Damn i hate getting suckered into threads...
mechanical LSD's need some type of traction on 1 wheel to lock the other. Since it needs to torque the wheel to send even power to the other one, with little or no traction (1 wheel off ground or wheels spinning/sliding) it is possible that it will react at times like an open diff. That applies to the Quaiffe/torsen diff, but iirc, some mechanical ones (like Dousans and Nismo ones) are different. Maybe they are helical types? Helical/mechanical/torsen are terms that get tossed around pretty easily lately. Dunno what are/ aren't considered the same anymore... I dunno I haven't heard much about them.
VLSD uses variance in wheel speed to creat friction, which cretaes heat, whcih expands a heat-sensitive fluid inside a sak that expands outward and presses against 2 pressure rings to lock the driveshafts. thsi means initially, when starting the drift, the sack needs to heat up and expand before locking the torque delivery to be even.
Clutch types use a pinion to move in differently cut slots between pressure rings so that it will move forward or backward, and with a certain amount of force/movement, it iwll press the rings outward, which presses the clutches together which will lock the power delivery as well. This uses the same force everytime and thus is very a. direct, b. consistant, and c. quick.
Those are 3 basic basic explanations..
