Mk1 MX-5 LSD question

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Soldato
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Soooo I've bought myself a little B road stormer for some roof off fun, however the whole car is led down by the open diff at the rear constantly spinning up the inside rear wheel.

Looking around it seems that MK1 LSDs are hard to come by (harder than the E36 which surprised me).

So my questions are, can you use the LSD off the mk2 or 3 easily enough, and is it a straight swap or does it involve half shafts, subframes etc.?
 
They're not that rare, but in demand for the reasons you stated. You're looking at £300 for a good TorSen, which are the ones to go for, don't bother with the VLSD.

With regards to mk2 changeability, you're likely going to need the prop and halfshafts from that car.

Mx5Nutz has a lot of info on this.
 
-westy- said:
They're not that rare, but in demand for the reasons you stated. You're looking at £300 for a good TorSen, which are the ones to go for, don't bother with the VLSD.

With regards to mk2 changeability, you're likely going to need the prop and halfshafts from that car.

Mx5Nutz has a lot of info on this.
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Get off ocuk and get back to loading the van! :mad:
 
They're not that rare but they're not cheap. PM Junkyard Dog on Nutz and get in touch with Autolink & AK Automotive. They are the most likely to have them.

I was lucky to get mine with an LSD :cool:
 
InvaderGIR said:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=mazda+mx5+lsd

Doesn't look that rare...
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Most are mk2/3 though :(

-westy- said:
They're not that rare, but in demand for the reasons you stated. You're looking at £300 for a good TorSen, which are the ones to go for, don't bother with the VLSD.

With regards to mk2 changeability, you're likely going to need the prop and halfshafts from that car.

Mx5Nutz has a lot of info on this.
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Good point, I shall get over to Mx5Nutz and do some reading up. Not looking to spend £300 if I can avoid it, for some reason I expected these to be cheap and freely available.

Dup said:
They're not that rare but they're not cheap. PM Junkyard Dog on Nutz and get in touch with Autolink & AK Automotive. They are the most likely to have them.

I was lucky to get mine with an LSD :cool:
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Is yours an import? Mine is a grandad spec uk model, and although I like it the traction seems poor.

I am going to have it aligned tomorrow properly as I suspect it's out and this may help the issue.

Alternatively I could just weld the open diff but I'm trying to avoid making this car illegal :p
 
Something else is wrong with your car if the inside wheel is spinning up all the time. My car has been fine with an open diff and grips quite well.

I am guessing either rubbish tyres or poor alignment, or both!
 
Mines an import 1.8IS which all came with LSD I believe.

Many people say the LSD doesn't really add much, I've not driven one without so I couldn't say. Alignment is a huge must, modified or not, on these cars. Tyres they're not that sensitive with, but make sure they're matching on the axle and not mega budget at least.
 
I agree, the tyres are in good condition but they are definitely budget ones. They grip well enough up front though, and braking has been no issue.

Alignment will no doubt work wonders (it did on both of my other cars) so perhaps I'll report back then.

As much as I'd like better traction, I'd also like to be able to break it at will, if you know what I mean ;)
 
Dup said:
Mines an import 1.8IS which all came with LSD I believe.

Many people say the LSD doesn't really add much, I've not driven one without so I couldn't say. Alignment is a huge must, modified or not, on these cars. Tyres they're not that sensitive with, but make sure they're matching on the axle and not mega budget at least.
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I've driven both now, and the one with the LSD is much better at tighter corner exits. As said above though, the tyres and alignment probably have a lot to answer for.

With regard to alignment, should I go for stock, or do you think it's worth going a bit more 'fast road' as I tend to drive in a spirited fashion?
 
Fast road. Mines fast road although it's on its arse on coilovers with 8" wide wheels. I told the guy I wanted it to be oversteery without it being silly in the wet. In the wet, sudden movement the front tends to wash out but being gentle you can really enjoy roundabouts. In the try the front really grips and the back end is really easy to control. With thinner higher offset wheels it will be more playful than mine but you can still just bury the throttle out of corners and trust it every time like I do. I am nuts though. Gonna miss my car when I eventually let it go soon :(
 
Per chance, do you know the setup you're running? I am new to the mx5 and have no idea what stock is, let alone a more sporting setup.
 
The Mk2 & Mk2.5 differ is better than the Mk1, also shouldn't really wear unless you totally abuse it.

I'm quite sure you can use the newer diff on the Mk1 however you also need to use the Mk2 drive & half shafts aswell.
 
I put a Torsen type II from a 2004 sport into my 1990 mk1.

Had to swap in the prop shaft and half shafts also.

Made a great change to the handling of the car, no more spinning up one wheel coming out of corners/round abouts etc.

I wouldn't bother with a VLSD or any really from the MK1 1.6 as they break much easier than the 1.8 and mk2's. I managed to split my 1.6 diff into two whilst n/a!!
 
Dup said:
Mines an import 1.8IS which all came with LSD I believe.

Many people say the LSD doesn't really add much, I've not driven one without so I couldn't say. Alignment is a huge must, modified or not, on these cars. Tyres they're not that sensitive with, but make sure they're matching on the axle and not mega budget at least.
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Whoever says that is completely and utterly wrong!

My first two MX5s came with limited slips... the first with the viscous on a nearly stock 1990 1.6... the second with a torsen on my supercharged one.

Now bought a 3rd mx5 for the other half as her commuter & I don't like driving it at all... for two reasons... the stock suspension is on its way out and the open diff... the open diff is horrible when you're used to slippers!
 
Not sure what you guys are doing to get a wheel to spin up. I've driven my '5 pretty aggressively and I've never had that happen and I don't have an LSD. I do have good tyres and a recently done alignment, mind.
 
Hxc said:
Not sure what you guys are doing to get a wheel to spin up. I've driven my '5 pretty aggressively and I've never had that happen and I don't have an LSD. I do have good tyres and a recently done alignment, mind.
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You're either not pushing it hard enough or you aren't noticing the wheel spinning up :p

Setup's irrelevant... it WILL happen when you're on/past the limit of grip & applying power, even with a stock 1.6 1995-1998 (ie 90bhp)
 
crinkleshoes said:
You're either not pushing it hard enough or you aren't noticing the wheel spinning up :p

Setup's irrelevant... it WILL happen when you're on/past the limit of grip & applying power, even with a stock 1.6 1995-1998 (ie 90bhp)
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Never happened to me with my supercharged one with properly-set up suspension, alignment and correctly-inflated sticky tyres. I never took it on a track, granted, but on the roads I could push it as hard as I'd like and all I'd get was oversteer.
 
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