bedoef
Platinum Member
I wanted to post up a review of my LSD, as I think it would be beneficial for everyone on here to know about all options available when modding your car. I bought it off @Matt Scarbro who was going to drop it into his Clio, however his plans changed. I figured I would give it a shot to see if it was worth it to spend 1/2 as much as a Quaife. I have not yet had a chance to compare to a car equipped with a Quaife, so when I do I will update this post with my thoughts.
The two popular options on here are Gripper diffs or Quaife, with strong opinions being held for both. I was planning to go with a Quaife until I saw Matt's post about the Russian LSD and I started looking into it as an option. I took the plunge and got the diff fitted in November and finally did the first track day after the gearbox break-in.
My initial thoughts of how it feels on street and track:
Street Thoughts
This is the first FWD car I have driven with an LSD. I noticed that with the LSD the car will pull out of any corner, at any angle, so much so that I am sometimes caught off guard. U-turns were the most surprising thing to experience; prior the LSD the car would either have TC cut in or start spinning a wheel and understeer a bit, but now it just keeps pulling. Overall, not really much impact on street driving other than to change the behavior of the car in really tight turns. Turning radius I feel is a bit worse off, but nothing major.
Track Thoughts
I have done a few Yas Marina and Dubai Autodrome track days before I installed the diff. My first test of the diff was at the Autodrome Grand Prix layout. The diff transformed the car on track and was fantastic! There are 2 bowl-shaped corners and 4 tight corners in the layout which proved to be tricky sections with an open diff. I had 0 traction issues during the event, over 20+ laps driven over 3 hours. Diff worked perfectly. I don't hit the curbs much so I cannot comment on its behavior when one wheel is off the track. I agree with everyone when they say LSD is the best mod for the car by far.
I wanted to post this to inform anyone thinking to update their car that I think the Val-racing diff seems to be a pretty good option to consider. I will keep tracking the car and if anything changes I will update this post.
The two popular options on here are Gripper diffs or Quaife, with strong opinions being held for both. I was planning to go with a Quaife until I saw Matt's post about the Russian LSD and I started looking into it as an option. I took the plunge and got the diff fitted in November and finally did the first track day after the gearbox break-in.
My initial thoughts of how it feels on street and track:
Street Thoughts
This is the first FWD car I have driven with an LSD. I noticed that with the LSD the car will pull out of any corner, at any angle, so much so that I am sometimes caught off guard. U-turns were the most surprising thing to experience; prior the LSD the car would either have TC cut in or start spinning a wheel and understeer a bit, but now it just keeps pulling. Overall, not really much impact on street driving other than to change the behavior of the car in really tight turns. Turning radius I feel is a bit worse off, but nothing major.
Track Thoughts
I have done a few Yas Marina and Dubai Autodrome track days before I installed the diff. My first test of the diff was at the Autodrome Grand Prix layout. The diff transformed the car on track and was fantastic! There are 2 bowl-shaped corners and 4 tight corners in the layout which proved to be tricky sections with an open diff. I had 0 traction issues during the event, over 20+ laps driven over 3 hours. Diff worked perfectly. I don't hit the curbs much so I cannot comment on its behavior when one wheel is off the track. I agree with everyone when they say LSD is the best mod for the car by far.
I wanted to post this to inform anyone thinking to update their car that I think the Val-racing diff seems to be a pretty good option to consider. I will keep tracking the car and if anything changes I will update this post.