Tons of LSD questions...

[orange-grey]

Ok, now that I've got the suspension and tires fairly sorted out and pads and rotors on order, I'm planning on ordering a limited slip within the next two months. The open rear end is really starting to slow me down at autocrosses, and the inside tire just goes up in smoke instead of pushing the car. I don't want a factory VLSD, don't ask me why. KAAZ seems to have a big following, and I hear the clutch packs are bigger than everybody elses, so that's what I'm going with. I plan on using the car for auto-x as well drifting, so I'm aiming for middle-ground between grip and drift.

Everybody seems to reccomend the 2-way over the 1.5, but this doesn't make sense to me, either for drifting or auto-x. It seems like it will just increase understeer on corner entry unless you dial in some radical suspension and alignment settings to break the rear loose under decelleration, which will only make the car a handfull when powering out of the corner. In which case, what's the point? It must work because most drifters use a 2-way, but I'm afraid I just don't understand the concept.

This may seem like a stupid question, but do the instructions come in English? I ask this because my Tein instructions weren't. I plan on having a friend of my dad's who owns a rear-end shop do the install because I know it's a bitch, but he's used to doing solid-axle cars and trucks, and I'm unsure how different this will be for him, so I would like instructions for him.

I guess you adjust to the limited-slip effect by removing clutch plates before assembling the unit. How many plates should I take out? I don't wan't the tires scrubbing during parking lot manevers. I figure if having all the plates means near 100% lockup, if I divide the the radius of the inside tire by the radius of the outide tire during full lock turning and multiply by the total number of clutches, it should be fine. So if the outside radius is 20 feet and the inside is 15, 15 PI squared / 20 PI squared = 0.56 or 56% difference, so I would remove around 56% of the clutches. Or is this total crap and I have no idea what I'm talking about?

And finally, where should I order it from? Any killer deals going on out there? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':thumbsup:'>

[kanekz]

Sorry but your post seemed tooooo long to even start reading. &nbsp;It 3:19AM right now so.... but ya there are TONS of LSD Q&A if you just type it into the "SEARCH" function.

[mazdog240]

you should goto theKAAZ USA website an ask them your questions as they are the manufacturer. &nbsp;I don't think just removing the clutches is as straight forward as you think, and I have heard that even a slight error when installing these units can destroy them in a matter of minutes. &nbsp;Good luck

[240 2NR]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (orange-grey @ Aug. 23 2002,12:00)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I guess you adjust to the limited-slip effect by removing clutch plates before assembling the unit. How many plates should I take out? I don't wan't the tires scrubbing during parking lot manevers. I figure if having all the plates means near 100% lockup, if I divide the the radius of the inside tire by the radius of the outide tire during full lock turning and multiply by the total number of clutches, it should be fine. So if the outside radius is 20 feet and the inside is 15, 15 PI squared / 20 PI squared = 0.56 or 56% difference, so I would remove around 56% of the clutches. Or is this total crap and I have no idea what I'm talking about?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Sounds like you're a little confused about how these jammies work.

Not all LSD's are created equal so for this discussion consider that I will always be talking about clutch type, unless I mention otherwise. &nbsp;Here's the basics (search will find you more):

An LSD's goal is to limit slip, where we consider slip to be a change in rotational speed between the drive wheels. &nbsp;

For a clutch type, the two wheels under normal driving situations are split 50/50 as the clutch "locks" them together until a breakaway torque is reached (this is what the shims adjust). &nbsp;This torque can be varied from light to stiff (though I don't know how fine the increments are on a KAAZ). &nbsp;Basically the higher it is, the more it acts like a locked diff (welded as an example). &nbsp;It also becomes less streetable the higher the breakaway torque is because it requires more force for the wheels to act independently which is what an open diff does very well (though the problem which you have found on an open diff is the slipping wheel gets all the power) and the reason a diff isn't welded from the factory. &nbsp;Tight turns become difficult and steering response is poor, unless you drive under power.

So basically what you end up with is an on off switch. &nbsp;It's not truely on or off, &nbsp;just like the clutch on you car it does slip some, but for all practical purposes it is. &nbsp;It's not really designed to be a progressive system that distributes some power and redirects it. &nbsp;It either spins both or spins one, 50/50 or 100/0. &nbsp;That requires you to find a balance between a torque that won't break one wheel loose on a hard launch, but will allow the wheels to act independently when parallel parking.

The stock VLSD is is basically open all the time (save for some resistance in the system that probably makes it 1/99) and becomes an LSD only when one wheel begins to spin (reaction traction). &nbsp;It works by heating a viscous fluid between two plates that gets hot as one side spins faster than the other. &nbsp;The fluid heats up, becomes more viscous and begins to tie the two together. &nbsp;The best this system will ever be is 50/50, though more than likely it will only see around 70/30 (from what I've read on on other systems).

A helical or mechanical type LSD is torque distributing, which means it is 50/50 full time and can send more power to the wheel that doesn't slip. &nbsp;It's complex and an example is a quaife. &nbsp;If you're truly looking for autox performance, this is where you want to be. &nbsp;It can put better than 50% of power to the gripping wheel.