Quaife ATB (for transaxle cars???)

[Joe Elliott <jee@domain.elided>]

It occurred to me the other day that the conventional friction-based 
limited-slip differential is as obsolete as the floppy disk and 
almost as failure-prone.  The Quaife Automatic Torque Biasing 
differential, however doesn't rely on wear-prone friction surfaces 
and, rather than locking the dif when wheelspin occurs, it actually 
transfers power to the wheel with grip.  (If you're not familiar with 
it check http://www.quaife.co.uk/product/atb.htm.)  Anyway, it's not 
available for Alfa transaxle cars.  So I contacted Quaife about it 
because I was curious, and it turns out that all they need is 25 
commited buyers and one stock differential and they'll start making 
them.  Prices range from $800-$1600 dollars (they make one for the 
164 that's $945), so I suppose they tell you how much it'll cost when 
they get your stock dif.  Now I'm not in a position to commit to any 
$900 differentials at the moment, but I'm wondering if there aren't 
25 potentially-interested GTV6/Milano/SZ (would the same dif fit 
4-cyl cars?) owners out there already.  I don't know how such a 
product would fit into the various SCCA classes that you guys 
campaign your GTV6's in, but I would think that someone (other than 
me) should be able to make the necessary contacts and round up at 
least 25 transaxle owners worldwide to get these things produced for 
our cars.  Or maybe someone like IAP or AR Ricambi could be convinced 
that there's a market and buy the first 25.  Anyway, think about it, 
spread the word, assess your piggy banks.  I'd love to see this 
happen between now and when I can afford one <grin>.

Daydreaming in Pittsburgh,
Joe Elliott

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided