I know that most of the time the rear wheels aren’t getting much power until the fronts start to slip then it sends more power to the rear but if you put a thicker fluid in the viscous coupler would you have more power going to the rear all the time? I’d like my civic to have more power going to the rear wheels to help with launches and cornering. I don’t necessarily want a 50/50 torque split unless I need it when the fronts are slipping but maybe like a 70/30 all the time?

 

The tighter you get the VC the closer to 4x4 you get and less AWD.

Thicker fluid will transfer more torque before the VC gets into hump. But it will also slip less when needed, like when cornering. I find the VC based AWD to cause a lot of understeer that immediately goes away when disconnecting the rear drive. A tighter VC is going to make the understeer even worse.

 

so is there a way to make it have a better split for AWD making it closer to true awd?

 

It is AWD already, just has a limited amount of torque that can be transferred.

Thicker fluid will probably transfer more torque but it has the downside of not slipping when needed. If you are in the dry on hot slicks you can probably go pretty tight on the VC. If you are in the wet on meh street tires then you don't want the VC so tight.

 

Its just a street car on street tires I just take it on windy backroads a lot and slayin mustangs, Camaros, chargers, and challengers(they hate being beaten by a civic it’s hilarious). I just wanted to know if there’s a way to get it to have more power transferred to the rear all the time?

 

Yes but there are down sides. Just the nature of the VC setup.

If it is an old original RT4WD wagon VC is is probably long past due for a service and not transferring torque as it should. Rebuild it to factory specs and see if that gets you what you are looking for.

 

i will do that thank you. I never really knew you could rebuild them I just put new fluid in it. Thanks a lot

 

Rebuild is new seals and fluid.

The plates really don't wear unless they are used in hump mode. In hump the plates touch each other and wear away.

Is your VC tight enough to pass the stall test? All 4 wheels in the air, 1st gear let the clutch out and idle so all 4 are spinning. Then pull the parking brake. Engine should stall.

 

no it doesn’t and all four wheels don’t spin at the same speed at idle. But I just thought that’s how it works. The engine will bog but not stall.

 

Yeah your VC is not working right. That test is from the factory service manual.

 

Ok I’ll rebuild it in the future and use better fluid