How can you tell if your car has a limited slip differential(torsen one specifically)

[yhelothar]

I recently got the stock torsen limited slip differential on my 99' miata replaced after it broke. It broke after I was rear ended by a truck.
My mechanic says he replaced it with another torsen from a 2001 model.
But the thing is, the replaced differential feels A LOT different than the one I had before. It's really hard to kick the rear out now. Before I could easily do a power oversteer. Now with the replaced differential, I don't even think my car is capable of doing donuts.

So did I get a torsen, or did he give me an open one?

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I recently got the stock torsen limited slip differential on my 99' miata replaced after it broke.
My mechanic says he replaced it with another torsen from a 2001 model.
But the thing is, the replaced differential feels A LOT different than the one I had before. It feels a lot more stable. It's really hard to kick the rear out now. Before I could easily do a power oversteer. Now with the replaced differential, I don't even think I can do donuts.

So did I get a torsen, or did he give me an open one?

Your car should feel more stable if your LSD was replaced, it shifts the torque around to your different wheels so that your car DOESN'T spin out.

Buddy, I don't think you realize that your car isn't DESIGNED to oversteer, or spin out.

 

[Zee]

Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I recently got the stock torsen limited slip differential on my 99' miata replaced after it broke.
My mechanic says he replaced it with another torsen from a 2001 model.
But the thing is, the replaced differential feels A LOT different than the one I had before. It feels a lot more stable. It's really hard to kick the rear out now. Before I could easily do a power oversteer. Now with the replaced differential, I don't even think I can do donuts.

So did I get a torsen, or did he give me an open one?

Your car should feel more stable if your LSD was replaced, it shifts the torque around to your different wheels so that your car DOESN'T spin out.

Buddy, I don't think you realize that your car isn't DESIGNED to oversteer, or spin out.

Yup that's what I thought too, but the guys over at miata.net tells me that it's much easier to oversteer with a limited slip differential than an open differential.
So are you saying my old LSD was working as an open one.. and my new one is working much more effectively, thus reducing oversteer?

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

 

[SophalotJack]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

are you an artard?

You asked, they answered. Your car sucked anus (prob still does) and the mechanic did his job and fixed it.

idiot.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: SophalotJack

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

are you an artard?

You asked, they answered. Your car sucked anus (prob still does) and the mechanic did his job and fixed it.

idiot.

Um, I didn't ask whether or not the mechanic did me a favor. I asked if I received a torsen limited slip differential as the mechanic claimed he installed.
I don't give two shîts what you think about my car either.. fvck off if you have nothing to contribute.

 

[SophalotJack]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: SophalotJack

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

are you an artard?

You asked, they answered. Your car sucked anus (prob still does) and the mechanic did his job and fixed it.

idiot.

Um, I didn't ask whether or not the mechanic did me a favor. I asked if I received a torsen limited slip differential as the mechanic claimed he installed.
I don't give two shîts what you think about my car either.. fvck off if you have nothing to contribute.

I doubt anyone will be contributing anything to you based on your reaction to zee.

I could help, but don't care anymore... enjoy your fixed car btw.

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: SophalotJack

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

are you an artard?

You asked, they answered. Your car sucked anus (prob still does) and the mechanic did his job and fixed it.

idiot.

Um, I didn't ask whether or not the mechanic did me a favor. I asked if I received a torsen limited slip differential as the mechanic claimed he installed.
I don't give two shîts what you think about my car either.. fvck off if you have nothing to contribute.

You're truly acting like a ****** moron, all you had to do was look up the definition of an LSD to see that your mechanic wasn't shitting you.

Only a moron assumes that his car is working properly if it's easy to spin out and oversteer.

You sir, are a dumbass.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I recently got the stock torsen limited slip differential on my 99' miata replaced after it broke.
My mechanic says he replaced it with another torsen from a 2001 model.
But the thing is, the replaced differential feels A LOT different than the one I had before. It feels a lot more stable. It's really hard to kick the rear out now. Before I could easily do a power oversteer. Now with the replaced differential, I don't even think I can do donuts.

So did I get a torsen, or did he give me an open one?

Your car should feel more stable if your LSD was replaced, it shifts the torque around to your different wheels so that your car DOESN'T spin out.

Buddy, I don't think you realize that your car isn't DESIGNED to oversteer, or spin out.

Yup that's what I thought too, but the guys over at miata.net tells me that it's much easier to oversteer with a limited slip differential than an open differential.
So are you saying my old LSD was working as an open one.. and my new one is working much more effectively, thus reducing oversteer?

Why don't you leave the parts selection to some one who knows what they are doing and go back to watching Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: RyanSengara

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: SophalotJack

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

are you an artard?

You asked, they answered. Your car sucked anus (prob still does) and the mechanic did his job and fixed it.

idiot.

Um, I didn't ask whether or not the mechanic did me a favor. I asked if I received a torsen limited slip differential as the mechanic claimed he installed.
I don't give two shîts what you think about my car either.. fvck off if you have nothing to contribute.

You're truly acting like a ****** moron, all you had to do was look up the definition of an LSD to see that your mechanic wasn't shitting you.

Only a moron assumes that his car is working properly if it's easy to spin out and oversteer.

You sir, are a dumbass.

Only a moron would equate oversteering with spinning out. Oversteering is caused by overpower of the rear wheels. LSD's would keep the car from spinning out - a problem I never had with my car, in fact I could go pretty damn sideways without spinning out.
If you read my original post before getting onto your high horse, you would know that my car originally had a torsen LSD, and my replacement differential handles completely differently. If I got the same differential as I originally had, it should handle the same.

But all this hatred probably stems from ATOT's natural hate towards so called "drifters". Don't get me wrong, I agree that drifting is really a fad and initial D watchers are delusional if they think they're going faster by going through turns sideways. But there's little debate on whether or not it's fun. Even respectable motoring shows like fifth gear praises a car's ability to oversteer. And being able to oversteer means doing so controllably without spinning out.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I recently got the stock torsen limited slip differential on my 99' miata replaced after it broke.
My mechanic says he replaced it with another torsen from a 2001 model.
But the thing is, the replaced differential feels A LOT different than the one I had before. It feels a lot more stable. It's really hard to kick the rear out now. Before I could easily do a power oversteer. Now with the replaced differential, I don't even think I can do donuts.

So did I get a torsen, or did he give me an open one?

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

 

[SVT Cobra]

Wow you guys are seriously deluded with your opinions.

Some of us that have cars that are better than a crappy toyota or a honda (no type R's don't count) like to have a little fun sometimes while driving in a responsible matter. The OP was asking if the mechanic might have taken away one of his options for fun.

And, if the mechanic did do his job then tell him in a polite way, not Hey buddy, a sarcastic responce will only get worse back.

So OP just wait till some real car guys come in and can answer your question, these guys really don't know much.


<<<Drives a 2003 Mustang SVT Cobra and would be seriously pissed if a mechanic changed something that changed its track behavoir.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Sounds like he gave you an open diff to me. For the morons an open diff means the wheel with bad traction gets all the power and the other with good traction gets 0 and for the normal people that helps to keep you from spinning out of control into the trees. Can't do the jack it up and spin one of the wheels test since I am pretty sure a torsen acts like an open when you do that. Think really all you can do is pop off the rearend cover and have a look inside.

This page has a couple different ways to tell if you scroll down a bit.

 

[mattocs]

I doubt a miata would even have enough power to spin out.

 

[melchoir]

<<<Drives a 2003 Mustang SVT Cobra and would be seriously pissed if a mechanic changed something that changed its track behavoir.

Depending on the type of track, some Cobra owners enjoy a live-axel swap.

 

[jlee]

If you spin the tires, does only one wheel spin, or do both spin?

 

[RichUK]

Also why do people keep saying ?spinning out?. The main purpose of a diff is to compensate for Ackermans Angle. LSD's further compensate for too much torque at the rear wheels.

 

[kevinthenerd]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

Excuse me... I drive my girlfriend's Miata all the time. I'm probably one of thie biggest car nuts here. (I'm studying mechanical engineering in the hopes of starting my own automotive design and manufacturing company.) If your Miata is oversteering less, it could most definitely be because your LSD is now working properly. I'll also tell you that, since the Miata is the world's best-selling sports car, it's easy to find a lot of people on those forums who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: RichUK
Also why do people keep saying ?spinning out?. The main purpose of a diff is to compensate for Ackerman?s Angle. LSD's further compensate for too much torque at the rear wheels.

LSDs compensate for a biased distribution of torque, no?

 

[kevinthenerd]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

Originally posted by: RichUK
Also why do people keep saying ?spinning out?. The main purpose of a diff is to compensate for Ackerman?s Angle. LSD's further compensate for too much torque at the rear wheels.

LSDs compensate for a biased distribution of torque, no?

That pretty-much sums it up. An LSD tries to give the torque to the wheel that has the traction. Without an LSD, it'll be easier to oversteer because the inside wheel (the one without the traction) gets all the torque. So, essentially riding on one wheel, it's easier to break loose. Once you break that loose, the other wheel has to handle all the lateral force, which it can't. An LSD helps to prevent this.

Why was your differential replaced to begin with? It obviously wasn't working right. If you're not the first owner of this car, I suggest you find a friend with a Miata and ask to drive it to see what it's supposed to be like.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

Originally posted by: RichUK
Also why do people keep saying ?spinning out?. The main purpose of a diff is to compensate for Ackerman?s Angle. LSD's further compensate for too much torque at the rear wheels.

LSDs compensate for a biased distribution of torque, no?

For a better definition, yes.

Why you asking me the question?

 

[kevinthenerd]

By the way, my girlfriend's Miata is a '99. It's red.

 

[kevinthenerd]

Feed your brain: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: kevinthenerd

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: Zee
Buddy, looks like he did you a favor

Great.. now I have holier than thou guys driving accords telling me how my car is supposed to handle.

Excuse me... I drive my girlfriend's Miata all the time. I'm probably one of thie biggest car nuts here. (I'm studying mechanical engineering in the hopes of starting my own automotive design and manufacturing company.) If your Miata is oversteering less, it could most definitely be because your LSD is now working properly. I'll also tell you that, since the Miata is the world's best-selling sports car, it's easy to find a lot of people on those forums who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

Hey Kevin, from what i remember learning the mechanical side of automotives was easy IMO. I found the electronics the hard part. I used to be a BMW Technician.