Open Diff Be Gone!

[180 wanabe]

Well as I have posted before I have been looking at pissing off the open diff in my V35 auto for quite some time

The most obvious solution would be to swap out the diff with that of an Auto 350z, the problem with that however is there aren’t all that many 2nd hand 350z auto diffs getting around and not that many 350zs @ the wreckers

Infact I called up a wrecker in Sydney who had a 350z and he wanted $1200 for the diff which seemed rather steep given that it was 2nd hand and the stock Viscous diff tends to loose its effectiveness after about 120k from what I have read on the net.

Now with the car being my daily driver I didn’t want to go down the path of fitting a noisy clunky 1.5 or 2 way mech diff like I had in my 180sx that chirped the tyres every time i did a tight low speed turn. Then theres having to change the oil in a mech diff almost if not more times than you change the engine oil if you want to keep it in good order. And as I mention earlier the Viscous OEM nissan item isn’t all that much chop after its done 120+k

So i was feeling kind of lost in my quest until I discovered the Quaife Helical LSD

Put simple its like an open diff but in reverse... it sends more power to the wheel with more grip and less to the wheel with less grip!

no noisy clutch plates chattering "if anyone’s owned a car with an older KAZZ diff you'll know what I mean" and no clunks

Now I want this because I’m sick of taking off at the lights quickly and either having traction control kick in and kill all the fun or with VDC turned off one of the wheels spin up and not go anywhere fast. I also plan on going to as many Wednesday afternoon sprints as I can @ QR and the open LSD sucked ass constantly spinning the inside wheel and slowing the car down/kicking in the VDC

Now the only bad part is not that many people seem to have this diff in Australia and it costs a fair bit 2 rpw.com.au sells the version for 350z that already has the OEM LSD at around $1680

The model we need is QDF10L

I found the right one on ebay but the only sellers I can find are based in the US with the diff priced at $1499 US then there’s going to be freight + tax + customs on top before it gets here

Yes i know what some of you are saying, I should have just bought a 6 speed V35... at the time however I could not justify the extra 6 to 8k premium on the price compared to what I purchased my auto V for

So am I alone or is anyone else interested in getting one of these? heck even for those of you who have a 6 speed with the OEM LSD could benefit by upgrading to this as long as you don’t plan on drifting as I think this diff acts more as a 1 way diff

[will's35]

good research! thumbs up, sadly I am selling my V35 soon or I might do that as well=)

[scathing]

I love helical LSDs on street cars. My Tomei drives me nuts, to a point where I miss the VLSD. If I had money I'd consider selling off the 2 way I've got at the moment for a Quaife.

And yes, helical diffs behave like 1 way diffs. Another property that doesn't make them ideal for drifting is that, if the two output shafts' relative speed difference is too great it reverts to an open setting. That's not a problem for street use, but if you're kerb hopping on the track where you regularly unload one wheel (or intentionally trying to break traction) then it won't be ideal.

For comparison, the stock S15 diff is helical. And people who end up using those Silvias for drift/motorsport bin the diff sooner rather than later.

[180 wanabe]

So as i have no plans on drifting my V35 but instead using it for grip around the track would it be any good? anything has to be better than the open POS!

[scathing]

From what I've read from the US Z33 owners, the Quaife works really well on AutoX and track days. And that's from guys who've upgraded from the VLSD as well as the open (in the US the base model Z's have an open diff).

[180 wanabe]

Got a e-mail today from a shop in Sydney about the diff its going to set me back $1815 and about 4 to 6 weeks before I can get it

Iv also called up a shop in Perth that also sells quaife diffs and am waiting on them to get back to me. They sell the QDF13L for $1681 which is the diff replacement for the viscous LSD in the 350Z

Now I cant see how the QDF10L and the QDF13L can have that much of a difference in production costs so Im interested to see what sort of price they get back to me on the QDF10L it should be about the same

All seems a bit on the expensive side given that I picked up my KAZZ 2 way for my 180sx for about $1200 5 years ago

[scathing]

Torsen diffs will always cost more than clutch-pack diffs. If you want cheaper you could always get a clutch pack diff, and deal with the non-linear lockup.

The 180SX comparison isn't fair either. By 2005 your 180SX was 10 years old, and so its market was quite mature. Even now the car is about 7 years old, and you've had 5 years of inflation to deal with. Greenline has the Kaaz 2 way for the 6MT cars for $1300+ shipping, which isn't that far off what you paid for your 180SX's when you factor inflation into the mix.

[180 wanabe]

The other shop in Perth called me back said $1700 - $1800 I told them to e-mail me the details

The diff however would end up on the west coast with the other diffs they had ordered so Im not sure if thats 1700 - 1800 to me or if im going to have to add postage to the east coast on top of that

[180 wanabe]

Also price wise Torsen vs clutch pack I do remember having to pay $95 for a can of KAZZ diff oil every 3 to 6 or so months depending on how many k's/ track days I had done. Although from what I read on the instructions KAZZ says u should change it every 5000ks....

[180 wanabe]

Ok guys have pretty much ordered the diff, the shop I was talking to in Perth never got back to me with an e-mail and I dont like getting f**ked around

As soon as I get the payment details I will be ordering the diff from MPS Garage its going to set me back $1850 including freight to my door on the Gold Coast

[drift garage]

i don't know if you guys have actually driven a 1 way diff before, but i got one in my s13 race car which i removed from my street s13 and i must say its the best all rounder,

no noises at all, when you do a tight turn light throttle it acts as an open wheeler cause of the big difference in wheel speed, but as soon as you apply decent amount of load it locks up just like any other 1.5 or 2 way diff, i used to drift my street s13 occasionally with no issues at all. Now im using it for circuit racing and i still struggle keeping it stright out of corners. and yes i've had the diff apart and yes it is a 1 way mechanical.

Ideal diff for the street in my opinion, cause there's no load on the diff on tight corners light throttle, so there's no clank

[rx3ip]

i don't know if you guys have actually driven a 1 way diff before, but i got one in my s13 race car which i removed from my street s13 and i must say its the best all rounder,

no noises at all, when you do a tight turn light throttle it acts as an open wheeler cause of the big difference in wheel speed, but as soon as you apply decent amount of load it locks up just like any other 1.5 or 2 way diff, i used to drift my street s13 occasionally with no issues at all. Now im using it for circuit racing and i still struggle keeping it stright out of corners. and yes i've had the diff apart and yes it is a 1 way mechanical.

Ideal diff for the street in my opinion, cause there's no load on the diff on tight corners light throttle, so there's no clank

I have Torsen LSD on my RWD Corolla ( True Track ) and MX5 , both race cars .. they work fine and most of the MX5 race cars run Torsen , used to have TRD clutch systems for FWD Corolla race car , screwed very tight and doesn't have any noise on slow turn either .. may be it depends on the systems & make

[scarf]

Ive also been reading about the quaife LSDs on myg37.com. They work brilliantly in the BMW 335i.

Going to the US in Jan for 3 months and want to pickup a few things like this.

[Howaitonaito]

Opening an old thread but I have a 250GT and I would like an LSD or anything other than a single Wheeler peeler. will a 350Z diff fit because I can't afford $1000+ for an aftermarket one at the moment. What do I need to do

[180 wanabe]

Opening an old thread but I have a 250GT and I would like an LSD or anything other than a single Wheeler peeler. will a 350Z diff fit because I can't afford $1000+ for an aftermarket one at the moment. What do I need to do

Be prepared to get ripped $1000 for a stock 350z from a wrecker

also i dont think the 250gt is the same diff as the vq35 equipped car

[scotty nm35]

I picked up a low K 350z manual diff for around $550 delivered from Japan, came with wheel sensors and stub axles. It took a while though as it had to go in a container. If you need one give Prince Skyline a PM, (JDM Factory) or PM me for his number.

[Howaitonaito]

I found a diff from a 350Z for $570 posted from Adelaide to Newcastle. Do I need to find an auto diff or what, I've never changed a diff on a car before so this isn't my strong point.

[PN-Mad]

Only some 350z had vlsd. Mostly the manual cars. What you need to work out, is what ratio your diff is. If yours is 4.1 like some 2.5 cars, and you put a 3.5 or 3.3 diff in it, it will be even slower.

[Howaitonaito]

How do I find out what the ratio is

[scotty nm35]

Mark the tailshaft and axles and turn them around while the box is in neutral, count the revolutions.