Left: Top graph shows the speed trace around Winton (when

SPECIAL STAGE interfaced with a MoTeC ECU), measuring and logging

parameters such as road speed, throttle percentage, braking
Story: DEAN EVANS I Photos: MoTeC pressure, steering angle and boost.
Left bottom: This can be overlaid with different settings
to easily find areas and changes where speed increases/
decreases. During testing, it’s this combined with driver feel
and preference that results in increased car speed.

Above: The MDC is a simple plug-in replacement unit for the

factory controller... well it is, once a contortionist finds and
removes it, tucked up deep in the passenger footwell.

Above: Though it comes with standard presets which offer

greater scope for changes, time spent tailoring will yield
even better results, via a Windows PC.
Test 2: fully locked powerslide as its nose points in the intended
With the ACD switch cycled through to the direction. Confident drivers will quickly find that
‘flashing snow’ mode, the centre diff is effectively car speed isn’t limited by over or understeer, but
fully locked – in basic terms, an unchanging 50:50 by outright tyre grip – the ideal handling balance.
front to rear. The difference is simply astonishing. Subsequently, when the car reaches its grip limits,
There’s far more understeer turning into the it will ‘flat slide’, instead of over or understeer.
corner, more mid-corner understeer, while under Taking it another step further is the ‘slip’
hard power, you need to rely on the grip of the option, that allows the diff programming to enable
front tyres; it basically turns the handling char- a preset percentage difference between front and

SPLITTING THE DIFF

acteristics into a conventional front-wheel drive, rear wheels, effectively controlling the amount of
with a rear end largely resistant to provocation to power oversteer electronically. Keep the throttle
slide. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but where it is nailed, and it will only ever slide – for example
impressive is under brakes. – five degrees.
With the stability of all four tyres being effec- The more time you spend, the finer the control
tively joined, it’s substantially harder to lock a is and by day’s end, we’d nailed what was a perfect
tyre, and requires around 10 percent more pedal (for me) setting for a dry track in ‘tarmac’ mode –
pressure to induce a lock – allowing deeper, harder the car was adapted to my driving, not the other Looks daunting (above), is less so after a few hours, and the
and later braking. (wrong) way around, and we’d found a difference result is easy presets chosen via the factory button (below).
and at pre-selected and programmed speeds. of almost two seconds between the best and worst
Playtime with MoTeC’s centre diff controller, the easiest way to So with our Mitsubishi Evo X fitted with an Test 3: Tailored diff setting setting. And with three other presets to fine-tune,
transform and tailor all-wheel drive handling, wet or dry.

U
MDC2, we headed to one of Australia’s twistiest The real art of the MoTeC system is its fine- we’ll have to wait for a rainy day to refine the wet
circuits to examine just how much of a difference tuning and tailoring. Cycling through all six road ‘gravel’ and ‘snow’ settings.
ndersteer and oversteer are set-up via a Driver-Controlled Centre Diff centre diff tuning makes. settings offers an easy way to select one that suits,
the enemies of performance. (DCCD) thumbwheel. for different conditions; for example dry tarmac Conclusion
Whatever the engine or MoTeC takes that factory setting and opens up Test 1: Open diff rally, racetrack, wet or dry road. Beyond there is While our Hankook Evo X uses a MoTeC M800
drive location, even the a whole new world of performance tuning with its Using the standard ACD switch to cycle where the real magic happens. ECU, the MoTeC diff controllers can also work
most neutral car can be plug-in centre diff controller modules. through to one of the six preset modes on the dash Configurable through a Windows laptop, the with the factory ECU. In some Evos, the MDC
forced into either speed- Its MDC (and SDC, for Subaru) is a replacement (including two ‘flashing’ modes in tarmac and three main modes – throttle, braking and slip – disables the Active Yaw Control, but compensates
robbing situation, due to box for the factory diff controller that expands the snow) we first chose the ‘off’ mode (no display), are all customisable. For example, if you like the with added stability from the new diff settings. For such a simple plug-in change to yield such
road condition or driver input. possibilities from non-adjustable presets, to virtu- which allows the Evo to run in raw static state, i.e. tarmac preset best, but would like a little more There are also many other settings and options, drastic results and improvements is testament to
In Mitsubishi’s Lancer Evo (VII-on) and ally unlimited settings. the standard ‘mechanical’ set-up. turn-in through faster corners, it’s possible to particularly when paired with a MoTeC ECU, both the factory system and MoTeC’s ability to
Subaru’s STi (2002-on), the problems are over- It works by regulating solenoid current, which Turning in three laps, it’s remarkable just how isolate values and alter them on a table, based on such as a handbrake-disable function that enables enhance it.
come by the use of a centre differential. The ECU in turn, controls the diff fluid pressure. When no oversteering the Evo is under power, with the rear throttle/brake percentage input and road speed. easier tight turns on rallies. At $1479, we went into this test with modest
alters the distribution of power between the front pressure is applied (0% lock) the centre differen- end powersliding from the tighter corners with Setting up my own personal preferences, I like a Frankly, we were blown away by what effect expectations, but left being totally blown away by
and rear wheels, altering the handling characteris- tial operates as ‘open’. Increasing the fluid pressure probably a little too much slide than you’d feel pointy car but use strong braking, which can often the MDC had on the Evo X, adding stability, one of the best chassis tuning tools we’ve seen.
tics to improve control and better suit the driver’s increases the percentage lock, requiring more comfortable with. It turns in extremely fast, but contradict with the factory settings. So the braking allowing harder braking and the tuneability of Contact: [Link] (03) 9761 5050
preference for aspects such as turn-in, braking and torque difference between front and rear wheels the biggest difference – and it is a huge one – is the map diff pressure was ramped up to help minimise low-, medium- and high-speed turn-in, braking
traction on corner entry and exit. before the centre differential will slip. There are lack of stability under brakes. lock-ups, but ramped down under 70km/h to both and power-on.
Lap times, Evo X RS (Winton Raceway)
Both systems vary the percentage of torque six selectable control modes: 0% lock, 100% lock From the high-speed corners into the low-speed allow for maximum braking and sharper turn-in. While simply plugging in the MDC yields better
passing to the front and rear wheels by approxi- and four user-configurable modes, cycled through turns, there is a tendency to lock an inside front Mid-corner on zero throttle, the diff is virtually control and greater preset options, a day spent Fully locked 50:50 1m:36.9sec
mately 15 percent; Mitsubishi uses a three-setting the factory button/wheel. tyre – based on normal driving style – and the open allowing the car to be very nimble, while tuning, understanding and tailoring the centre Fully open (no control) 1m:35.8sec
Tarmac-Gravel-Snow system via its Active Centre This alters not just the percentage of drive to the result is the need to be kinder and softer (and less under power there’s a good percentage of locking, diff is the surest way to improve road speed in an
Tuned diff (mixed values) 1m:35.1sec
Diff (ACD) button, while Subaru uses a similar front or rear under power, but also under braking, effective) on the brake pedal. close to the safe maximum, enabling the car to all-wheel drive.

60 TARMAC MAGAZINE I ISSUE 17 ISSUE 17 I TARMAC MAGAZINE 61