Platted Diff

Ricky11

Active Member
Messages
83
Hi all,

Need some feedback from the DC5 community who have had experience with platted diffs.

So Im planning on buying an Mfactory plated diff for my DC5, its a road car but i do a number of trackdays and its got to the point where the car really needs a proper platted diff in it.

Now i will be driving the car on the weekends doing all the social stuff on the roads and you read reviews people saying its really clunky at low speed, it drifts along the road from right to left, its awful to live with ect... ect... ect.......

Has anyone here got some good feedback on having a platted diff in a road car.
I want to know what its like general day to day driving, parking, T-junctions, back road blasts and more importantly servicing and life span.

I used to race a Gen 3 Clio Cup which had a super aggressive diff, but as this was trailered everywhere so the only "normal" driving was around the paddock but I cant remember of any complaints it being awful to drive.

If you have some experience and views id love to know!

Thanks!
Rik.
 

SamDC5

Advanced Member
Messages
1,433
I have an M Factory 1.5 way at 66% preload. When it was first installed, it was awful. Clunked it's tits off and would constantly try and lock with even the slightest bit of steering input.

Did 1 track day and changed the box oil with friction modifier and since then it's been perfectly fine. Doesn't clunk at all, apart from when the box is stone cold and I'm pulling off the drive. I even used the car to go to work a few times and it was perfectly fine. The only time it catches me off guard on the road is accelerating with steering lock still applied and all of a sudden I'm off towards the curb.

Apparently M Factory diffs are hit and miss in regards to clunking. Mines silent but you can still feel it locking through the wheel. Just try and bed it in as fast as possible. All the cons make up for it on track though.

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SamDC5

Advanced Member
Messages
1,433
I wouldn't say it's made it any harder to drive on the road. I run 3.3 degrees of front camber and 2mm total toe out and the car will viciously drag me into dips on acceleration. The diff just makes it a bit more savage to correct but it's still fine to drive. All depends what you're willing to put up with I'd say.

Pulling out of junctions etc is fine, makes the steering super heavy but then again it's heavy anyway. Hope this helps!

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Ricky11

Active Member
Messages
83
Thanks for replying with your thought Sam,

Today I have learnt about the different oil's to use in the box, using general Honda MTF3 with friction modifier is a new one that's why i asked about the servicing on them.

I think accelerating with steering lock on is just something to get used and after a handful of times you expect it.
The savage dips in the roads makes it more of an experience is how i look at it :xgrin:

I still believe for the gains you'd get on the track is worth the "flaws" on normal day to day but was just unsure how bad people make it out to be.
 

SamDC5

Advanced Member
Messages
1,433
Ricky11 said:
Thanks for replying with your thought Sam,

Today I have learnt about the different oil's to use in the box, using general Honda MTF3 with friction modifier is a new one that's why i asked about the servicing on them.

I think accelerating with steering lock on is just something to get used and after a handful of times you expect it.
The savage dips in the roads makes it more of an experience is how i look at it :xgrin:

I still believe for the gains you'd get on the track is worth the "flaws" on normal day to day but was just unsure how bad people make it out to be.
I believe M Factory say to use Torco MTF but Area Motorsport recommended MTF 3 with Torco friction modifier. I'm not entirely sure of the service life, but from what I can gather the clutch plates are easy to get hold of and not super expensive.

Haha yeah, makes them a handful to enjoy on the road but the way the car pulls you across even on roads is worth it.

One of the best mods I did to mine was having my gearbox built, I also have an M Factory 5.46 which makes the car so much easier to drive on U.K tracks.

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Ricky11

Active Member
Messages
83
Going from previous experience the Clio Cup that had such a vicious platted diff, it had to be rebuilt every 6 months with the pre load re-calibrated to keep it at its most effectiveness. I guess its more tailored to motorsport than a road/track car.

I don't have much knowledge on the MFactory diff, but i assume its not that delicate and you can leave it in your gearbox without touching it apart from oil changes.
Effectively it won't loose its pre load tension over a small period of time.
 

SamDC5

Advanced Member
Messages
1,433
Ricky11 said:
Going from previous experience the Clio Cup that had such a vicious platted diff, it had to be rebuilt every 6 months with the pre load re-calibrated to keep it at its most effectiveness. I guess its more tailored to motorsport than a road/track car.

I don't have much knowledge on the MFactory diff, but i assume its not that delicate and you can leave it in your gearbox without touching it apart from oil changes.
Effectively it won't loose its pre load tension over a small period of time.
Yeah I believe that's the case. I've had mine in since April this year and done quite a lot of track time since and it's still as tight.

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Ricky11

Active Member
Messages
83
Thats good positive news which is what i wanted to hear!
It was on the Christmas list as a maybe item but now might be a definite item.


Thanks for your comments Sam xthumbup
 

SamDC5

Advanced Member
Messages
1,433
Ricky11 said:
Thats good positive news which is what i wanted to hear!
It was on the Christmas list as a maybe item but now might be a definite item.


Thanks for your comments Sam xthumbup
No problem mate, happy to help

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Mebz

Advanced Member
Messages
1,011
Mine clunks and it's loud.

Combined with all the other handling mods I've got (3deg camber, 255 tyres, 5.8 final drive, 3500 vtec cross over), it's pretty horrible to drive on the roads.

On a/b road, my 2 litre diesel avensis is quicker.
 

SamDC5

Advanced Member
Messages
1,433
Mebz said:
Mine clunks and it's loud.

Combined with all the other handling mods I've got (3deg camber, 255 tyres, 5.8 final drive, 3500 vtec cross over), it's pretty horrible to drive on the roads.

On a/b road, my 2 litre diesel avensis is quicker.
Guess I'm just used to mine being ruined now...

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Mebz

Advanced Member
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1,011
SamDC5 said:
Guess I'm just used to mine being ruined now...

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I still enjoy driving it though, real drama to it.
 

SamDC5

Advanced Member
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1,433
Mebz said:
I still enjoy driving it though, real drama to it.
Yeah for sure, nothing like wrestling the wheel at 50mph down a country road because you've hit a tiny bump .

Diff makes roundabouts good fun mind. Plant it in any gear

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Mebz

Advanced Member
Messages
1,011
SamDC5 said:
Yeah for sure, nothing like wrestling the wheel at 50mph down a country road because you've hit a tiny bump .

Diff makes roundabouts good fun mind. Plant it in any gear

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What's worse is that people think you are in a fast car but it's just a tramlining, ditch finding piece of cap....
 

SamDC5

Advanced Member
Messages
1,433
Mebz said:
What's worse is that people think you are in a fast car but it's just a tramlining, ditch finding piece of cap....
I couldn't shake my mates standard 3.0 Legacy on a bumpy B road in fear of my life.

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carl hammond

Advanced Member
Messages
3,737
Hi guys

With the house move happening in the next few months I will have the garage I need to start working on the car and making the final stages to track only as I will have another daily).

I am looking at both Final Drives and Diff's. Firstly I have never removed and worked on a gearbox so I assume this is a job to be done by a garage but are their any recommended Final drives and diff's to go for as I will still for the time being be required to drive the car too and from the tracks so it needs to be usable.

I considered both the 5.4 and 5.8 final drives but diff's there are so many different types I cannot decide, any opinions and reviews/recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks
 

Mebz

Advanced Member
Messages
1,011
carl hammond said:
Hi guys

With the house move happening in the next few months I will have the garage I need to start working on the car and making the final stages to track only as I will have another daily).

I am looking at both Final Drives and Diff's. Firstly I have never removed and worked on a gearbox so I assume this is a job to be done by a garage but are their any recommended Final drives and diff's to go for as I will still for the time being be required to drive the car too and from the tracks so it needs to be usable.

I considered both the 5.4 and 5.8 final drives but diff's there are so many different types I cannot decide, any opinions and reviews/recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks
I'm running an m factory. No complaints here
 

Mebz

Advanced Member
Messages
1,011
carl hammond said:
Cool mate which one do you know, I believe there are various ones 1.5 way etc, or am I wrong on that ?
I've got the 1.5. You can get the 1.5 or 1.0.

I think the 1.5 works under deceleration as well, whereas the 1.0 doesn't.

1.0 is meant to feel more natural. Either way, no complaints from me
 

ollydc5

Advanced Member
Messages
2,634
Evening

What kind of power are you running ?

We‘ve had loads of different combos over the years now.

Have ran a 5.1, 5.4 and recently a 5.8 final drive. The 5.1 was ok but didn‘t really offer that much out on the circuit, we run the car up to 240bhp but just wanted more. So we swapped the 5.1 out for a 5.4 with a spoon plated diff, this was a far better match and once out on track we were flying.

Then had an ep3 and we chucked a 5.4 in their also and it was sweet, no plated diff though :-( popped an oem lsd in though which was a great improvement over the stock poo diff.

At present I‘d brought a DC5 from another member hoping to pocket the gearbox from it for my other DC5. It has a plated diff, 5.8fd and 240bhp. Really good combination of parts for a track car I‘d definitely recommend this setup over the others I‘ve tried. Pound for pound over going for more bhp it‘s a great option. If you already have more bhp then happy days. Not sure a 5.8fd with over 270bhp would be a great match, don‘t have much experience over 240bhp personally :-(

If I wasn‘t looking at going supercharged or whatever, I‘d be swapping the boxes out. My advice is to see if there is a keen track day member with similar mods, see if they‘ll take you for a spin 🙈

Not going to list the pros and cons of a plated diff I‘m sure you know enough about them. The oem lsd is a great bit of kit for a factory part. Not convinced something like the quaife atb is much better than oem but I‘d love to feel what the mfactory helical lsd is like. The plated diffs from my experience is quite a bit stronger over the oem lsd and Personally I preferred them out of the circuits
 
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