I fairly recently got myself a 944S2 that came with the factory limited slip differential option. I know the theory of how this all works, but what does it mean on the track in terms of driving technique? I'm still a novice on the track, by the way.
Does it make any difference on the street?
I took my cobra from a shot and pretty much open stock LSD to a Auburn RR LSD...
It can mean more rear end stepping in lift throttle oversteer situations.
You can get on the power ALOT earlier coming out of a turn.
can institute some added understeer
on the street it is pretty invisible except in low speed tight turns. the inside tire can slide a bit due to not wanting to travel at a different speed. Mostly only noticible when on pea gravel covered asphault in my neighborhood.
it is going to mostly matter what type of LSD it is. Mine is a VERY tight clutch type.
it'll help you not peg-leg burnout out of super tight corners like my open-diffed miata does...
DON'T DO IT!
I started with open diff in my turbo'd 240sx. Got used to it handling that way... I could give it gas in tight corners and spin the inside rear wheel. Installed a viscous LSD... it was very similar driving, only if you gave enough gas to spin the wheel while cornering it made it easier to drift (or snap) the back end out.
I then eventually upgraded to a 2 way clutch type and it was a different world. The car understeered on tight corners unless you used techniques to obtain oversteer. It increased the parking lot turning radius by a good bit. I don't think its what I would have wanted for road racing or autocross. It did make sideways antics far more predictable though.
well, I could light up the inside rear REALLY easily trying to come out of a turn before the upgrade. I had to pretty much wait until the car was setteled to feed in the throttle. I can now do it right after apex (feed in as i get straighter)
I have the factory LSD in my Ti... I have found that it allows me to accelerate sooner out of a corner. You can feel the rear "digging in" and getting traction.
Autolex wrote: it'll help you not peg-leg burnout out of super tight corners like my open-diffed miata does...
My most recent autocross convinced me I need to get an LSD in my miata. i think i hit the limiter in 2nd going about 20.
mad_machine wrote: I have the factory LSD in my Ti... I have found that it allows me to accelerate sooner out of a corner. You can feel the rear "digging in" and getting traction.
I noticed this with the locker in my Samurai... I can now pound on the gas exiting corners without wheelspin or going sideway, the back just wiggles a bit but it stays hooked up, although in some ways it goes sideways more easily, mostly offroad or on very slick pavement. Using just the right combination of gas and steering allows me to rotate it around tight corners offroad very easily, that helps make up for the lock angle I lost with the big tires...
it's funny.. in most cases, driving my Ti hard.. it feels like the rear is doing most of the "sticking" as I corner. (no I am not understeering) and I think the LSD has a lot to do with that feeling.
I wonder how the Z3/4 feel as you sit practically ontop of the rear wheels
the lsd in the front of my ms3 makes it feel like i gave it another half turn of steering input when i get on it coming out of a corner. that is, unless theres not enough traction to put down the power with both tires, then it just plows
thedude wrote: My most recent autocross convinced me I need to get an LSD in my miata. i think i hit the limiter in 2nd going about 20.
Dang, and I thought I was bad...!
I swapped my Miata's open diff for a VLSD in good shape. Still legal in stock class since it was a factory option. 
The biggest difference I noticed was... not noticing it. As in, I'd punch the gas to exit a corner and the car would just go, rather than rapidly increasing revs and amounts of tire smoke instead of speed.
So, technique changes for me were simply taking advantage of the situation - more power, earlier, on corner exit.
If you see something in your lane and think it's a hallucination, try to avoid it anyway.
If you're wrong, you don't want to hit it and have to explain that to the cop.
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