Question, Has anyone installed a Quaife Differential on a 3rd gen? I hear they are very good and send force to the wheel with more traction instead of the one with less. Do they even work with our cars? Just curious.
Thanks,
Mrkanda

 

all 3,4,5 gen LSD differentials are the same for the 5 spd models. the non-lsd diffs are different part numbers between each gen so I can't say much there...

But if you've swapped in a VE tranny w/ LSD, then you can use the quaife that's designed for the 4/5gen LSD tranny.

 

That's great info, Matt. Thanks! I'm planning on doing the VE-5spd w/lsd tranny swap sometime soon, but didn't know if the quaife was compatible. Do you, or anyone else, know the exact benefits of a quaife in addition to a regular LSD? I'm basically looking at getting the best handling out of my 3rd gen vs. buying a newer Max or other car with RWD. I'd like to keep the 3rd gen, but can it be made to handle as good or better than newer cars? Thanks.
-Mrkanda

 

Why haven't you done this mod?

 

it would take me forever to explain the differences, but the quaife is another GIANT step above the VLSD that we already have.. do a bit of looking around for more info on it and you'll find more than you ever wanted to know.

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

Said they guy who just spent big bucks on a motor...

 

WTF? I just did some checking. Looks like the Quaife is ~$1400. I don't remember the 4thGen guys paying anywhere near that much a few years back. That is a ton of money for a diff to put in an old sedan.

 

Really? I thought the group buy price was back in the day was like $1250 or so.

 

that's about the right price for them. they're not cheap. thus the reason I never considered it.

 

The main reason why the 4-gen/5-gen guys use the Quaife is because they didn't have one. Cattman was the original sole dist for these. But no one, I mean NO ONE bought these so he said forget it. $1400 or $1500 is probably the correct price as the market for them is nil.

VLSD = 20-25% "lock up" Quaife = 30-45-ish % lock up. This is the diff in a nushell unless someone wants the mechanical diff.

 

All this talk of price leads me to ask another question? Why put much money at all into a car that at most will bring around $4k KBB in the market? I mean, there are a lot of things our cars can do, especially when well maintained and modded nicely, but when do we draw the line at putting money into a car that is worth less then the mods we have on it, or do we just see it as our special toy or personal hobby, etc?

Personally, my '89 has only 82k on it and has been pretty well maintained. I think I could take it another 200k miles, so should I go ahead and do everything I want to it, or would that be a waste?

Any opinions are welcome.

 

That line is determined individually. I'd like to think all my mods were well justified as each really did something to make the maxima as good as it could be. I loved all my engine/suspension/brake mods. Taught be quite a bit too.

Now what do with all my turbo kit parts

 

Dog days of summer sale maybe?

 

I look at it this way, your going to be putting money into something you like and that you most likely wont get a part of it back.

~Alex