I thought you guys might want to read this.

[DriftDaze]

I think it's a great resource about diffrentials.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential1.htm

[style54109]

That wasn't too hard. Everyone should already know what a differential does.

No offense.

[Chas]

I like there diagrams.

[style54109]

Yeah, I guess the diagrams would be pretty helpful if some one wanted to know what a differential was, or for a quick check of what pieces went where.

[J-BloodAE86]

i have a question that i have asked a billion times and nobody ever answers: would a quaife/helical lsd be useless for drifting? if it doesn't lock while turning, does it lock if it starts a turn and then slides out into a drift?

[SilverGhost]

Originally posted by J-BloodAE86
would a quaife/helical lsd be useless for drifting?

whats the difference between those and say a 2 way LSD?

[J-BloodAE86]

Originally posted by SilverGhost
whats the difference between those and say a 2 way LSD?

your average "2 way" lsd, like Kaaz for instance, is a clutch type lsd, quaife lsds are helical type, which dont have clutches. They are locked during acceleration, but open while turning, if i uderstand it correctly.

[SilverGhost]

ah. so your real question is: if you accelerate while turning, does it lock or remain open

[J-BloodAE86]

usualy used in FWD applications, i should add

[Weapon X]

Didn't the S15 come with a stock helical LSD?

[J-BloodAE86]

Originally posted by Weapon X
Didn't the S15 come with a stock helical LSD?

no i believe it was a viscous lsd

[J-BloodAE86]

Originally posted by SilverGhost
ah. so your real question is: if you accelerate while turning, does it lock or remain open

uhh, kinda, but not really. my question is if the wheels loose traction while turning does it lock or remain open.

[mranlet]

Quaife's will lock any time that the wheels are spinning. IIRC, Quaife's are designed with simultaneous turning and wheelspin in mind. If you've ever driven a FWD with a Quaife LSD, you don't spin your wheels more by turning the steering wheel, and you don't start spinning if you are applying too much power going around a turn.

The Helical element can be thought of as a go-kart clutch - in idle it will slip (normal driving) but when the rotational speed increases and centrifugal force increases, it causes the clutch elements to engage and lock (to) the wheels. In FWD, it isn't a direct link between right and left sides; there is gearing inside that makes it possible to utilize the LSD effect without operating like a welded differential would around turns.

I don't think I've seen a Quaife/Helical LSD on a RWD layout, so in a sense YES they would be useless for drifting. However, in a RWD car it would essensially be a locked differential the entire time the wheels are spinning unless it's been engineered to compensate for steering. If so, the outside wheel outside wheel (trailing side of the car) would be spinning faster than the inside wheel (leading side of the car) in a drift because the car thinks it's going around the opposite direction of turn that it really is due to the counter-steer. This would effectively straighten the car and prevent it from stepping out. You could reverse this, but then the differential would work against you for normal turns and handling would suck beans. So, the answer is still that it would be useless.

Hope this helps J-blood.

As far as the how stuff works site - if you're driving on concrete, you'll probably be arrested. Roads use more asphalt than anything...

-MR

['97 S14 SE Turb]

The torsen type LSD is good for road course usage. It's a torque biased system, due to it's design send torque to the wheel with the most grip, ie the outside wheel (while cornering).

It's not ideal for drifting.

S15 comes with the torsen (aka helical) LSD from the factory. They are replaced with clutch type lsd for drifting.

[J-BloodAE86]

got it, thanks dudes. so ya weapon you were right about the s15 lsd.