Testimonial - E85 Z4 3.0si - Quaife LSD - Mr S.

It seems that the new Quaife is already making someone happy.

My fiancee, R           , who uses every occasion (every hard corner, actually) to remind me how smooth and "flowing" and "zen" the old Quaife was, and how I did a great injustice to it by getting the Clutch-plate LSD which is "a bit of an animal", "too hardcore" and "scary".

She has a point. It is winter, the romanian road maintenance services are run by perfectionists and, consequently, the grip conditions are terrible everywhere, even on winter tires.

The Clutch-plate LSD locks on throttle input. To really take advantage of its capabilities, in such road conditions, you have to forget everything that you have learned about winter driving and plant your foot confidently on the pedal. But not to confidently to ram into the over-confident suv drivers that sit next to you at the traffic lights.

The line is very thin. A bit like punching someone hard in the face...with tenderness. Quite a lot of fun for the driver but "too hardcore" and "scary" for the passenger. And, if you get it right, terribly annoying for those above mentioned suv drivers.

On the very few occasions when the roads were dry, the grip levels generated by the diff were unbelievably high.

Trying to provoke the 'Clutch-plate LSD' to send the car sideways is a very hard job. It goes hairy and belligerent every time, fighting for grip even harder than the DSC. It just doesn't like to slide. Of course, you can go completely gorilla on the throttle or corner at "obscene" speeds to get the back out. But, again, this is "too hardcore" and "scary" for the passenger.

With the Quaife, in similar conditions, it was easy. At any speed. The zed was quite a tail happy (and happy) car. And, indeed, very predictable "flowing" and "zen".

R           seems to have made up her mind. But for me, it is hard to say, which one is better. I think both are just great pieces of machinery.

Each with its own special character. The Quaife is easy and intuitive:- it gives the car a Mazda Miata feel. The 'Clutch-plate LSD' is hard and racey: it gives the car more of an Evo 9 feel.

But let's give the Quaife an extra point. Because, event without it being installed on the car, it has already improved its dynamics. --How?

Well, by reducing the cabin noise and letting me concentrate on taking the corners faster. :)

 

Regards,

L