Peloquin LSD Question

**Flaps** · 03-09-2008, 02:11 PM

The feeling of getting pulled out of corners rather then spinning the inside tyre gives me a chubbie.

**Eddy** · 03-09-2008, 10:15 PM

Hoyhoy.
Just AIM & plant her, but make sure you aim, believe me, especially in tight ones when coming out of them.

P.S. I'm an old rear wheel man but me is changing. The more I drive this little girl, the more me is forgetting about rear or all wheelers.

**PoloGTi** · 03-09-2008, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by GT3

IMO I don’t see the point in spending thousands trying to make the Polo GTI something it’s not, eg LSD. Its FWD set up, chassis, tyre limitations, weight distribution etc will always limit in terms of being a super performer. For the money, you could pick up a used track-ready Porsche 944 for not much $$ at all, and it’ll out-handle many cars bc it was designed to handle well.

Yes this is all true but i feel the point to modifing a car is to overcome the faults or personal choice of the car from new.
There is no dout in my mind an LSD is def needed when wanting to track or race the car.
After driving several FWD cars with LSDs i can say they do make a big improvment.

My passion for the polo sets goals that i see and want to reach, one thing that can be greatly improved over standered is the handeling.
This includes many componets from bushes to LSDs.
I am slowly working away at getting coils, LSD and bushes.
Swaybars already done aswell as strut braces.

**jamesatfish** · 04-09-2008, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by GT3

For the money, you could pick up a used track-ready Porsche 944 for not much $$ at all, and it’ll out-handle many cars bc it was designed to handle well.

Very true words, but for me it's not just what you spend upfront or on mods, but what it costs to keep the car on the track as well.

For instance, the other day I needed to repair some minor damage on the Polo when Skippy decided that it was a good idea to cross the road right in front of the car. Thankfully no dented panels, but a new headlight cluster and a heap of plastic components for behind the front bar needed replacing. Probably the sort of damage you'd get if you ran too wide understeering on the final turn at Oran Park and lightly clipped the concrete wall.

One quick trip to the VW dealer, an evening's work and about $230 later, I had the car back to as-new condition with a minimum of fuss.

On the other hand, I've got a car very similar to the 944 that about 7 years ago had a small on-road encounter resulting in similar minor front-end damage. Thankfully Mr Insurance picked up that repair tab, which was good as the bill had 5 figures before the decimal place. It also took nearly 8 weeks to source the parts (some new from Germany, some reconditioned as-new from who-knows-where as the new parts are no longer made) and complete the relatively minor repairs.

Moral of the story - for about $45K the Polo GTI plus mods makes a superb track-ready car that's both quick around the track and relatively cheap to keep there should anything go wrong. I looked at a 944 Challenge car but I just couldn't ignore the costs of maintenance & repairs in the longer term for something that I'd really like to start competing in more seriously in the future.

Back on-topic - I'm actually considering the LSD path myself at the moment so it is very interesting to hear from others who have been down this path already. It sounds like it might be quite a good option.

**PeterHBne** · 04-09-2008, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by jamesatfish

but a new headlight cluster and a heap of plastic components for behind the front bar needed replacing. One quick trip to the VW dealer, an evening's work and about $230 later, I had the car back to as-new condition with a minimum of fuss.

That sounds awfully cheap.

I would have thought a light cluster alone would be $500 or $600 - and a few plastic bits would be $230 let alone a heap.

**jamesatfish** · 04-09-2008, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by PeterHBne

That sounds awfully cheap.

I would have thought a light cluster alone would be $500 or $600 - and a few plastic bits would be $230 let alone a heap.

I was amazed too - the light cluster was actually $237.60 which included the cluster itself (complete with bulbs for all the lights) as well as a number of plastic mounting brackets which had broken in the impact. I also needed 6 little plastic 'lugs' (for want of a better term) of various sizes that help join the headlamp cluster to the chassis, and the front bar to the chassis - those may have just come from a pile out the back of the workshop (they weren't supplied in pristine VAG bags & boxes like the headlight cluster) and as such they didn't charge for those.

I've purchased a few cars from that dealership so hopefully they helped out with a nice discount, but I actually think that the parts themselves really weren't that expensive.