[Snrub]

I was surprised to see that the V6 1LE has a differential cooler. Part of me wonders if this is simply a case of GM installing everything in the car for simplification (ie. the V6 1LE package was permitted as long as there were no new parts numbers, it's essentially a base SS chassis), or if it is actually needed for track use? Has anyone read/heard anything related to this?

[cellsafemode]

if the V8 1le has one, why wouldn't the V6? the rears are doing the same thing. If overheating is an issue in one it'll be just as much of an issue on the other.

[Snrub]

They may perform the same function, but the V8 has 60% more torque. Presumably that extra torque would generate significantly more heat. I've never heard of a differential cooler in a factory car with the V6's level of torque.

[cellsafemode]

the differential getting hot has nothing to do with power.

It's simply how fast and for how long and the resistance to that motion. The engine could be off and if you could imaginarily push it around a track it'll get just as hot as if the engine was on doing the pulling.

All that needs to be different between the two motor options is how strong the differential is and axles connected to it. That may alter the weight a little bit but that's not why the cooling is needed. That simply has to do with the intended duty cycle.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Snrub

They may perform the same function, but the V8 has 60% more torque. Presumably that extra torque would generate significantly more heat. I've never heard of a differential cooler in a factory car with the V6's level of torque.

Torque doesn't matter. How much power is getting put into it does. Any gear interface loses a small percentage of the input power as heat. And when you're using all (or nearly all) of 335 hp for extended periods of time, there is more than enough to get the differential nice and hot.

Originally Posted by cellsafemode

the differential getting hot has nothing to do with power.

It's simply how fast and for how long and the resistance to that motion. The engine could be off and if you could imaginarily push it around a track it'll get just as hot as if the engine was on doing the pulling.

All that needs to be different between the two motor options is how strong the differential is and axles connected to it. That may alter the weight a little bit but that's not why the cooling is needed. That simply has to do with the intended duty cycle.

Power plays a big role. Whether you're driving it from the driveshaft or the wheel, you're still inputting power to the differential. It just doesn't really do anything useful if you're putting it in from the wheel, just gets turned into heat. But if there was 0 input power, there would be no heat generated.

[cellsafemode]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Power plays a big role. Whether you're driving it from the driveshaft or the wheel, you're still inputting power to the differential. Which is why it gets hot. If there was 0 input power, there would be no heat generated.

Obviously i wasn't talking about the literal definition of power in terms of what is causing the differential to rotate.

We're talking about engine power which doesn't matter directly.

If i had a coal powered motor that rotated the drive shaft at the same rate as a V8 engine the heat the differential produces would be the same. Because the heat comes from the movement of the differential.

Now could higher power motors rotate that driveshaft at faster accelerations and faster absolute speed ? Sure. Nobody is arguing that. But that's not why the V6 or the V8 needs a cooler. It's simply sustained high speed and acceleration leading to friction which becomes heat that simple radiation / convection from the housing of the differential isn't sufficient any more at keeping the temperature within a healthy range. Hence the cooler.

If it was an electric car, the same issue would occur. It's just dealing with heat from gear friction that doesn't have "down time" long enough to radiate away the heat through just the bell housing.