LSD in layman's terms?

Clarkey said:
JDM EP3 has an LSD, and that is of course what I was talking about.

It's an MB6 you have, never heard of these with a diff, or any UK Civic other than the limited space ship thing.
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My MB6 VTI 100% defo had LSD stamped on the box.
 
NathanE - do you have the LSD on your Exige? ...and have you tried with and without?

General opinion seems to be that they're not good on Elise/Exige, but I've never tried...
 
NathanE said:
An open-diff just sends the power to which ever wheel will accept it most easily. So if a wheel starts spinning the open-diff will just keep sending more power to it. Pretty dumb really but for most cars it is fine. An LSD on the other hand will not send as much power to the spinning wheel - but will send it more power to the other wheel. Therefore it keeps traction more balanced and predictable for the driver.
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Really good way of explaining it.

I think an open diff can be advantageous in wet conditions, it's almost like having traction control. In the case of FWD, an LSD in the wet in the wrong hands makes it much easier to power understeer and leave the road, and similarly in a RWD car in the wet you'll be facing the wrong way before you can say 'dab of oppo' if you're not on the ball.

LSD is hands down the best upgrade I fitted to my 7. Who wouldn't want to do donuts and powerslides? :D

Although, coming back to the wet angle, I had to all but give up trying to drive with any real commitment at Brands last December since the back would break away so easily. Holding a 45dg slide around Clearways/Clark Curve was a plus however :cool:
 
arcamalpha said:
NathanE - do you have the LSD on your Exige? ...and have you tried with and without?

General opinion seems to be that they're not good on Elise/Exige, but I've never tried...
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I don't have an Exige, I have an Elise :(

However, you're right. The general view of the LSD on these cars is that it doesn't make much difference. It's very hard to make an Exige break traction on those semi-slick tyres in the first place - therefore the limitations of an open-diff don't get highlighted. The Elise is a road car on road tyres... an LSD will help I'm sure but really it's not something that concerns most owners.
 
Ahh okay.

It's very hard to make an Exige break traction on those semi-slick tyres in the first place
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Oh I don't know, TC off and a nice big roundabout with a decent prod in 2nd gear usually does the trick!! You're right that they don't tend to actually spin their wheels, more of a gentle slip so I guess the difference in wheel speeds is fairly small.

What sort of Elise do you have? My Exige looks rather like the one in your sig, but with black scoops and spoiler as it's not an S.
 
I thought a normal differential does what it says.. causes a difference in angular velocity of the two wheels that the power is going to. When going round a corner the outboard wheel will have to have a greater velocity as velocity is a vector (speed & magnitude).. being that it has a greater distance/magnitude to go.... this what I don't understand.. people say LSD on FWD cars make it more "fun" yet surely it would just cause more understeer as it mechanically it limits the disparity in angular velocity which would make it less stable and forces are less balanced?
 
If an LSD gives uber control on drifts then how are people drifting with great success on various videos around the web (youtube/google etc) in cars that otherwise don't have an LSD?

I'm assuming they don't because I read it on the internet however...cars like non M E46s?

Still too afraid to turn off DSC on a wet day to find out :p
 

Best explanation, even if it is a bit old. Skip to 1min 50.

That explains a standard differential, an LSD works the same but the gear in the middle will only rotate up to a maximum speed so there is a limit in the difference between the speeds of the 2 wheels turning.
 
mrk said:
If an LSD gives uber control on drifts then how are people drifting with great success on various videos around the web (youtube/google etc) in cars that otherwise don't have an LSD?

I'm assuming they don't because I read it on the internet however...cars like non M E46s?

Still too afraid to turn off DSC on a wet day to find out :p
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Can be done by carrying momentum into the slide and shifting the weight, LSD allows more control and longer slides really I *think*.

Although some people weld up their diffs for drifting too, seems a bit ***** to me :p
 
They weld their open diffs as they can't afford an LSD or prefer the feel of a welded diff over an LSD

All the proper drifters use LSDs though
 
rypt said:
Because a 1L 48bhp Micra is going to be ragged about on a track or on the road to require the LSD ....
LSD is for the more "serious" cars, most FWD cars are a joke. Some FWD cars rightly have an LSD, but that is because they are actually of use as the car has at least some performance
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No becuase the slip angles generated at the front of the car generate the yaw effort and the tractive effort to each of those wheels has a large effect on the car rotation. The tractive effort of course coming from the FWD layout. Also allows tuning of compliance bushed to give a dynamic toe change under power that increases the tyre grip.
 
I've looking at getting a MINI Cooper S and there is an option for a LSD, I wonder if it will make much of a difference in such a car?
 
Generally speaking in a FWD car, assuming its adequate for the application, i'd rather have one than not.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
No becuase the slip angles generated at the front of the car generate the yaw effort and the tractive effort to each of those wheels has a large effect on the car rotation. The tractive effort of course coming from the FWD layout. Also allows tuning of compliance bushed to give a dynamic toe change under power that increases the tyre grip.
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And a 48bhp Micra needs all the grip it can get while driving along at 28mph ...
 
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