LSD's?

[MikeE30325i]

i just have a few questions that i would like to know the answers too.

i have never had a car without an lsd, though my e30 is the first car i owned with rear wheel drive. and a manual, so i am wondering what it is like to aggressively drive an e30 without an lsd? does the car pull to one side hardr as you enter a turn, or does it feel as though the one half of the car wants to not go throught the turn. what type of lsd do i have in my e30. it is a super eta.

and besides the obvious, what are the pluses and minuses of having an lsd? does an lsd get worse gas mileage, wear faster, etc?

thanks.

[Mike325]

First off your car is not a super eta. that was only offered in 88. You have a 2.93 gear lsd.

Pros: Both rear wheels will get the same amount of power so not one will slip, even if one is on ice and one is on dry pavement, you will go no prob.
An lsd will allow both wheels to spin like say when you do a donut, you will acctually do a donut without the outer wheel spinning and the inner one doing nothing.

I have not driven my car enough to tell you how an lsd compairs to open with hard driving but my friends e36 m3 has an lsd and it feels great with it. You will not get worse gas mileage with the lsd.

[Jand3rson]

Please post things in the appropriate forums...

And your car is not a super eta.

[MikeE30325i]

Please post things in the appropriate forums...

And your car is not a super eta.

First off your car is not a super eta. that was only offered in 88. You have a 2.93 gear lsd.

Pros: Both rear wheels will get the same amount of power so not one will slip, even if one is on ice and one is on dry pavement, you will go no prob.
An lsd will allow both wheels to spin like say when you do a donut, you will acctually do a donut without the outer wheel spinning and the inner one doing nothing.

I have not driven my car enough to tell you how an lsd compairs to open with hard driving but my friends e36 m3 has an lsd and it feels great with it. You will not get worse gas mileage with the lsd.

my bad. and thank you.

and mike, thanks about the lsd. and my bad about the super eta, we compared the pickup and stuff to my buddies 85 325e and my was progressively quicker. we didnt know, but we do now.

anyways, that makes sense.

[Garageaholic]

Mike, a nice upgrade for you would be a 3.25 LSD. you'd get much better acceleration without sacrificing much top speed.

[Jand3rson]

Mike, a nice upgrade for you would be a 3.25 LSD. you'd get much better acceleration without sacrificing much top speed.

That's what I'm looking for.

[BrandC]

An LSD will be useless to you unless you know how to manage yourself in an oversteer situation.

It's a better investment than not having one. Trying to recover from an open-diff fishtail leads to "R3V" incidents. Ask me how I know.

[MikeE30325i]

An LSD will be useless to you unless you know how to manage yourself in an oversteer situation.

It's a better investment than not having one. Trying to recover from an open-diff fishtail leads to "R3V" incidents. Ask me how I know.

may i ask? and i think i am ok at aggressive driving. there are a few huge dirt fields near me, and i learned a thing or too there.

and M3fan4eva, what E30 could i find a 3.25 lsd to pull out of?

[ptownTSI]

just because you have an LSD doesnt mean both wheels get the same power at all times. it all depends on how tight the lsd is or the lock up that it makes. the nice thing about driving hard in a car without an lsd is that you can put the power on through a turn and usually the worst that happens is you start to peel out the inside tire. Especially on a slick surface where you are turning an lsd can be dangerous if you are not careful, you can easily step the rear end out in a freeway on-ramp situation on a powerful car with lsd, or an underpowered car on a slick road with lsd.

[Garageaholic]

may i ask? and i think i am ok at aggressive driving. there are a few huge dirt fields near me, and i learned a thing or too there.

and M3fan4eva, what E30 could i find a 3.25 lsd to pull out of?

It's called ebay my friend. there's always at least 3 on there at any given time. You just have to swap out the ouput shafts and rear cover with your old one. I just bought one for my car for about $240 shipped.

Check them out, but FYI, they're usually on E28 vehicles.

[mtechnik]

Well my experiences in wet/slippery situations without LSD have been:

-Fun and the same time no fun =no donut action
When you just wanna make noise and simultaneously not gettiing sideways (dry conditions)

-Amazingly, stepping out the rear can happen quick without an LSD

There were times when I would think having an open diff saved the day. Once getting 90 deg. sideways aiming at the guarail I just let off the accelorator and car tamed down.

[MikeE30325i]

yeah, my friend has an 85 e and he cant really get the rear end out like i can. but yeah, i am not to crazy.

yet.lol

thanks m3faan4eva, i will look into it soon.

[NC325iC]

Well my experiences in wet/slippery situations without LSD have been:

-Fun and the same time no fun =no donut action
When you just wanna make noise and simultaneously not gettiing sideways (dry conditions)

-Amazingly, stepping out the rear can happen quick without an LSD

There were times when I would think having an open diff saved the day. Once getting 90 deg. sideways aiming at the guarail I just let off the accelorator and car tamed down.

im a little confused, did you get 90deg with an lsd or with an open

[mtechnik]

with an open diff.

[MikeE30325i]

with an open diff.

nice. you must have really hit that turn then. lol