stumbled across a potential independent rear end for swaps

A few weeks ago I picked up a cheap Saturn Vue V6 awd for the wife to drive this winter.  She was complaining that she didn't want to drive the TR7 another winter, go figure.  The main reason the Vue was so cheap was because the rear subframe was badly rotted.  Finally got a good used one after the first one I ordered was lost by FedEx.  Last weekend I set about cleaning up the replacement, and removed the old one.  Had to remove the differential.  Couldn't help but notice how perfect this thing may be for a swap.  Case is aluminum and smallish.  I was able to drop it with one hand laying on the ground as I removed the bolts with the other hand.  Its not heavy.  Shafts popped out easy peasy.  Case has a mount on top rear center and two other easy mounts.  They all point straight ahead.  The hubs are cast but tiny in comparison to most.  The control arm mounts point straight  towards the center of the car at 90* to the wheel face.  No fancy weird computer anti dive angles figured in.  Just simple, small, and light.  The Vue comes with a 250HP Honda V6, another thing that completely thru me for a loop when I found out.  Never thought I would find a Honda engine and trans in a GM product, but then again, I never even gave the Vue any consideration in the past.  Its just a soccer mom cookie cutter cute ute.  Beyond what I saw, I know nothing about them.  Don't know ratios, what else they may have come in, who makes them, or if there is a limited slip available, but if I wanted to do a swap in a Spitefire, this would definitely be on my list to consider.

Got a picture?

Any idea how big the ring gear would be? Keep in mind you're looking at a rear differential for what is essentially a front wheel drive vehicle with the rear playing along. 

In for pics. 

From Google - this is a 2003. Tiny little "Differential", maybe could handle upgraded diff + Axles?

I'm pretty sure this works the same as the Ridgeline awd setup (not necessarily same components though).  The driveshaft always spins, but the clutches inside the transfer case engage/disengage each side of the rear or something like that.  I don't think its a traditional rear diff setup.

That said, if you can control those clutches you might be able to do something cool with it.  Honda uses it for torque vectoring, and you can also 'lock it' by fully engaging both. 

Edit:  That diff looks tiny because its 1:1?

I know heft isn't everything in creating something strong but that looks like it would not handle much power at all.

If its 1:1, then its useful for taking a transverse transaxle/engine combo, mount it sideways midship and plop two 1:1 axles at either end.

By looking at it, I'm surprised it's in a car with 250hp. I suspect other sorcery.

Awd drag civics use a similar TINY rear diff and launch hard on them. The one on my part time awd cx-9/cx-5 is also hilariously tiny compared to even my Miata diffs.

Those rear diffs in front-biased based AWD setup are usually a 1:1 ratio, tiny and are too weak to handle serious power because the transfer case absorbs the shocks in their original application either by hydraulics or clutch packs. 

Which is sad because they are everywhere these days.

I wounder if they could be used on a BEC application though

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

Awd setup with fwd bias, it's never seeing 150hp, the alone 250. 

For something super light weight and or without a lot of torque, it has potential. 

fanfoy said:

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I wounder if they could be used on a BEC application though

Yeah - that's an area I'd love to explore.....

I think the old (late 80's/early 90's) AWD Civic setups never put more than 20% of the power to the rear wheels.  I suspect this is something similar.

In reply to eastsideTim :

http://shop.humbleperformance.com/awdguide

A pretty good guide. 

accordionfolder said:

In reply to eastsideTim :

http://shop.humbleperformance.com/awdguide

A pretty good guide. 

I am assuming the 1300 HP rating for the Civic Wagon is a typo, maybe they mean 130 HP?  I mean, an 8.8" Ford is going to come apart at that power level and it's a lot bigger.

In reply to eastsideTim :

It does easy 7s - I went down the awd civic rabbit hole, but my understanding (limited research) was that they're not very good on road courses - mainly a drag thing. 

In reply to accordionfolder :

Ahh, so the whole car can make 1300 HP, they aren’t sending it all through the rear. 

Honda AWD rear diffs have clutches in front of the actual diff. As long as the clutches are weaker than the diff, you will probably never break the diff. 

Yes - it's a "speed delta sensing" system - more or less a LSD between the front and rear wheels on both of the common Honda systems. I don't see any info on the max "locked up" torque however, they are effective and durable as shown - but again, not sure  how happy they'd be to stand alone. I do wonder if they would be an effective BEC option though (well those with a divorced clutch - probably not the Honda system) - most BE don't make much torque anywho.