Limited Slip Differential

[aeroresh]

In this weather Im struggling to put power down even in the higher gears without the stability/traction control having a fit so was looking into the possibility of having an LSD ftted.

Anyone had this done?

How does it affect driveability, etc on normal roads? Ive heard reports of tramlining issues on anything but the smoothest of roads, but this maybe down to the individual application rather than being LSD specific.

[jross]

Johann (www.swededemon.com) has been using LSDs on his FWD Volvos and seems to like 'em.

Not many folks making LSDs for our cars, though. Heico does, and I've heard rumors that Quaiffe (sp?) might. Other than that, I'm at a loss to think of other manufactuers. Hopefully (since manuals were a domestic-market option for you guys in the UK) someone else knows of some I don't.

[After_Shock]

Quaife do them and can set them up to whatever specification that you want, i.e they dont have to be as violent as what was fitted to the Focus RS.

Some people like them others dont, Hamish from memory hated them on track use but if its for road use could be worth looking into. Ive never driven a car with one on but personally im considering one aswell.

[Ross9]

To be honest, if it's just the weather causing the issues don't press the pedal as hard, it's a bit extreme to fit an LSD on the car unless you have upped the power a lot.

Having an LSD is better though in my opinion, mine comes with one as standard, though it was broken until the gearbox was reconned and strenghthend, then a new TorSen diff fitted, the difference in traction was noticable, especially as the power was increased a lot at the same time. Cornering wise and on the track they also help, you can feel it snapping a bit as the wheels slip on corners etc, but without it you would suffer from much more understeer and the front sliding out which is no use at all for cornering at speed, though it is the easiest form of slide to deal with if your not used to the car losing grip on the limit.

Basically it will give you more grip, but can cause the front end to dart about a bit on an uneven road if you have it flat out, no such darting around if just driving along, it's when torque and power is applied that the diff becomes noticable, though this could differ from Torque biasing to locking differentials, the way I understand it is that there are 2 types and the one in the Rover is a torque biasing one.

If you have a standard or mildly modified car and are having some wheel slippage problems them just lay off the accelerator, taking the box out and fitting an expensive LSD that 90% of the time you wont be taking any advantage of in the car seems overkill, depends how you drive I guess lol

Ross

[aeroresh]

Trying to get 485 NM and 340BHP down on a heavy FWD car is no mean feet!

Ive not driven it with the RICA Stage II in the summer yet but at the moment, even in the dry, first and second are pretty much useless unless you're just tootling around!

If its this bad now its only going to get worse when I go to Stage III and 400BHP in the new year so if it'll do the job its money well spent in my book!

[After_Shock]

Lack of traction was one of the reasons why I sold my last C70, got sick of it wheelspinning in 4th even when not trying too hard. I think quaife charge abbout £600-700 to have one supplied fully fitted by them, could be the only option for you to sort out traction.

[spesh]

Lack of traction was one of the reasons why I sold my last C70, got sick of it wheelspinning in 4th even when not trying too hard. I think quaife charge abbout £600-700 to have one supplied fully fitted by them, could be the only option for you to sort out traction.

Spinning in 4th you should stop driving on the ice mate, lololololol.

[BlackBeast]

Buy some good quality tyres!

[spesh]

Buy some good quality tyres!

You need studed tyres for ice i think.

[Al115]

Yeah you guys have got some traction problems... I don't have wheelspin problems in the dry unless I'm driving like I stole it! Yeah, it will spin in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, but only if you're not smooth with the power.

What tyres are you using?

[Redbrick]

Buy the red manual 850R on Ebay, whip the LSD out of it and then break the rest of it to make your £££ back.

Then use the profit to get THIS, cause it works!

SORTED

[Straker]

Can you get an LSD for an auto box?

[John Ret.]

Mine never spins in 3rd..... and it's RICA'd.

If it's spinning in 3rd, you're driving it wrong/on ice/ with crap tyres.

[volvotuning]

Mine never spins in 3rd..... and it's RICA'd.

If it's spinning in 3rd, you're driving it wrong/on ice/ with crap tyres.

I would tend to agree!!! My D5 used to spin in 3rd on the old tyres, and then after putting new Vreddy tyres on it doesn't spin in 3rd anymore. In fact, it's better in 1st and 2nd too.

Adam.

[Mrsmopp]

I would tend to agree!!! My D5 used to spin in 3rd on the old tyres, and then after putting new Vreddy tyres on it doesn't spin in 3rd anymore. In fact, it's better in 1st and 2nd too.

Adam.

Me too, my conti's are getting low so i am now getting spin in third but I never used to

x

[hamish]

Hi,

Naresh if your getting wheelspin an LSD is not a 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' ! You need to possilbly look at other things first ! Perhaps your right foot is a bit big for the current weather ! (ask Wobbly about this !) Or perhaps your tyre / suspension set up is not right. Summer tyres are not designed to work below 7 degrees C, as effectively.
I have never been a great fan of LSD's have tried 3 different one on the race car and have always gone back to a stanard free diff. They were all impossible in the Wet or on cold greasy tracks, on entry to or exit of corners ! Great in the dry on the straights though, but I've never had a problem controlling a car in a straight line, on a dry track !!

Regards,
Hamish.

[Ross9]

Sound advice Hamish, a lot of people seem to forget all the other aspects of gettign traction.

Curious though, what exactly were the problems you encountered using an LSD on the track? What type of diff was it, was it a locking one or a torque sensing one? I've had mine on track with a diff that didnt work, on track with a new OE TorSen diff, both in the wet and dry, obviously traction in a straight line is much better like you said, but I also found it much better in the corners as well, at the end of the day you want to get as much power as possible onto the road on the way out of the corner, on a fwd once you pass the limit it will slide out, easily controlled by easing off a bit, but not too hard obviously in case the weight shifts too much from the rear, however I found much more power could be applied with the LSD before the front wheels would break traction, I find it also causes the car to turn in sharper and feel much more solid on the tarmac under throttle in the corner as the torque comes in, personally I know for a fact the Rover would be slower round the corners and on track without the LSD.

The previous vid I posted as an example, yes the car was havign some issues and corner exits under throttle were a bit skitty due to power/cut slicks, but it would have been so much worse with an open diff.

Perhaps the type of diff, be it a locking one or Torque Sensing one makes a difference? Or the severity of it, perhaps the one in the car beign an OE one means it's not that severe compared to aftermarket ones for motorsport? I've never driven another fwd with an LSD apart from my own for comparison, any other's with LSD's have been rwd's, again I prefer'd having the LSD to a rwd without one.

Ross

[jross]

Buy the red manual 850R on Ebay, whip the LSD out of it and then break the rest of it to make your £££ back.

The M59 LSD won't work in an M56

[Engineer]

IMHO speed sensitive type LSD's suit FWD and not the torque driven type.

[Ross9]

Would that not make steering a bit of a headache, depending on the severity or magnitude of speed difference at which the diff would lock?

Ie, on roundabouts etc, if the turn was tight enough then one wheel speed would exceed the other, perhaps by enough to lock the diff, meaning one wheel would be dragged, this was the case on a rwd Skyline with a locking speed sensitive rear LSD I drove on a few occasions, you would hear one of the wheels squeeling as it was dragged on 90 degree junctions etc as the outer wheel's speed had exceeded the inner wheels by enough to lock it, I would imagine this same effect on the steering wheels would be very irritating?

Ross