C4 AWD Viscous coupler delete?

Has anyone ever replaced the Viscous couple with a solid link on a 911 for the street? Other AWD cars do fine with just axle differentials.. I have a hotrod jeep that sees a lot of miles in 4x4 on the highway in the winter.. Mainly asking because in the icy/snowy conditions the rear has to spin up too much to really get power to the front.. THX!

I don�t think it would be a wise idea. Read up on the design philosophy of the 996 awd system� Just as a hint, it�s not a Jeep�

All awd cars have viscuss couplers. They r in the transfer cases of the jeeps. Its the only way to smoothy transfer the power and eliminate the bind. If u remove it u will have a 4wd system that would need a way to disengauge (i.e. a transfer cases).

The general consensus is that the AWD system in your Porsche is designed to improve track performance, not winter weather driving. That being said, it is possible your coupler isn't functioning properly. I assume you are running snow tires in the winter? If not, that is where I would start if you're concerned about winter traction.

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Yeah, not quite. Some AWD center diffs are gear things. Quite a few are Torsen. My STi was, Audi's Quattro is, and so on. Given the OP's complaint about response time I'd be looking into troubleshooting the existing setup before anything else. The winter tire suggestion is excellent as well.

The problem you would have with this fully locked idea is what I call the "Crow hop" on sharp turns on the street when you don't have anything that "slips" ( ie viscous clutch..) If you have ever drive a fully locked AWD/4WD on the street on sharp turns you will get a "Crow hop" where the front or rear tires are turning faster ( which happens on sharp turns ) and it keeps binding the drive system until a tire actually skips on the payment causing a jerk to relieve the binding, then it starts again and again, and ends like a Crow hoping across the ground.....It doesn't do this in the dirt even when fully locked because the dirt will allow a slight slippage of the tires and doesn't bind up the drive line.. The viscous clutch actually does a really good job at transferring torque to the front wheels if the rear wheels slip, it takes less than one revolution to start transferring torque if the slip speed is fast enough. You can check the viscous clutch very easily by jacking up one front wheel and try to spin it fast . You should be able to spin it slowly as much as you want, but if you try to spin fast the resistance should increase tremendously very quickly..

And the front axles are as thick as a medium sized sharpie, the front cv joints the size one would put in a golf cart.

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This is a bit of an exaggeration� I�ve done both and there�s really no comparison�

Wouldn�t be good for a solid coupler trust me. It�s really just designed for the viscous coupler

so for background my other ride is a V8 jeep Wrangler, I had 250K on it when I swapped in the V8, on top of the standard NP241 transfer case which has no slip or differential capability other than 4wd or 2wd, it has air locking diff's in both ends, so I can 100% spool up which the 996 setup obviously can't do. Best case the 996 setup is really 2wd unless you add a limited slip in the rear.. I was really just curious if any body tried it, I have a alternate plan for the 996 setup which if it works I'll detail the function or failure some day.. My issue is the Viscous coupler is slower to "lock" when cold than when warmed up. I was driving in cold weather and a sudden storm caught me about 2 miles from home and I noticed that the front doesn't really have any pull till the rear starts to slip, And yes I was on the Michelin Sport Pilots, obviously a horrible choice for snow. But fun if you want to slide around.. I did figure out that a couple laps of a roundabout do a pretty good job heating up the coupler to get more pull and engage quicker. The front diff is a very small ring and pinion so I wouldn't likely try a solid link without some upgrades.. definitely some custom CV's drive axles and a new differential. I've actually driven a WRX with spools in both ends and a solid center, Your only choice is fast and sliding all the time or it stops steering..

sounds fun in the right circumstances, maybe occasionally inconvenient in town i imagine though. out of curiosity, how is it when you try the front diff test by lifting and spinning a wheel manually?

LOL you know I haven't tested it.. I just finished putting my new motor in and while I had it on the lift I just didn't think of it.. Ok now I have something to do after the oil change this weekend.. I also have new cats to install.. Thank goodness, the exhaust has been completely apart 1500 miles ago.. Cheers!