Mk1 MX-5 LSD question

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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.?

 

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http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=mazda+mx5+lsd

Doesn't look that rare...

Most are mk2/3 though

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.

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.

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

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

 

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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

 

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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'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?

 

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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.

 

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This one is the 1.8 but it's certainly not a power house - feels about the same in terms of acceleration as my old 1.6 focus although perhaps marginally faster. Not really too fussed, everything feels faster in this car - when I'd cruise along the A519 at 60 in the bmw I'd almost forget I was driving. Thewsame speed in the mx feels like I'm doing 100+ and is simply more fun

I think that the lanes it happens on are covered in dust and dried mud from the deluge we had a couple of weeks ago, which isn't going to help, but I think with the outer wheel being locked to the inner wheel it'll help somewhat.

 

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Throw me an email: west(dot)ben(at)gmail.com

Done and done

 

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With sticky tyres he may not have, especially if body roll was reduced with springs/dampers/ARB etc.

With the linlongs on the car currently (well, some other brand I know not of) they seem awful under traction. As I mentioned earlier though lateral grip and braking is fine on them.

 

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Right, just to clarify, I'm not driving like a nob, and as stated earlier it's on roads with less than perfect surface conditions. I notice that my bmw with over 100bhp more and tyres only 10mm wider (205/50/15) with an lsd I'm getting much more traction and I believe this partly to be due to the lsd. it also means that the back end is much more controllable under slip conditions which are possible, even inevitable, on these surfaces even at low speeds.

I do intend taking the car on track at some point, and possibly to a drift day if i can get an LSD sorted, which is another reason one is desirable to me.

Edit: Just been out to look - the Tyres are the Milanza Hero HZ1s all round, 5mmish tread on each one, even wear all over. 26psi.

 

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No, you don't need an LSD in an MX5 to have huge amounts of rewarding fun in one of the sharpest, finest handling cars in its class. Even with 50% more horsepower over stock. It's a brilliantly-balanced chassis, it's not quite the same as dropping a bigger engine in a Vauxhall Corsa or something.

I totally agree, I've only had it a couple of days and have had bags of fun already. It really is a superb car, I can see what all the fuss is about.

LOL at needing an LSD on a stock MX-5.

Why lol? As it's not rained yet I don't know for sure, but I imagine wet roundabouts with an lsd is hilarious even with 130bhp

 

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Getting the suspension geometry sorted along with getting a set of decent tyres should be your priority. If by some bizarre reason you find yourself completely incapable of taking a sharp corner without leaving a trail of smoke behind, by all means buy an LSD.

It's going in for a full geo setup tomorrow (hence wanting some idea from westy of how to have it setup). Not wishing to turn this car into yet another money pit I'm going to leave the tyres for now and see how I get on, if it comes down to it I'll put some better ones on.

It's not a problem at all on the main roads, and it's only happened a few times in the lanes, but i'd like an LSD regardless as I simply prefer the feel of driving with one, and if the back end steps out.... oh well

I understand what you're saying, and this certainly isn't a case of necessity, it's a great car as it is (most fun stock car i've ever driven in fact) but a little tweak here and there would certainly not be detrimental.

 

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Slam it on £150 coilies blud. sik.


Adjusting the car's geometry does not mean putting on some 'coilovers', the MX5 is massively adjustable from the factory, getting it set up properly by somewhere like WIM or some such will give the car much better handling etc.

All the dampers and springs are working just fine, I'm not intending to put coilovers on this car (as said above, not looking to turn it into a money pit, just a bit of pocket money motoring fun).

It's great how adjustable these are in standard form, looking forward to having the geo done tomorrow.

I have a pair of used 195/50/15 and a pair of 205/45/15 R888s in the garage which I'm going to be putting on the BMW for the trackday coming up in a couple of weeks. The rears are in very good condition and still road legal so may put them on the mx5 rims afterwards. The fronts are already past road legal and I'm not expecting to get more than half a track day out of them (they cost me £26 so who cares), so perhaps I'll get another road legal pair and put all 4 on the mx5.

 

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Oh god... I knew a few people who went down the ebay special coilovers route... those things were terrible. They only cared about the look & were skint, so it suited them... but the traction and ride quality were worse than stock suspension... You also want a bit of body roll due to the way rubber's grip works (load vs grip is an exponential curve, up to near breaking point)

Both of my E36s have got <£200 ebay specials on and both are fine. They're not great, and certainly nothing compared to clarkey's HSDs, for example, but they are adequate and significantly better than the stock suspension costing four times as much (at least).

Particularly on the track car, they are very good indeed, and most people who have been in the car have commented on it's stability and how easy it is to control.

 

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I am getting my geometry done soone, as soon as I have done the wishbone bushes front and back (decided on poly), coilovers and rear ARB.

Here is something you will be wanting to show the guys before he tackles your cars geometry:

Sorry about it being the wrong way round. Not my image.

EDIT: those are fast road settings from this thread:

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59907

Adjustable caster or 5deg from stock? 5deg would be nice

Can't understand a degree more camber at the rear than at the front, I'd have thought it the other way round, and possibly half a degree more on both at least. I am comparing it to my E36 though so could be way out.
Toe looks the same as on my E36.

 

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Oh - you're very much right about the E36s... A friend/colleague has them on his 328 track car & they're great!

The similar specials for the MX5 are no-where near as good, however & definitely not as good as the stock MX5 suspension (unless stock suspension is worn).

Figures it changes from car to car. I shall stay clear of them then! I have a spare set of stock springs which I'm chopping tonight and going to fit out of curiosity, although unless it's a marked improvement and i'm confident its not going to mash my shocks I'll stick with standard.

I would like it a bit lower just for aesthetics as it's comedy high, but the handling is sublime and I don't wish to compromise that just to I can look at the car when I'm not in it.

 

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^^

That would probably have been a better way to have phrased my initial comment to avoid the banter that followed

That's effectively what I meant.

Well, where's the fun in that?

 

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Absolutely no idea! I've not had a chance to poke around the car yet, although it's going in to have the heavy steering checked out tomorrow morning before alignment, I'm hoping to get under the car whilst it's on the ramps and have a look about.

Handling wise the car feels very tight so I'm not expecting any horrific discoveries in that department, but I'll report back once I know. With regard to the springs, I'm going to try them tonight and see how I feel and possibly go back to stock. I don't want to pay for a full geo only to start messing with ride heights and removing and replacing shocks - completely senseless.

Edit: No, I'm taking it to A-Line in dudley, they're top blokes, know their shizzle, have a hunter machine and due to this being the tenth time or something going in I'm sure to get the usual insane discount!

 

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Yeah, definitely make any changes before getting the geo done or you'll just have to get it done again Just note... part of the different feeling you'll experience will be due to the change in geo by swapping the bits - so that might skew your perception of good/bad - just bear (bare?) that in mind and know that a full geo on either setup will make a noticeable difference to both

Fair enough - sure there are others as good/better than WiM... just my personal favourite - would be quite the trek for you though!

Aye, these guys are in Dudley so only about 45 minutes away from me. They work on the driftworks team cars amongst others, certainly well versed in fast alignments.

 

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I loved my supercharged 1.8iS Mk2 with Gaz Gold Pro.

Unless I was being a total goon I found it next to impossible to get the rear end to step out under acceleration.

On my old E34 the LSD was really, really noticeable. On the MX-5 it wasn't.

Loved? What happened to it?