Limited Slip Differentials

[kellzey]

Looking for some input on an LSD for my car.

Car has Carrera front end with swaybar and no swaybar in the rear.

I've seen LSDs from Quaiffe, PowerHouse, Guard Transmission, and NOS Porsche units available.

Anybody using any of these units and how do you feel about the quality.

Thanks,

Karl Ellzey

[Zeke]

I see we stable similar cars. I wish I could help more on the LSD. There are some racers on Shop Talk Forums/ 914 Forum that have them.
http://shoptalkforums.com/bbs/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=21&SUBMIT=Go

[red-beard]

How much help will an LSD give you, when most 914's can't spin their wheels? Is there that much help in the cornering? The LSD in my Mustang GT only meant that instead of breaking one tire away, I'd break both away from stand still.

James

[John Rogers]

If the engine is stock, a limited slip will not be much help. If it is a big 4 or a warmed up 6 then it would be a good investment. I have a Quaiffe in my short ratio box and a GT (Guard) in the regular geared box and they both cost about the same and seem to work just as well. The machining of the GT was much nicer than the Quaiffe. I had both installed by a good trans rebuilder since the loading, etc in installation is very critical. What happens with enough HP and big sticky tires is: when you come out of a corner and floor it, you'd better be pointed where you want to go 'cuse there is no inner wheel spin at all! Good luck.

[campbellcj]

I can kinda relate to what John R is saying...one of the first things I noticed when pushing my former M3 hard thru the canyons is that the LSD gives you a feel of being "booted" off the corners under acceleration. You can actually feel the inside wheel popping you out of the turn, instead of slipping and straining and making the outside do all the work.

And my new-to-me teener's big four is no where near as warmed over as John's but on fairly sticky street tires it has no trouble breaking loose one or both rears. An LSD is somewhere on the "to do list" for this car, a no brainer iff'n it gets a race six transplant.

[Brad Roberts]

If you can swing the price tag and the install...buy it.

I like the Guard unit set to 80%. I dont care how much Hp/torque you have. When I crest over the top of turn 5 at Thunderhill and I hear the RPM's go up... its not from lack of power. Its wheelspin from the unloaded tire. Any track with elevation changes can cause this to happen. We dropped over 1.5 seconds from our production car times by a single change in the car (LSD).

You have to be pretty serious to pop for one. Most of the time one of my customers purchases one they know they are going to end up with a 3.0 conversion later on.

B

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Yup!

In addition, having a limited-slip also allows you more options with suspension setup. You can add a rear sway bar (hopefully a better design than the stocker!) without having quite so many problems with unloading the inside-rear tire.

And what racer ever turned down having more suspension options??

--DD