Quaif LSD - Wet Roads

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jih2000

Active Member
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
104
Location
UK
Car
C63 - Tuned
Hi,

My cars tuned so making more HP than stock. Its a 2013+ C63 sedan and the ESP seems generally very good at controlling the rear end in the dry warm months of summer. However, its not so great now its colder and wetter so have to drive carefully especially from junctions.

To make things more predictable i'm interested in the Quaif LSD and am contemplating having one of these fitted. Anyone else with a similar year car have one of these and could offer advice on how these perform for standard/fast road use in the wet please?

Thanks
 
The Diff will help quite a bit in the wet and will feel more planted. However, its not going to stop the traction light from flickering and the traction control from hampering your progress when you plant your right foot.
I would certainly recommend getting one fitted as it not only helps in the wet but makes the car far more predictable in the wet
 
Why didn't / don't AMG make a LSD as standard on their cars like on CLS55 or C63, cost wise they can of course bump up the list price but wouldn't all customers weigh up the cost benefit and willingly accept it?
 
Fitted winter tyres already? - I can tell the PS3s on my car are now struggling to get as much traction on the road, and I don't even have a high-powered AMG model.
 
Why didn't / don't AMG make a LSD as standard on their cars like on CLS55 or C63, cost wise they can of course bump up the list price but wouldn't all customers weigh up the cost benefit and willingly accept it?

LSD wasn't standard on the CLS55
 
My cars mapped and running a quaife. Haven't driven a non diff car so hard to compare but honestly in any conditions other than dry ones the C63 really does struggle for traction ESP in lower gears..

I'm running pilot super sports on my car, good in the dry but so so in the wet and cold conds. Prefer the OE conti 5's. Sure there's a new conti 6 out as well..
 
MPSS are atrocious below 7c. Worst tyre I've ever run on a C63. Verging on dangerous right now.
 
MPSS are atrocious below 7c. Worst tyre I've ever run on a C63. Verging on dangerous right now.

You obviously haven't driven in the wet with a car running Pirelli P Zero's then :eek: We're talking of slipping and sliding round roundabouts under 20mph!
 
My shot would be that it's likely safer to spin up the inside rear tyre off a corner than both rear tyres off a corner.
 
You obviously haven't driven in the wet with a car running Pirelli P Zero's then :eek: We're talking of slipping and sliding round roundabouts under 20mph!
Beat me to it!

My P Zero's are now consigned to the bin and with Michelin Pilot Alpin 4's + a Quaife Diff I can now navigate cold & wet roundabouts at normal speeds and accelerate out of them without drama :thumb:
 
My shot would be that it's likely safer to spin up the inside rear tyre off a corner than both rear tyres off a corner.

You should read up on how a diff works.
 
The quaife diff really does help in the wet, as do really good wet weather tyres like F1 Assymetric 2/3s. They really help settle down the back end compared to Conti's, but < 7C they struggle to get up to temperature.

You get less ESP intervention and more traction overall with a torque biasing diff. If you turn the ESP of, you get predictable oversteer if you are greedy with the throttle. When it does go, rather than just spinning up an inside wheel when loaded up exiting a corner, it will be both wheels that are sliding. Great fun!

Which ever way you cut it, the C63 does struggle for traction in the cold and wet. The right tyres and an LSD help, but the rest is down to you :)
 
Open diff: zero torque to outside loaded wheel (the wheel with grip) when inside spins up though doesn't it? That limits your accelerative force, and is not likely to overwhelm the grip at the outside (as soon as the inside spins up the outside isnt getting any torque). Im thinking of the traction circle here.

LSD - when locking you aren't torque limited by the wheel with least grip (inside) as you are with an open diff, and will potentially understeer during the early phase of locking, but with potential to go into oversteer when applying too much power (both wheel will spin up).

Above references scenarios where TC/ESP isnt being used, on a corner exit (pulling away from a junction, exiting woodcote etc) - not in a straight line.

Open to any correction.
 
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My point was that with TC on you'd struggle to spin up both wheels coming out of a corner, with a diff fitted. It's not automatically transformed into a drift queen with the addition of a quaife. Take TC fully off and a different animal entirely.
 
I need an LSD fitted on my E63 asap.

Both my previous E63 had one the first was a quaife and second was oem.

This is my first E63 without an LSD and what a joke, shame on merc for not fitting one as standard and adding it to the cost!!!
 
Mine has pirellis and no lsd, it's a bit rubbish now the weather has turned.
 
Thanks for advice I'm sold, try to get booked in at birds or eurocharged whoever is cheaper.

I'm currently running standard 19" 255 rear tyres, not changed for winter tyres but want to get some 265 or 275s on the rear to see if this helps too but want to wait until the existing ones wear down. Reading these forums looked like they might help a little too and fit without any mods/rubbing.
 
265's on mine no rubbing at all , can go up to 275 I hear .
 

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