EVOlutionary

iTrader: (38)

Great reading over the past few pages. I will add a couple thought and opinions:

- I have been running the TRE MaxLock 1.5 way in my car for 3 years now. No problems whatsoever.

- I have it solid mounted using BR mustache bar (I'm the only one who has broken TWO of them) and the BR billet aluminum solid side mounts.

- This thing whines REALLy loud like straight cut gears due to the solid mount, no trunk liner, no back seat, and a worn transfercase with alot of gear slop. It is silent under light load or at 60mph, but at 70-75mph it makes you want to take a drill to your ear drums. If you've watched my vids you can hear it. . .

- I have never had any chatter at all. No racheting. None of that. I run Mitsu OEM fluid with a bit of Redline LSD friction modifer added. I think it is the additive that allows the plates to slip on slow corners rather than binding up and chattering or trying to make your tire slip over the ground.

- On the road course this thing ROCKS!! At somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 way through the average corner I can go full throttle and the rear squats a bit, steps out just a bit, points the nose toward corner exit, and pulls hard all the way out.

- If you talk with Jon at TRE and John at ST and ask them each to explain every single step that goes into making their rear diff mod - you will find that TRE has some important steps that Shep does not. Steps that can add to longevity and strength.

- I find it interesting that several folks are running rear toe IN for autocross. You guys are definitely at the top of the pack, so it must work. I've always run toe OUT. I have recently increased it a bit - even on the road course entering turns at 100mph. But on the road course I have a lot of downforce to keep it from getting too out of control.

- Compared to Donour I'm running stiffer rates in the front and similar rates in the rear, but I have both a stiffer front bar and the Perrin rear bar set to full stiff. I have done several geometry related things to try to help turn-in, but am considering dropping some front spring rate to help it even more. . .

- My AX times have sucked this year. I am hoping it's due to not much time in the car (only did 8 AX days this year compared to 16-20 in years past) rather than the changes I've made actually hurting the capabilities of the car. . .


EVOlutionary

kyoo

iTrader: (29)

Great review - do you find that you could say the same thing about the diff performing in AX as you did for the road course? It's good to hear that it's been lasting this long for you thus far.

As far as suspension set ups, I'm on something extremely mild - gtworx springs and bilstein struts, stock bars. i actually recently changed my alignment to something a lot more mild as well, and my mpg spiked from it (not that this is what it's for). i also have roll center adjuster, front control arm bushings, rear trailing arm bushings, and bumpsteer kit. i think the set up has been really good for me so far, and i really don't have any complaints about the handling at all right now. I'm waiting to test things again on stickier tires though. I don't think my rear end will kick out in a power oversteer like it did on my older crappy tires

EVOlutionary

iTrader: (38)

Yes, absolutely. I did not mean to infer that the rear diff did not perform the same for AX. I have had it in the car for so long now that how the car handles just seems "normal" to me The road course stuff is new to me, so that's what I'm noticing and focussing on the most right now. I'm sure if I swapped in a stock rear diff that I would be able to tell a huge difference and would be hating life and would be pissed at how the car is handling . . .

TommiM

iTrader: (19)

WIthout any friction modifier my tre diff starts to make clunking noises when warmed up and slow tight turns or going up steep driveways. Using fluids with modifiers in it will quiet it down, but I think I would keep the performance of it and put up with a little noise.

EVOlutionary

iTrader: (38)

Agreed. I am going to run it next season (freakin' winter will be here soon in MI!) with no LSD additive and with some different diff fluids to see what it will do and how/if the performance will change. . .

R/TErnie

iTrader: (32)

run the 75/140 NS Redline its full win!

Also... your whining is not from the diff...its from your transfer case. I should know... mine does the same thing. Pre-Diff bushings...you can't hear it very well, but with the diff bushings its like its screaming in your head.

don't buy beatrush diff bushings unless you're buying the set that I'm selling. In that case...best mod ever.

XcreatonX

iTrader: (13)

def looks like it just made my winter mod list. I'll just add this to my Tcase that needs rebuild and am looking at a AWD driveshaft to lighten it up.
From what I have read this mod will help a mild to wild setup. Right now I'm just on lowering springs, but looking to upgrade to some coilovers this winter.

TommiM

iTrader: (19)

yep. I tried a few different fluids in my diff and the redline 75w140 ns has really been the best out of them all.

Dallas J

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like for the price and the fact TRE has cores (for now...) that this is a must-do over the winter. Ill be on the same setup as Kyooch but with bigger bars and 245 hoosiers to get use to the Evo over the Talon before I make the jump to stiffer springs.

Thanks for sharing your experiences Ernie, Evolutionary, and others. Before this thread the diff mod wasnt even on my radar, now its top of the list.

donour

iTrader: (6)

I'm offtopic again, but...

I'm still on 245s. There's really no good reason to wait on getting proper springs. Hypercos are like $70 each. Good dampers are where the money goes. You might delay your spending, but you'll waste time getting used to a setup that doesn't work right.

The diff is easy, cheap, and might make you faster. Good coilovers are _not_ cheap, but they will make you faster. Notice: even with 1000lb rear springs, I still have a "mild" setup. Take a look at Jared/Evolutionary's car, in person.

d

Dallas J

iTrader: (1)

My reason for waiting is kind of a do I want to go crazy on the Evo or make the move to B-mod with a DSR. Right now the Evo is a DD but wall know how long that lasts .

You're possibly right on wasting time on 245s vs going straight to 285 (currently on 275s with the Talon), but doing everything at once is big $$ which Ill have from the Talon sale but will be reduced to eating Top Ramen for a few months :P

donour

iTrader: (6)

Actually my point was not to waste time on some kind of "lowering" spring or cheap coilovers -- regardless of what tire you run. Here, cheap refers to < $2500.

My experience is that the difference between a 245 and 285 hoosier is not as great as you might guess; less than a second per minute. The reason I'm running the smaller ones is simply budget and that I'm not going to nats this year.

d

Dallas J

iTrader: (1)

I see what you're saying. Im already on GTworx/Bilsteins and eventually will get either AST 5100 or Ohlins. Ill be keeping my current setup for winter playing though.

Less than 1 sec per 60 sec...What I wouldn't give to be 1 sec faster in the talon right now. Id finally be running head to head with those damn Vettes (The guys with national championships)

kyoo

iTrader: (29)

i actually wish i went straight to coilovers, or at least stiffer springs. i get a lot of body roll throwing the evo around at autocross, though i feel like this set up wouldn't be bad at all for track use. plus with coilovers you can adjust everything to best match the car set up, allow for quick corner entry and now corner exit with a beefy rear diff

TommiM

iTrader: (19)

A wider tire is not always faster. You want a tire that is wide enough to give you the traction and braking you need. Any more and its just added rotational mass. A tire too wide will also take longer to heat up to work within its range. I had this issue on my last car, turbo mr2 286 rwhp 2502 lbs without driver. 245/40/17 hoosier R6s rears and 205/45/17 fronts. It was a full track car with coilovers, swaybars, etc etc.. I had to go to a narrower tire due to the fact that the tires were not heating up. I could have actually gotten away with their A6s for road course!
If your increasing the traction available at the rears with a larger footprint, then essentially you will need more power to get the rear to rotate. You will also need more power to get the tires hot enough to work. Its all a balancing act depending on drivers style and setup though. Imo, If your over 350 awhp and with coilovers then I could see going with a wider tire.