gts071
29-11-2008, 11:47 AM
Well as it was raining today so I decided to give the ole girl a drive and test out my Harrop cover (and noltec rear crossmember mounting bush kit)!
Here is a quick run though my suspension setup:
King springs (Ultra Lows) front and rear
Koni adjustable shocks set to around half way between soft and stiff both front and rear
Shameless plug for my car thread (if you want to read more): Australian LS1 and Holden Forums (http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=56377)
Previously I could barely take off on most road surfaces in the wet without chipping a tooth or having the windscreen wipers come on (that's if they were not already on) and it sounded horrible. Under light or heavy acceleration it would happen and no amount of feathering the throttle would tame it down, the only thing that really seemed to work is ride the clutch and get it into 2nd gear at around 20kmph and accelerate gently from there.
So here is my first impressions, I was putting down the road and turned left and gave the throttle a little dab while I was in 1st gear and there was the sound of minor axel tramp and I could feel it ever so slightly. So around the next corner I lightly accelerated and held it on for a little bit with some axel tramp still happening and I would at this stage say there is about a 70-80% improvement. So down some back roads and so forth to test out some heavier acceleration in the wet. So I apply about 50-60% throttle from take off and there is a fair bit of axel tramp happening, I would still say at this level it is around a 40-50% improvement but still annoying never the less.
Now the acceleration tests are done I move on to another and start putting down the road in 1st and stomping on the gas, again the axel tramp is still present (and this is a good time to remind you this it designed to reduce axel tramp it may not actually stop it completely) but much more bearable than previously and I would say it's a good 70-80% improvement compare to me doing it prior to the install. At this stage I wasn't going to try 2nd gear at high speed so I was putting around at 30kmph or so and gave the throttle a stab and it was about at 60-70% improvement.
The biggest thing I noticed after playing around a bit there was a huge difference when I would feather the throttle once the axel tramp had started and I can now almost control the car enough to reduce the axel tramp by a good 80-90% by using the right foot as this really seems to make a difference compared to no harrop diff cover. Before, the axel tramp was that bad my automatic reaction was to take my foot off the go pedal and start again, when taking off from some intersections before it could take 2-3 goes just to get moving with limited axel tramp. Now it is just a small amount of throttle control once it starts and I can keep it to a minimum without too much trouble at all!
To give people an idea of what the axel tramp would feel like before was like driving over the cattle crossing doing about 60kmph! So it is something you definitely felt!
Now it would be compare at best to driving over a couple of garden hoses and at worst maybe some broomsticks? (never actually tried that but it is all what came to mind!)
So here is my summary:
Did it make a difference: Sure did. Overall I would say about an 80% improvement
Would I recommend it: Yep! It is a great product and so far I’m very happy :D
Cost: Cover was $400 (I think) landed as it was 2nd hand but never used. Crossmember bushes were about $100 and installation would be around $100-$120 + oil + additives.
Overall rating: It is hard to give it a full rating at this stage as I haven't used it down the strip yet so as above I would say an 80% improvement (so far)
The big test is going to be the 20th of December when I take it down the strip as that is where I noticed axel tramp the most! So I’ll be back then :)
Here is a quick run though my suspension setup:
King springs (Ultra Lows) front and rear
Koni adjustable shocks set to around half way between soft and stiff both front and rear
Shameless plug for my car thread (if you want to read more): Australian LS1 and Holden Forums (http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=56377)
Previously I could barely take off on most road surfaces in the wet without chipping a tooth or having the windscreen wipers come on (that's if they were not already on) and it sounded horrible. Under light or heavy acceleration it would happen and no amount of feathering the throttle would tame it down, the only thing that really seemed to work is ride the clutch and get it into 2nd gear at around 20kmph and accelerate gently from there.
So here is my first impressions, I was putting down the road and turned left and gave the throttle a little dab while I was in 1st gear and there was the sound of minor axel tramp and I could feel it ever so slightly. So around the next corner I lightly accelerated and held it on for a little bit with some axel tramp still happening and I would at this stage say there is about a 70-80% improvement. So down some back roads and so forth to test out some heavier acceleration in the wet. So I apply about 50-60% throttle from take off and there is a fair bit of axel tramp happening, I would still say at this level it is around a 40-50% improvement but still annoying never the less.
Now the acceleration tests are done I move on to another and start putting down the road in 1st and stomping on the gas, again the axel tramp is still present (and this is a good time to remind you this it designed to reduce axel tramp it may not actually stop it completely) but much more bearable than previously and I would say it's a good 70-80% improvement compare to me doing it prior to the install. At this stage I wasn't going to try 2nd gear at high speed so I was putting around at 30kmph or so and gave the throttle a stab and it was about at 60-70% improvement.
The biggest thing I noticed after playing around a bit there was a huge difference when I would feather the throttle once the axel tramp had started and I can now almost control the car enough to reduce the axel tramp by a good 80-90% by using the right foot as this really seems to make a difference compared to no harrop diff cover. Before, the axel tramp was that bad my automatic reaction was to take my foot off the go pedal and start again, when taking off from some intersections before it could take 2-3 goes just to get moving with limited axel tramp. Now it is just a small amount of throttle control once it starts and I can keep it to a minimum without too much trouble at all!
To give people an idea of what the axel tramp would feel like before was like driving over the cattle crossing doing about 60kmph! So it is something you definitely felt!
Now it would be compare at best to driving over a couple of garden hoses and at worst maybe some broomsticks? (never actually tried that but it is all what came to mind!)
So here is my summary:
Did it make a difference: Sure did. Overall I would say about an 80% improvement
Would I recommend it: Yep! It is a great product and so far I’m very happy :D
Cost: Cover was $400 (I think) landed as it was 2nd hand but never used. Crossmember bushes were about $100 and installation would be around $100-$120 + oil + additives.
Overall rating: It is hard to give it a full rating at this stage as I haven't used it down the strip yet so as above I would say an 80% improvement (so far)
The big test is going to be the 20th of December when I take it down the strip as that is where I noticed axel tramp the most! So I’ll be back then :)