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I have a friend who rally races a SOHC Neon. He runs the PG. We had a good long talk about it a couple weeks back, as the instant he mentioned it, I was all about his getting rid of it based on what I've seen over here.
The details are a bit sketchy at this point, but he told me he needed an LSD for the car and did not want to spend more on the diff than he did for the car. He did extensive research on the subject over on the Neons forum. Apparently, when you would order the PG for our application, they would tell you that you needed some special pin for installation.
Now, this is a press-fit pin that the factory installs on the diff. You have to remove the OEM piece to get the diff apart to install the PG, so PG was requiring this "upgraded" replacement. Turns out, this upgraded replacement was an instant failure, and would likely end up loose in the diff, whereby resulting in the smell of napalm on the highway.
What my friend Kris said, was that you reinstall the diff with the PG in place, BUT you don't use that pin. You leave it out and instead install the safing brackets for the diff that they sell at the dealer. He might have said something about welding these brackets in place, but I can't be 100% on that part.
Basically, he did a lot of homework on the subject, even talking to guys who had PG failures on the Neon forums that resulted in a total loss of the transmission and concluded that there is nothing wrong with using it, so long as it's installed right. If this were in a street driven, slow-as-balls SOHC Neon, I might still be totally against it, but he has had ZERO issues with his PG after taking proper precautions during installation on a Neon that gets absolutely flogged. He's been running it for a year, now, and loves it.
Caveat: There are some discussions on different LSDs on the rally forums. If you would like to know more about the PG in a New Venture diff, check out rallynotes.com and maybe send an email to Kris, mentioning I sent you. I bet he gets back to you with a bit more information than I have had here today.
Here is a link to www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21994&highlight=phantom+grip discussing various diffs in FWD cars. A good read.
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