Cayman S LSD?
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From: Columbia Ca. JSA
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Hello,
To my knowledge the new LSD that Porsche is offering on the '09+ Caymans is not something that can be backdated to an older car. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they released a product at some point. It's not a unique gearbox. The same basic design is used in several Audis, as well as some VWs and Skodas in Europe.
With respect to setting the differential it's not something that is ****pit controlled. It's mechanical and has to do with how you set up the ramps on initial installation. Even though there are two settings (45/65 and 50/80) 90% of people are going with the 45/65 setting. This includes professional racers who are running these in cars. It's just the right configuration for the mid-engine design of the Caymans.
However, a more "adjustable" product for a street car is the torque biasing differential(TBD). I say "adjustable" in quotes because it does the adjusting itself. They are also known as torque sensing or torsen style differentials. They are not a "true" LSD because they don't have a mechanical limit on the difference in speeds between the two wheels. For a street car this is actually a good thing. It means when you are driving into your neighborhood making a tight right hand turn, or backing out of your garage in the morning it's got no bind. It's also substantially more quiet than the clutch type locking LSDs. Lastly, they are service free. Because an LSD has clutches inside of it, they wear out, just like your regular clutch or your brake pads. It's a friction surface. A TBD is gear driven to transfer the power from one wheel to the other. These gears are just as durable as any other gear in your transaxle and should give you many years of service without special maintance or rebuilding.
Does that help answer your questions? If not, please reply with more inquiries. I'll be watching the thread and am happy to contribute to the knowledge base around here.
To my knowledge the new LSD that Porsche is offering on the '09+ Caymans is not something that can be backdated to an older car. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they released a product at some point. It's not a unique gearbox. The same basic design is used in several Audis, as well as some VWs and Skodas in Europe.
With respect to setting the differential it's not something that is ****pit controlled. It's mechanical and has to do with how you set up the ramps on initial installation. Even though there are two settings (45/65 and 50/80) 90% of people are going with the 45/65 setting. This includes professional racers who are running these in cars. It's just the right configuration for the mid-engine design of the Caymans.
However, a more "adjustable" product for a street car is the torque biasing differential(TBD). I say "adjustable" in quotes because it does the adjusting itself. They are also known as torque sensing or torsen style differentials. They are not a "true" LSD because they don't have a mechanical limit on the difference in speeds between the two wheels. For a street car this is actually a good thing. It means when you are driving into your neighborhood making a tight right hand turn, or backing out of your garage in the morning it's got no bind. It's also substantially more quiet than the clutch type locking LSDs. Lastly, they are service free. Because an LSD has clutches inside of it, they wear out, just like your regular clutch or your brake pads. It's a friction surface. A TBD is gear driven to transfer the power from one wheel to the other. These gears are just as durable as any other gear in your transaxle and should give you many years of service without special maintance or rebuilding.
Does that help answer your questions? If not, please reply with more inquiries. I'll be watching the thread and am happy to contribute to the knowledge base around here.
I would like to have an LSD on my Boxster, however the question is which one. I would have chosen clutch type, however you do bring up a good point regarding street use.
My experience had been that the negative points of the clutch type never bothered me and the upside was well worth the occasional noise.
Knowing what you do, which would you choose for yourself if most of your driving was on mountain roads with little time spent in town or traffic.
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Joined: Oct 2009
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From: Boulder, CO
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I live in Colorado and like to take my car on spirited jaunts up side canyons outside of Boulder and to the occasional track day or DE. What I chose for that car was a Guard TBD. I love it and there's nothing negative I can say about it.
However, I have never driven a 914 with a real LSD in it, so I only have an open differential to compare it to. I am sure that the handling would be a bit different and I might need to tweak a few things to set it up right. It's really one of those things like how do you like your eggs? Some people, like myself love them fried with a runny yolk. Other people want them scrambled.
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