When is Sure-Grip actually necessary?

[sireland67]

If the sure-grip is a good unit, buy it.
One wheel peel is not fun in any car.

 

[oldmopardude]

snow! really,,, heavy snow! as long as you don't spin, the ratio stays the same! HA

 

[cuda65vpt]

Sensibly driven on dry pavement it makes no difference. I drove my 64 Valiant every day for five years with an open rear on all kinds of roads. No problems, even pulled a 4x4 out of the ditch with once.

If you want to race or do burn outs, get the SG.

 

[Rice Nuker]

I enjoy my posi in my daily driver dakota and it does not have over 250 hp. Just a low first gear. Pulling out onto a busy road I am guaranteed to get perfect launch and merge into the lane.

A one tracker would just get me killed in some of the traffic in CA.

I would say it is a top priority in any car you plan to drive hard. Up there with headers - exhaust and good tires.

If you plan to launch from a stand-still it is as enjoyable as having a free flowing dual exhaust or any other large enhancement. It is reliable predictable traction that you can friggin depend on to behave the same every time (given the ground conditions).

I have had 2 mopars with sure grips and the enhanced traction and logical predictability of rear end behavior is a night and day benefit on varying terra compared to single track smoking tire.

Agreed that they help in snow big time.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Actually, you will get sideways much quicker with a sure grip. With both wheels spinning, there is nothing to keep the car straight. It will follow the crown of the road and usually drift to the right. With an open rear, the car will spin one tire, while the other tire does not spin, but keeps the car from drifting sideways since it has lateral traction. Driving a sure grip in wet conditions with short gears and a lot of power requires some finesse.

 

[/6 Matt]

These were my thoughts Rob

 

[cudascott]

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[nm9stheham]

Driving a sure grip in wet conditions with short gears and a lot of power requires some finesse.

My racing venue for 35 years is rally, not sissy TSD but WRC type. A tight posi in a rear drive car takes the finesse mentioned by R-cubed and some courage to drive hard whenever traction is limited. The issue is that at some point the rear will happen to be in a spot with good traction and the front will be in lesser traction. The result will be that the front slips as you try to turn because the rear grips and drives the car straight ahead; not good when you are heading into a turn in rain, snow, or on gravel!

So for street driving a posi for general daily driving, my advice is to not get the posi too tight; stay with stock level tightness settings. I know most of you guys drag race here so this may seem odd for a posi, but for any limited traction driving on turns you gotta be careful to not overdo it.

For my RWD rally cars, I learned long ago to put in extra rear brake bias, and a heavier rear sway bar with posi in particular. Both enable you to kick the car's rear out more easily (as does a heavy flywheel; more counterintuitive stuff eh?) and helps you fight the 'drive straight ahead' tendency of a heavy posi in gravel. You then stand in the gas to use the power to steer once the car is sideways. Done right, it'll make the Duke's look like they still are in Driver's Ed!