Torsen braking

[Boston]

Can somebody explain exactly how the torsen behaves with a single brake rotor? It has been suggested that it 'binds up' and is detrimental in general, but I would really like to understand exactly what happens to a torsen when a brake rotor is attached to the housing.

[Boston]

Can somebody explain exactly how the torsen behaves with a single brake rotor? It has been suggested that it 'binds up' and is detrimental in general, but I would really like to understand exactly what happens to a torsen when a brake rotor is attached to the housing.

[Nick McNaughton]

From the torsen white paper, "The Torsen differential resists transfers of torque between drive wheels in proportion to the torque applied to the differential housing, and this results in a larger proportion of the applied torque being delivered to the slower rotating drive wheel."

See: http://www.sonic.net/garyg/zonc/TechnicalInformation/TorsenDifferential.html

The more torque applied to the housing, be it drive or braking, the more the mechanism will resist the relative speed difference of the wheels. This relative speed difference happens as the inside and outside wheels take a different length path into a corner - especially if you trail brake. The more the diff transfers torque between wheels (aka "locks up") the more it acts like a locked diff. Whether you want this effect or not is up to you...