Quote:
Originally Posted by Rugbyduck
Don't believe this crap.  Once you learn how to drive the car with LSD you'll have no problem. It's more about weight distribution and using the brakes and throttle the way you should. |
No, an LSD does tend to promote under steer. That is not necessarily a bad thing. You can adjust the tendencies out of the suspension, or change your driving habits to allow for it - some people's driving habits would actually work better with it than without.
But the simple fact is that an LSD physically tries to make the car go straight. With an open diff, one side of the rear is free to rotate at a different speed than the other, as in a sharp turn. With and LSD, both sides are "locked" together, which tries to make the car go straight (picture the front wheels off the ground and both rear wheels turning at the same rate - which way is the car going to so?).
Again, it's not a bad thing. My Miata, for instance, has a Torsen LSD. In a tight corner, if I start adding power, the Torsen start "locking" and the car tends to want to "plow" straight ahead slightly. Backing off the accelerator slightly (lessens the Torsen's locking), and the front tucks in nicely and the car turns sharper. But that Torsen is tending to promote under steer when it's being used.
I even knew of one guy that had a Europa autocrosser that someone had installed a LSD in. The car would go in an absolute straight line under power (knocked down lots of cones). He had to replace the diff with a regular one, and his car became competitive (it never was spinning it's inside rear wheel).
There are times and places where an LSD is invaluable. There are times and places where it isn't of much help. Whether it's good or not, depends on how YOU are going to use YOUR car, and how YOU drive with or without an LSD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fpitas
To sum up: people who have it like it, those who don't think it's got to be bad. Either way, you should realize that it's a b*tch to install later. 10 hours, or something like that.
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No. Some people like it because it's right for the way they use the car. Some people don't need it and are better off without it. If you are using your car for autocross and you are serious about it, you may want it. If you are using your car for extensive track use on tight twisty tracks, you may want it. If you are not competitive, use it primarily for street, may run in the rain, snow, low traction conditions, etc., you may not want it. It all depends on what YOU need, and what YOU prefer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fpitas
That's my advice too, unless you're really pinching pennies. A lot of people who don't have it theorize about the disadvantages, but those who have converted non-LSD to LSD (like Randy) have only good things to say.
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Randy is one of those people that have extensively tuned his suspension to take advantage of an LSD, has the driving skills to require an LSD, and is competitive enough to be able to use it to his advantage on the track/course. He is also knowledgeable enough to know what to adjust to implement the LSD.
Other's are not. Some of us that don't have and LSD are quite aware of it advantages and disadvantages have have decided that it is not necessary or something that we don't feel the need for. Everything in life is a trade off, and some people have different priorities that make an LSD either necessary or un-necessary. But it's not something that there is only one answer to - it depends on each specific situation.