Alot of members here who purchased the SS cobalt wished they had ordered it with the LSD? package. Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is this?

 

Limited Slip Differential- it helps with traction issues. Also the package you speak of is the G-85 package it comes with the LSD (1500) and Recaro race seats (1000). So for a 1500 option it is the best one to get. I have it on my car and I think it was worth every penny.

 

Oh thats what it was, I thought Super Charged models came with the Recaro's and LSD without having to be added.

 

I wish i had got the package

 

I wish I did too! I dont really care for the recaros, but the lsd i wish i would have got. I think ill get it later.... as for the stock ss seats, im only a 130-140 lbs max and i leave an ass print in the seat and it pisses me off. It makes it look crappy

 

While Ive recently taken in a greater interest and acquired a greater respect for cars, my knowledge is still limited. I really haven't ever driven anything that powerful, the fastest car Ive driven is my friends 98 eagle Talon 5 speed manual with 150 hp. So needless to say whenever I actually am in the process of test driving the S/C Cobalts im pretty sure I will be blown away to what im accustomed to driving. What difference does the Limited Slip Differential make, to those of us who arnt avid car guru's. Is it just noticeably better traction/grip?

 

Basically, when going around a corner the car's weight shifts to the outside of the corner, which makes one wheel not as planted to the tarmac as the other wheel (Experts: This is a really basic explanation, I know this isn't always the case, etc... etc...).

In a car with an "open" differential, the power is sent to the wheels, and the wheel that is easier to spin gets more of the engine's power. Power is not evenly distributed. So if you go around said corner, the wheel on the inside is easier to spin and usually the motor's power is sent to that wheel. This is not efficient because to go around a corner faster, you want the power actually to the outside wheel, which is not getting hardly any power at all while the inside wheel is smoking away because it has no traction and all the power.

An LSD counteracts this tendacy by distributing power equally between both wheels (generally). This provides more power for the wheel that has better traction which improves cornering.

In a straight line, LSDs are not nearly as important. If both wheels have equal amounts of traction, an LSD is not required.

In some modern cars (Acura RL, Ferrari F430), power is actually distributed even more differently by transferring power to the wheel with traction and taking away power from the wheel without the traction. Instead of 50/50 split to each wheel, they can transfer power to the outside wheel and be able to corner even faster, and easier. Mechanical and electronic brains take various inputs from the cars and make the appropriate adjustments.

It's a pretty dumbed-down definition, but accurate. There are different types of Diffs that work differently.