I'm reminded of a statement made by Buddy Baker about his stock car. He said if he got out of shape in a turn he could hit the gas and the Detroit Locker rear end would lock up and straighten him out.

Detroit Lockers have been used off-road for decades, that's what they do. If given a choice between a spool and a DL on a snowy day I'd pick the Locker. The guy has to learn to drive in snow with it, for sure.

The cornering thing, think about it...when you go around a corner with an open differential the differential action lets the outside tire go faster and the inside tire go slower. So vehicle speed is the average of the two. With a Locker, the inside tire goes the same speed as it was going and the outside unlocks and freewheels. So if you keep the engine speed constant, the car will try to jump ahead. If the inner wheel slips enough, the locker will lock back up momentarily which will try to push the car out of the turn. Then when the front tires regain control over car direction the locker unlocks again. So you get an uneasy feeling in the corner along with some clunks and snaps. This doesn't happen nearly as much if you reduce throttle pressure and let the engine slow down during the turn.

No way would a Soft Locker hold up to the drag racing.

I vote Detroit Locker.

Actually a driver selectable locker would be best. The ARB Air Locker or something like Toyota's electric locker, both are very useful off-road.

R.