Differential question

[mike561]

Just had a quick question about the open differential my car has. is it possible to do any drifting or a.k.a. fish-tailing or is it best when you have a posi-trac setup? i tried a little bit today and it seemed like it would have

[silicon212]

An open diff is much better if you purposely want to 'get it loose', drift or whatever you want to call it.

[PeteA216]

You can do it with an open differential, but it's a lot harder because one tire is gonna want to spin while the other doesn't. In order for me to successfully do it on dry pavement I had to have a little bit of speed going, turn hard and punch it just right. It kind of stresses the car a lot structurally though, especially trying to break the rear end loose on dry pavement. I wouldn't recommend doing it too much.

[mike561]

yeah i havent been really doing it much in general, ive only done things like that once on completely dry pavement too

[PeteA216]

A sort of a "P.S." so to speak.... I have found in past experiances that it's much easier to fishtail, drift, etc in a RWD vehicle with limited slip/posi as opposed to one with an open differential because both tires will want to spin, thus allowing the rear end to move side to side. A front wheel drive vehicle with a hand grip emergency brake is really easy and fun to drift with because you can lock up the rear wheels, allowing the rean end to slide freely and his the gas at the same time further propelling and giving more control to the drift/fishtail.

[mike561]

I never tried doing that on my 98 grand prix supercharged, that was front wheel drive but the e-brake was by the pedals instead of the center console

[96capricemgr]

The theory behind using open diffs is that if an inexperianced driver mashes the pedal only one tire spins while the other stays planted so as to stop the rear from swinging.

[PeteA216]

Even with an open differential, I've been able to get some nice fishy's going. I wish I got some on video.

[mike561]

yeah i've herd of people able to do it as well, just havent seen yet, and certianly fun do to, only cars ive drifted in were a camaro, firebird, and (gasp!) a mustang

[silicon212]

My car has an open diff, and I generally get it to fishtail very nicely if I open it up while steering. Both sides break loose. It can be annoying at times. I've fishtailed it at 20MPH while making a turn and kicking it into first via the TV cable.

[PeteA216]

Originally Posted by mike561

and certianly fun do to, only cars ive drifted in were a camaro, firebird, and (gasp!) a mustang

I know it's a sin of this forum, but I'm going there anyway... The fastest car I've driven yet was an '03 Mustang Cobra with a supercharged 5.0 liter V8 w/DOHC. What a freaking rush. Able to break both 10 inch wide tires loose through all 5 gears. I've taken a ride in a Lamborghini Diablo once (ride, not driven), and this Mustang was definately comparable. I've driven Camaros, Trans Ams, Ex-Cop cars both Caprice and Crown Vic, and a Supercharged wrong wheel drive Bonneville... None that could compare to this Cobra. I'm sure theres plenty of cars that could spank this car, I just haven't driven it yet. But hey, I'm still young. Now that I think of it, suprisingly, I have yet to drive a Corvette.

[mike561]

Yeah i went for a ride in my neighbor's 1970 chevelle, that things a beast, with the 6.7 liter 454, that thing is so loud you can hear it on the next street, he has to start it outside his garage cause it shakes everything in the house