WLJayne
Well-Known Member
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Hi all,
Having armed myself with a set of lovely new tyres recently, this weekend I set aside two whole days to work on my hippo. One of the first jobs I did first was to re-attach the prop and do a torque test. I jacked one of my wheels up, and DD jacked up one of his, he has a brand new Bell recon VCU. We used a breaker bar and a big socket on the central hull nut. Mine felt a bit tighter, but still moved freely, which was a relief. We didn't do any scientific measurements but we will at some stage.
So I left the prop on and got on with other work. But on the drive back and during subsequent journeys, I have noticed big differences in the way the car drives since giving it back it's 4x4 capability.
The largest difference is that the car seems to be getting its power down far easier, with smoother accelarations out of junctions and better throttle response. Which leads me to speculate that the torque split isn't what people think it is. I'm starting to think that the back wheels don't simple "do nothing and follow the car," rather, they always have some power going to them (I don't know how much) and the VCU simply regulates that distribution automatically. Rather than being either open or closed I think that there are many shades inbetween depending on what conditions you are driving in. But having felt the difference I strongly reject the notion that the system is crude and useless. Unlike a Haldex unit, which is either engaged or not (I think) this thing feels to me like it is varying the torque split all the time, and the different gear ratio in the rear diff just takes away any lag that would be there so that the 4x4 system can be even more responsive.
Anyway, I'm never going to put it in mondo mode ever again, it was ****e as a 2wd.
Thoughts?
Will.
Having armed myself with a set of lovely new tyres recently, this weekend I set aside two whole days to work on my hippo. One of the first jobs I did first was to re-attach the prop and do a torque test. I jacked one of my wheels up, and DD jacked up one of his, he has a brand new Bell recon VCU. We used a breaker bar and a big socket on the central hull nut. Mine felt a bit tighter, but still moved freely, which was a relief. We didn't do any scientific measurements but we will at some stage.
So I left the prop on and got on with other work. But on the drive back and during subsequent journeys, I have noticed big differences in the way the car drives since giving it back it's 4x4 capability.
The largest difference is that the car seems to be getting its power down far easier, with smoother accelarations out of junctions and better throttle response. Which leads me to speculate that the torque split isn't what people think it is. I'm starting to think that the back wheels don't simple "do nothing and follow the car," rather, they always have some power going to them (I don't know how much) and the VCU simply regulates that distribution automatically. Rather than being either open or closed I think that there are many shades inbetween depending on what conditions you are driving in. But having felt the difference I strongly reject the notion that the system is crude and useless. Unlike a Haldex unit, which is either engaged or not (I think) this thing feels to me like it is varying the torque split all the time, and the different gear ratio in the rear diff just takes away any lag that would be there so that the 4x4 system can be even more responsive.
Anyway, I'm never going to put it in mondo mode ever again, it was ****e as a 2wd.
Thoughts?
Will.
