Re:Brett's Suspension questions, Shawn's Reply LNG

[trnsfrma@ix.netcom.com (Shawn C. Meze)]

At 01:40 AM 4/23/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>On Wed, 23 Apr 1997, Shawn C. Meze wrote:
>
>> Cars like mine which have the Velocity diff kit have more steering control in a 
>> turn using the throttle. Unlike this last description, in my car I am able to 
>> tighten a turn by feeding more throttle and turning tighter. A stock VW will 
>> only push more to the oustide of a turn and scrub the tires more, breaking 
>> traction and thusly, being slower thru a corner. This is my best description I 
>> can give of the Velocity diff kit. The main reason I have gotten into the 
>> Velocity Diff Kit is because I believe its probably your next step in gaining 
>> more steering control.) 

>Tell me about your Velocity diff kit! 


Its the difference between night and day. Imagine going from a one wheel drive car 
(well, like most A1 cars already do) to having both wheels churning while doing a 
burnout! Well, thats not the real reason for having it but if your able to do that 
with the kit, imagine what it does for you on the track or on tight roads. More 
power to the ground instead of just spinning the lighter wheel. The change of the 
drivabilty of the car in the corners is still something im learning to use to my 
benefit on the track but on the street, its simply awsome. Im gonna put one im my 
GLi next! Its a must.  
Still, with my Scirocco im able to still spin the inside wheel through corners on 
the autox course so I still have to feather the throttle to get the most power to 
the ground on tight turns. 

One of my favorite and pretty recent experiences with the 80% diff kits amazing 
ability was while I was driving the Pottermans Street Modified Scirocco S on a 
saturday practice one saturday. His car really loves to spin. 
Its quite snappy when it comes to understeer. It wont give you any warning at all, 
it just spins on you. My car will talk and hint all day long, but, thats what you 
get when you gont got the terminal velocity into a turn like his 160HP Scirocco 
does. :)
Anyways, we were going into this left hander and even before we got there, Mike is 
saying that I had "braked too late and im gonna spin". (His feet are dancing, arms 
flailing and hes grasping for the oh-sheist handle heh!) He was right, I turned 
into the corner and the rear end just starts to come around on me. So I do the 
natural thing, turn into the skid and in VW's, the best way to save a spin is floor 
it! Flogg the hell out of it and maybe you can keep it from doing a 180 or 360 
spin. SO I stand on the gas using all of the 170HP machine has to offer and I feel 
its maybe gonna save itself. Meanwhile, the 180 HP stroker is putting the power to 
the ground and both front tires are smoking so much that smoke is comming up and 
over the hood on both sides of the car! Well, to finish the story, the 190HP motor 
was able to put the power down to both wheels via the diff kit and it truly did 
save us from spinning. We went through the turn completely sideways, never hit a 
cone and it only slowed my total time by a couple seconds. I dont know if Mike was 
as amazed as I was over the quick incident but, its one of those things that really 
needed a video camera to caprure a truly amazing monent! 
Mike may have more info on it as far as a course worker saying something to him. Im 
not sure....... Mike???



>I have asked about it in the past, but I can't remember your reply.


Ya, I remember replying a whle back but I must of deleated it.... Im sure it was an 
awsome reply! :)


>How is it different from a Quaife? 

Well, many ways. First it uses the stock "mini slip" diff that are already in the 
later Scirocco (and A1 GTi's) trannies. (the 020 tranny) So you wont have to have 
the diff installed. (Which would require a tranny teardown, which would mean that 
you might as well have it rebuilt) It decreases the amount of slippage that the 
diff has, it "tightens the diff", if you will. So now, mine now has the stage 2 or 
the 80% kit. Its not a total locked/limited diff like the Quaife is, but then 
again, its not nearly the cost of the quaife or the added expense either. Its 
easily installed with a few basic tools. Velocity gives one of the tools for 
removing the flanges.
 


>Was it easier to install?

I was innitially intimidated by it at first (Ahhhhhh, tranny parts!!!) but once I 
figured out what exactly was involved with doing this job, its actually really easy 
to do. (The Potterman held my hand while I did it, so it was ok..LOL!..) It 
required the removal of both axles. (Dont forget the special hex tool that is 
required to get all the bolts out.) Then the  tranny flanges get removed. (That too 
requires a special tool to press the flanges in so the clip can be removed.) Then 
its a matter of replacing the brass ring and adding the spacer. Then reinstall the 
whole thing together again.   


>Did you do it (the install) yourself?


YUP! Both times. (First the stage 1, 40% kit and later the stage 2,  80% kit)


>How does it compare to the Quaife, in performance?


Jeff at Velocity told me that with the relatively low HP that most VW put out (Ive 
got maybe about 115 which is kinda at the limit of the rules of DSP) this kit will 
do more for the car than the Quaife diff will. He also told me that the 40% kit 
would work fine on my car but once I raced it in the rain, I didnt have the nice 2 
wheel traction like I was seeing others with the stage 2 kit had. So I upgraded to 
the stage 2 (AKA 80%) and the next time I raced in the rain, it actually felt like 
I was driving in the dry but without the kit. Thats how the kit behaves in the 
rain. Traction is pretty impressive. It made a HUGE difference for me between the 
two stages! It made my daily driving smile even wider. Its really alot of fun to 
drive.
I believe Mannix runs the 40% kit and is quite satisfied with it?? (Dont wanna put 
words in your mouth, Mannix.) 


>Is it reliable or does it require constant maint?


Completely. It should never wear out, as far as I know. I know that Jeff had 
extensive testing done in Randy Walters 5 time San Diego DSP Champion GTi racer. 
Randys very hard on his equipment and they said the metalergy testing showed no 
wear after 6 months of road racing and autoxes. I dont see how they could wear, 
really. It just sits in the tranny flange under preasure of them tinny springs. 
<shrug> I didnt make it, just own one.....  :)


>What boxes does it fit?


the 020 tranny. If your not sure which tranny you have, get under the car and find 
the tranny code. Call Velocity and ask Jeff or Jeromy if the kit will go in. (Thats 
what I did....) 

>Last but not least....... How much was it?
>Harry


I Dunno. I threw a credit card at him over the phone. The ad in EC says:
stage 1...........................$170.95
stage 2...........................$299.95
310-643-0005 is their phone number if your interested in having it. 
I dunno if they give an internet discount or anything. Might mention me and see if 
that gets you anything? Hell, could get you a 20% markup in price! :)
Anyways,
HTH!!!



Shawn 


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