Autocrossing and lapping with a 2 way: who's done it?

[Speed Junkie]

Originally Posted by racepar1

Kaaz 2 way is super aggressive, it'll be clumsy for your application. I had one in my car shortly, it was just stupid unpredictable understeer. You could literally feel the diff locking and un-locking as you entered the corner. I also ran one of the old Nismo 2-way diffs and it was much better, I think the Kaaz would have been better with better fluid as well. When I put the open diff back in the car I LOVED it in comparison. The car was just so free into the corner, rotated nicely. I honestly think that a 1-way might be the way to go as long as you don't mind the car being a little free on corner entry. All you can do is try it and go from there, but I wouldn't reccomend it...

Originally Posted by Wookie384

Another thing to take into consideration is your driving style, the overall set up on the car and even your alignment. I've known Racepar1 for a long time and he is a pretty aggressive driver in terms of corner entry and speed, his line is nice and clean, on the other hand I'm not as aggressive so his diff and sway-bar settings would not be a perfect fit for me. Since you have the parts handy just throw them on and see what you think, and adjust from there.

I had a Tomei 2-way in my miata and now have a kaaz 2-way in my S13. I definitely didn't feel it locking and unlocking in decel during hard driving but it definitely makes the car less versatile in driving styles. In the miata for example, in a tight autocross, if you weren't entering the corners properly committed with the weight on the front it would tend to understeer slightly.

Changing the suspension setup (usually just alignment) to a more oversteer-prone setup will get rid of the majority of understeer. You're supposed to do this anyways when changing something as sensitive to handling as the diff.

I also added Ford friction modifier to my 240 diff which is like twice the size of the miata 1.6 diff lol. I think with fewer discs (or rearranged discs) and some friction modifier that would give you a good compromise.

Despite the shortcomings (noisy during normal driving, requiring more maintenance, ideal for a narrow category of driving) of any performance part, ANY proper LSD will far outperform an open diff in a performance driving environment. A 2 way might not be as good as a 1.5 way for performance driving but it will be far better than an open diff.