Center diff in ST215 wearing?

[strx7]

odd considering that the front diff has guranteed drive, and the rear relies on the viscous to give it drive.

they are by design, a front wheel drive car with rear wheel drive assistance

[MAGN1T]

It's the centre diff that splits the torque, the viscous unit is like any other limited slip unit, it partially locks the front and rear outputs together so that with slippage in one of them, there's still drive to the other.

Easy way to check is to put the car into neutral, lift the front wheels, turn both fronts in the same direction, the resistance that you feel is from the viscous unit. When they wear out, it's often from running different sized tyres, the viscous unit gets too hot and actually gets tighter, not loose.

Steve

[strx7]

and it causes the car to 'bind up' when doing tight turns - u turns, car parks etc you can feel it trying to crab its way around a corner

[GTTpower]

odd considering that the front diff has guranteed drive, and the rear relies on the viscous to give it drive.

they are by design, a front wheel drive car with rear wheel drive assistance

Sounds like my car. No centre diff but transfer case sends torque to viscous coupling which takes up difference between the front a rear diffs. End up with about a 60:40 front/rear split.
This is making me question all transverse 'full time 4wd' layouts, Subaru & Audi are sounding better all the time

[cat007]

Well as a test yesterday, while driving to my mates in the wop wops, I boosted in 2nd gear and the back kicked out giving a really nice 4 wheel drive feeling. I'll have another go in the wet when I can

[strx7]

odd considering that the front diff has guranteed drive, and the rear relies on the viscous to give it drive.

they are by design, a front wheel drive car with rear wheel drive assistance

Sounds like my car. No centre diff but transfer case sends torque to viscous coupling which takes up difference between the front a rear diffs. End up with about a 60:40 front/rear split.
This is making me question all transverse 'full time 4wd' layouts, Subaru & Audi are sounding better all the time

Correct, short of having very sophisticated gearbox/transfer/front diff arrangement - ala full out rally car with $30K+ drivetrain, that is what you get

[GTTpower]

odd considering that the front diff has guranteed drive, and the rear relies on the viscous to give it drive.

they are by design, a front wheel drive car with rear wheel drive assistance

Sounds like my car. No centre diff but transfer case sends torque to viscous coupling which takes up difference between the front a rear diffs. End up with about a 60:40 front/rear split.
This is making me question all transverse 'full time 4wd' layouts, Subaru & Audi are sounding better all the time

Correct, short of having very sophisticated gearbox/transfer/front diff arrangement - ala full out rally car with $30K+ drivetrain, that is what you get

Hmm interesting, sorry to go off topic but how different are evo setups compared to celica/caldina? Ive heard they use clutch pack centre lsds as opposed to this viscous thing.

[iOnic]

They all have the viscous center unit