd gear and they won’t work unless you change the gears and selector hub to suit. Bye bye to another £200+ to purchase those items.

For anyone who reads this the redline mt90 or mtl is what I recommend based on preference and experience. This is NOT the recommendation from Quaife/gripper/mfactory.

 

[PhillipM]

A Quaiffe/gear diff will generally only be able to bias about 3x the torque of the least loaded wheel - this is why they struggle to transmit power on gravel, snow, etc - or if your tyres are so sticky that the inside wheel is unloaded/you take a lot of kerb. There is a difference depending on the actual gearing and the side load they generate against the housing, some cheap copies only hit about 2:1 ratio's, some are available up to around 4.5 - so they're not quite all exactly the same. The higher bias versions tend to have a lot more wear from the pressure on the casings though and need frequent oil changes like a plate does.
A gripper/plate will depend on the setup as Northloop says above, but you can make one lock completely even on mud and snow if you wish.

To be honest the rough rule of thumb for tarmac is everything short of a full blown competing race-car, fit a Torsen.

 

[PhillipM]

As an aside to the above, if you do have a Torsen fitted, and you're struggling in the snow, as the torque ratio is a >1 multiplier - if you are just spinning one wheel you can often gain more traction by braking slightly to give load up the diff and give it some force to work against. I do the same in the MX-5 in the snow and on the gravel track to the workshop by popping the handbrake on a couple of clicks when it's hunting for traction.

 

[JamesBryan]

Mine has always left 11's in the snow with the Quaife fitted.

 

[PhillipM]

It's generally when you have one side on ice or in deeper snow than the other that causes issues with a Torsen, torque imbalances rather than just outright lack of grip. You can leave 11's in the snow with an open diff too so long as it's fairly even.