Open or Locked Diff in heavy rain
Hi everyone, I am currently in possession of a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, and am travelling long distances on a variation of motorways and country roads. I was just wondering if I could get some advice as to what is best in heavy rain when it comes to differentials. Would it be best to have it open or locked for the majority of my journey?
Comments
A locked diff would give you more traction more of the time. So that would be the better option. But I believe a Hyundai Santa Fe is front-wheel drive so in order to lock the diff on that you would have to take the transmission out disassemble it and either put in a LSD or welded if inside the transmission
It’s 4x4 with its own rear locking differential
Since it’s 4x4 i say run it open diff 4 high from my experience. Usually when you lock your rear amd drive at highway speeds it’s not helpful for traction at all, reason being is that the car is more prone to slip the rear when hydroplaning and harder to correct, it’ll send you into either a very hard to correct slide or be really resistant to corrective input. If you’re 4 high open diff and you end up in a sliding situation you can point, stomp and let the 4wd and traction nannies sort it out.
If your car is likely to oversteer in wet conditions don’t lock the diff but because your car is a Santa Fe I’m sure it doesn’t matter too much which you go with
Locked diffs aren‘t good at higher speeds (if you want max control)