fwd welded diff on dirt

[warriorautotech]

Hello all, I am new to this forum but I have been racing since july '10. I race a 91 honda civic hatch, 1.6,5spd. I am considering welding the front diff because I am getting a lot of wheelspin out of the corners. I have heard that can make the car push and I dont want to screw up the handling.
I would like to hear pros and cons from people that have run welded diffs. Thanks

[DeFord11]

it is a plus!! it will make use the paddle a little more but learn to feather the throttle thought the turns and u'll c a difference

[BleedingOrange]

Did it

If you weld it, you'll want to run stagger like a welded rear-wheel drive car (smaller left side tire and larger right side tire) so that it will turn with minimal push.

This should be opposite of a non welded diff on the front wheel drives where you would run a larger left front tire (and even heavier spring) to help keep the left tire on the ground, preventing wheel spin.

I did this to my car which was illegal at our track and I only had one person who could keep up/out run me...which, 6 weeks later the tech officials discovered they had theirs welded up too! So, it must have helped.

Like DeFord11 said, you'll definitely be faster but you'll have to learn how to use the throttle through the turn. You don't want to stomp on it...just ease into it as you come out of the turns and drive from high to low to pass under all the other guys that push to the top of the turn on exit.

And just remember, FWD's can be fun. They're like fat chicks and mopeds, they're fun to ride but you don't want to brag to everyone about it!

[be11]

you wont want it on a dry slick track...and stagger will deff needed to be added to make it work to your advantage..
Blayne Ellis #11

[warriorautotech]

Thanks for the input, The rules at the track wont allow running different size tires from left to right, and since the top 4 in the feature go to tech inspection, I wouldnt be able to get away with it. tire size is about the only thing they check in fwd class.Also fwd class races last so the track is always dryslicked by the time we get to race.maybe i will look into a lsd.

[stock car driver]

Different brand tires of the same size have a different roll out measurement.

You will need a good bit of stagger as mentioned above and you can get it with tires that meet the ALL the same size rule.

[warriorautotech]

I am tired of getting passed coming out of the corners so I got the diff welded today, Ill see how it does this weekend. would lowering the tire pressure on the left side help?

[BleedingOrange]

I am tired of getting passed coming out of the corners so I got the diff welded today, Ill see how it does this weekend. would lowering the tire pressure on the left side help?

It would be better than not having different pressures. It will give you some stagger but not as much as you would need for it to work the best it can (I'm making this statement under a few assumptions about your track, etc). What tire pressures do you run? What pressures are you thinking about running? What size is your track and what kind of banking does it have? Tight turns or wide sweeping turns?

What kind of car is it (neon, probe, etc)?

[be11]

if i were you id run tubes and run as low tire pressure as i could.. prolly around 20-25 lf rf depends on the banking and the tightness of the corners... and id get a roll out gauge and buy some tires of different brands but same size and run ur smallest one in the lf and the bigger one on the rf..
Blayne Ellis#11

[warriorautotech]

Right now I am running Achilles 195/70/14 h-rated with 36 psi rf and 25 psi lf, all stock suspension,no sway bar, the changes I am planning are, Camber in the rf tire about 2-3 degrees, shim rf spring with 1" rubber spacer between coils, 1/4" toe out,40 psi rf tire, 20 psi lf tire.25 psi rears. The car is a 91 civic hatchback, 1900 lbs, mostly on the front, no added weight, I have been working on pitching the car high and sideways into the corner and driving out on the inside. The track is 1/4 mile around the outside, d-shaped, dirt, Turns 1&2 are fairly high banked and tight, 3&4 are not as high with the track flattening out toward the end of turn 4.

[warriorautotech]

Any suggestions on cheap 14"or 15" performance tires with more or less runout?

[BleedingOrange]

Right now I am running Achilles 195/70/14 h-rated with 36 psi rf and 25 psi lf, all stock suspension,no sway bar, the changes I am planning are, Camber in the rf tire about 2-3 degrees, shim rf spring with 1" rubber spacer between coils, 1/4" toe out,40 psi rf tire, 20 psi lf tire.25 psi rears. The car is a 91 civic hatchback, 1900 lbs, mostly on the front, no added weight, I have been working on pitching the car high and sideways into the corner and driving out on the inside. The track is 1/4 mile around the outside, d-shaped, dirt, Turns 1&2 are fairly high banked and tight, 3&4 are not as high with the track flattening out toward the end of turn 4.

Whatever you do, don't put a spacer in the RF spring if you don't want it to push. That increases the spring rate and will therefore cause it to push more. You want it to roll over on that side giving you bite. The stiffer the RF, the tighter the car will be (causing the push). If you want to promote more rollover on the right front you could put the spacer in the LF spring or the LR sprint.

I think your biggest thing will be driving style. I notice that the faster guys at the track will go really hard and fast into the turn but off the throttle. Let the car start turning before you get back into the gas. And ease into the throttle, don't stomp it. The drawback of a FWD car is the front tires are used to both steer and accelerate. Tires can only handle so much of it at once. The cars I see push the most are the ones that as soon as they start turning they try to stomp the gas and the car then just slides up.

I'm not sure about the tire brands though.

[itunes gift card]

Thanks for the good post.

[Egoracing]

Something to keep in mind, a RWD car drives off of the LR and RF and a FWD car drives off of the LF and RR.

[warriorautotech]

I am not sure what you are talking about in that last post, about lf and rr, could you explain that ?