New Owner! (plus Quaiffe LSD)

[Blu Flag Chicane]

Hi all,

Just put money down on a '73 2.0 tonight, will pick it up in a few days and start the barrage of question posts :-)

The following is a letter from the head of Quaiffe USA to my old car club, the Corrado Club of America. To summarize, a company named Peloquin has a Limited Slip Diff that competes with the Quaiffe in the VW 02A tranny. Quaiffe came back with a price break of $650!!. Sounds like everyone else is getting gouged for the Quaiffe so I think we either need to get Peloquin to make an LSD for the 914 tranny or somehow get Quaiffe to give us a similar deal. Even if we have to arrange a group buy, that's just too cheap to pass up. Please post your opinions on this. Sorry for the length.

thx,

-BFC

<<<<<<<< Forwarded Message>>>>>>>>>
Dear Sirs & Madams,
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ralph Hollack, Director of Operations for Quaife America. Quaife America is the North American sales & marketing arm of R.T. Quaife Engineering in the U.K. Our website can be viewed at www.quaifeamerica.com. Our job here is to source new applications viable for the North American market, provide post-purchase service and maintenance and work with professional race teams by providing track side & engineering support at various venues across North America. We are currently sharing space and working out of Autotech's location in Southern California, Quaife's longtime distributor in the Volkswagen marketplace.

I generally do not have the time to read "message boards", but some concerns were brought to my attention that I feel need to be addressed.

First, I categorically deny that anyone (Autotech included) is intentionally trying to gouge the retail consumer on Quaife differentials as some people alledge on this message board. I can understand your frustration regarding the price differential between the UK and USA markets, but please reserve the slanderous comments until you know the background information.

The price schedule worldwide is based on the quantity of units purchased, just like most other industries. Autotech has previously purchased VW 020 & 02A applications in "batch" runs of 25 units. With the ongoing popularity of Quaife torque-biasing differentials and racing gearboxes, the US market as a whole has increased exponentially in the past 12-18 months.

Autotech is now starting to purchase VW 020 & 02A differentials in batches of 100 units, thereby receiving a much better price from Quaife and in turn intends to pass on the savings to the end user. I do know that Autotech's advertisements in European Car and MaxPower magazines will reflect the new pricing in future issues, but due to magazine leadtimes that specify ads up to 3 months in advance the price change will not be in print until fall. The websites will be updated quickly to reflect the new price structure. Please bear in mind that this new price is introductory and is designed to benefit you, the consumer. If it takes Autotech 10 years to sell these diffs, they probably would not order in quantities of 100 units again. My unsolicited advice is to take advantage of a superior product. More on that later.

The second issue that I would like to address is the perception that Quaife differentials are not as good as a rival unit. Everyone has and is entitled to their own opinion but Quaife's record speaks for itself. While I do not deny that there have been failures for whatever reason in the past, I can honestly say I can count them on one hand. With the volume of differentials that are sold, the failure rate is less than 0.3%. No mechanical component, no matter what it is made of, is resistant to failure. Anyone who says otherwise is flat wrong. The object is to try and engineer, manufacture and test a component on the track and street to make it as bulletproof as possible. Our track record speaks for itself, the Quaife diff is a proven durable and reliable product that has been around for years and has helped propel thousands of racers to victory.

With a Quaife diff, you know what you are getting. A solid reputation and the peace of mind that you are taken care of in the unlikely event that something were to go wrong. With a competitor's product, you are trusting an unproven product that someone says is superior to a Quaife product but doesn't really know for sure. In legal terms, it is called heresay. Ask the person selling you on this new diff to put their own personal guarantee behind the product. I do with the Quaife units but I would be surprised if the competition will. A differential is an expensive investment but it goes further than just the purchase price. It costs quite a bit of money to install the unit as well, a failure of an unproven unit is very costly. Each and every Quaife diff is backed by a ltd. lifetime warranty in writing if purchased from Quaife America or one of its authorized distributors. If you do consider purchasing from the competition, do yourself a favor and ask who of significance is usin!
!
!
g the unit and if the diff is offered with a lifetime warranty in writing. Will this company be around 6 mos, 1 year, etc. from now should a warranty issue arise or will you be stuck out in the cold? Before you make an emotional decision based solely on price, consider the other factors as well. It is not my intent to patronize or be condescending to you folks, but be aware that things often aren't what they seem.

That said, we will offer VW 020 & 02A torque-biasing differentials for a special price of $650 each to counteract the competitor's price of $750. This special offer is available for a very limited time. If you think the competition's diff is better, please go out and buy it. Buyer beware.

The Quaife diffs are brand new units with the lifetime warranty in writing. You must call me (Ralph Hollack) or Dana Clark at 949.240.4000 or e-mail me at rhollack@quaifeamerica.com and say you saw this post on VW Vortex. We are making very little money on this special deal and are hoping that enough of you take advantage of it that the volume will make it worthwhile.

I thank everyone who has taken the time to read this lengthy post. Please do not hesitate to e-mail me with your questions and/or comments. I am here to serve you and I will answer every e-mail as quickly as possible. Thank you again for your past and hopefully future support. It is good to see the VW street aftermarket alive and kicking.

Kind Regards,

Ralph Hollack
Director of Operations

[oredith]

that does sound too good to pass up. how much is the LSD assuming we get a price break though? if it's down to the 600 range, sign me up so i can slap one in... as soon as i get my car back on the road, that is.

Jeff

[JP Noonan]

Dude. Like I can't get a one tire fire going, how am I going to spin both rear wheels

Seriously fo the track that would be great, people could use a rear sway bar.

[Germain]

JP, arn't you goint to do that V10 conversion from the Viper?

Of course you could get one tire spinning if you brought it up to about 4 grand and dumped the clutch

Okay, enough sarcasim from me. I would be interested, but I need to finish my current job on the car. It will take a month or so, so if they make one, I have a feeling I'll be looking that way sometime Sept. Thanks

[Blu Flag Chicane]

Well nothing is really set in stone (or even pudding at this point). I'm trying to see people's interest level so we can try to get Quaiffe USA to drop prices across the board. Right now there's no competition for P-car LSD's so they might blow everyone else off. I just think it's sad that Autotech is the US distributor for Quaiffe and their jobber price is in the $400 range. Why does everyone else pay $1200?

I've got a similar message out to the Rennlist. If people get interested enough in this to make their presence known it could be a good thing for the consumer. Otherwise it'll be business as usual and I'll never get a quaiffe.

Dumb question from me: Will any Porsche factory LSD work in the 914 tranny? Like I said, I'm a new owner so I get to ask stuff like this for the first few months

-BFC

[odie]

Add me to the interested list. I've seen ads for the Qualfie for a long time. Always wanted one but couldn't justify the cash. Just doesn't seem smart to buy one part/item/accessory/etc that is equal to the value of the whole car. But if there is a significant price drop, I'm getting one.

[JP Noonan]

For the most part the 901 tran in our cars is the same as the 5 speed 901 in the 911 up until 72-73 when they went with the 915. The 4 speed 901 used in 912's may be similar also but I doubt any 912 came with a LSD.

[rich]

Add me to the interest list. And with a 300+hp 928 V8 between me and the rear tires I WILL be able to get a one wheel tire fire going. BTW If The other company was approched they may consider tooling up for a group buy. Maybe Wayne would help us out and become a distributor. The 600.00 price range is a little more affordable for most of us teeners. It may take an advance group buying commitment but....hmmm...

[This message has been edited by rich (edited 08-11-2000).]

[Germain]

Just incase you care, you can get a LSD for around 300-400 from Detroit Locker. These fit in the Dana rear ends, I'm only posting it to give you all a guide line of cost. These are high volume parts, so don't expect us to ever get them at this price on the 914.