Yes, after a fashion. The WRX STi uses a Torsen in the rear axle and a different manufacturer helical diff in the front. In that vehicle, there is also a controllable center differential that divides power front to rear full-time. A 4A won't have quite the same behavior, but it really depends on calibration of the system. But in general, that set up would be pretty rally car like.
That's exactly what I'd be looking for. Over the last 20 years, I've been very active in the local winter rally scene, enough that it drives what I look for in a vehicle set up. I had a V8 Mountaineer that had F/R Torsens, a Ranger FX4 Level2 with the same set up, a Hemi Grand Cherokee with 3 eLSDs, and now I'm working on setting up a F150 for the same duty. In that case, F/R Torsen uits will coincide with installing 4.10s in the axle.
I say all that, but have a reservation on a MT Badlands. I'm hoping that there will be other (aftermarket) diff options by the time I actually take delivery.
I should preface that it isn't really my intent to be here in an official capacity. So, this is all my opinion and not an official company position. And my opinion is likely to be "biased" (that's differential humor there). I try to be fair-minded, but I've worked for this company a long time.
The TrueTrac units I've seen are OK, but lack refinement (for lack of a better term). In terms of gear design and manufacture. Backlash in the unit is relatively high in my experience. Also, I've heard anecdotes that production quality isn't as good as used to be. Keep in mind, much of the feedback I get is from end customers that call up looking for something else, so maybe they've had a poorer experience than is typical. But the bottom line here is that the product may generally be more "aftermarket" grade than OEM level, if that makes any sense. OTOH, 95% of what Torsen manufactures is for OEM production. I'm not saying that Eaton (owner of TrueTrac) isn't a quality company, because they are, and most of their overall business is in OEM-grade components. But TrueTrac is an aftermarket product line. Again, this is all my opinion, and you have no way of knowing that I'm not just some kid on the internet, so take it for what its worth.
There are also a bunch of nuance differences in the gearing design, layout, materials, and construction of the two brands of product. I don't intend to dive too deep into that and hijack the thread. Generally, the Torsen can be designed to be more aggressive if desired due having a more flexible / tuneable design. We've won business that TrueTrac lost due to that in the past. Torsen gearing is generally more survivable in conditions where wheel spin occurs due to the load distribution across the gears. But that's mostly a moot point in the age of traction control.
So why would you buy a Torsen over a TrueTrac? it might be better suited or tuned for you needs. It might be more refined. Why buy a TrueTrac instead? It might be less expensive. It also might be the only option available for any given application - Torsen had a very limited range of aftermarket offerings, since most of our focus in on OEM production. On the whole, many of the differences are probably more important to me than to you. What I mean is, they may not significant enough for the average buyer to notice.
Anyway, that's probably enough for now...
Cool, thanks. You can hijack a thread anytime you want when you have good stuff to say. I may PM you later with some specifics, especially about the tunable stuff. I know I've used my Truetracs hard and have always been happy with them but I'm not brand specific and always up for a better product.
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