When I bought the car it had almost my ideal spec:
- 2012 R300 SV
- 2.0 Duratec
- 6 speed gearbox
- Carbon front cycle wings
- 15" Wheels
- Caterham leather seats
- Track day roll bar
- No carpeting
The only thing missing was an LSD.
This being my first Caterham, it took a few months to get used to the car and become more confident with it. But eventually the lack of an LSD became noticeable. It was just too easy to spin up the inside wheel on tight corners or exiting junctions. The car was also not very predictable during fast take-offs, with traction sometimes swapping between the back wheels.
Time for an LSD...
After much research and forum posts I decided on a Quaife ATB. I have no intention of using the car on the track, and certainly can't imagine racing it, so the predictability and low maintenance of the ATB diff was appealing. The order was placed with Birds Performance in the UK.
£950 down, and about a week later....
Getting it fitted took a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between my local Caterham mechanic, Birds UK, and me. The local Caterham guys here in my part of Germany didn't have a lot of experience with the BMW diffs and the initial installation suggested that thinner 'shims' might be required to reduce the tightness of the gear mesh. After some discussion between all the parties it was found that the bearings needed to be more firmly seated in position, and the job was then finished. Many thanks to James and Kevin Bird for their great after-sales support.
Anyone looking for a good set of instruction on fitting a Quaife diff should see this picasa album of step-by-step photos:
(clicking on the photos gives an explanation of each step with useful information)
After a week the diff is performing well. Tight cornering is much more predictable (and fun) and the added traction is very noticeable.
