can someone, in a simple way, explain to me what the benefit of lsd to the ss/tc be?

 

I dont know alot about cobalts,
But the main reason to get LSD is for traction. It helps prevent the wheels spinning independently so you get better traction.

Correct me if im wrong anyone.

 

If you get slippage, wheel spin than differential will lock to give power to both wheels to provide power to the wheel that isn't spinning. Basically thing of power to both wheels, for better traction.

 

LSD = Both wheels spin

Non LSD = One Wheel spins

 

thanks i was wondering if its worth getting

 

Definitely! With an open diff, if one wheel starts to spin all the power goes to that wheel, the one without traction. With an LSD, all the power goes to the wheel with traction.

 

i have an lsd for sale...pm me if intressted

 

ugh. . .please try to understand something before you post about it.


Most cars have whats called an open differential, in this setup (non LSD) both wheels normally put about the same amount of power to the ground when both wheels have a similar amount of traction. But if one wheel starts to slip, both wheels are limited by the amount of power in the spinning wheel. This works of resistence. For example, driving in the snow, once on wheel starts to spin you notice the other wheel doesnt move, and the spinning wheel just spins a million mph.

An LSD allows each wheel to operate independently of the other. So if one wheel starts to spin the other wheel isnt limited by the amount of traction of the spinning wheel. So in the snow, one wheel can be in deep snow and spinning wildly, while the other can be on dry pavement and driving normally. With a non LSD car, the car would pretty much be stuck in the same situation because of the wheel on dry pavement would be limited to the amount of HP the spinning wheel is putting down, which would be very little.

Now some people will chime in a say "hey wait, i dont have an LSD and i did a burn out and made two equal length tire marks". I am sure you did, as you should. The Open differential works of a large difference of traction difference between the wheels. If both tires have similar traction, both tires will spin with the same force, cause two very similar burn out lengths.

Now please for the love of god, NO MORE STUPID POST LIKE

LSD = Both wheels spin

Non LSD = One Wheel spins

that is so vague and uniformative that you should be shot for telling people that.

 

Very informative post Jayson! I'm a little confused on 1 part of it.

From what little I know in a situation like this neither of the tires would spin, unless you started spinning the tire that had good traction. My understanding was that the LSD locks both tires together to spin at the same rate, am I wrong in this?

once again great post and thanks for all the info!

 

yes you are wrong in our application, but right in that an LSD can do that. there are different types of LSDs, ours is the latter. Our LSD is designed for high speed turning.

The point of the differential is to allow the car to turn, when making a turn the outside wheel is inevitably going to be spinning faster than the inside wheel due to basic physics. So on an open differential car, this causes massive understeer when the wheels loose traction and also causes the car to be unable to acclerate any more. With an LSD this puts the limit of how fast the car can take the turn to what both wheels can grip the road at independently. Allowing for much more control and speed through the turn.

Our LSD is designed for handling. There are LSD's that are designed for Drag racing.

 

I think this is the LSD offered in the Cobalt:

http://www.quaife.co.uk/What-is-a-Qu...B-differential

 

We carry the Quaife LSD, same thing the G85 package cobalt comes with.

Check out www.TurboTechRacing.com we are a dealer for them.

 

I think this is the actual LSD that goes in the Cobalt.

http://www.quaife.co.uk/Saab-9-3-199...B-differential

 

Wow, if you're going to be a total a-hole about it you should at least make sure what you're saying is 100% right.

LSDs don't allow the wheels to operate independently of one another, in fact they 'limit slip' *GASP* *SHOCK* by creating a torque bias. I don't even know what a HP equalizing device would look like. A car with an LSD and one tire in deep snow can still get stuck (esp with gear based differentials) even if the other tire is on solid ground.

Second, an open differential doesn't equalize horsepower, it equalizes torque. A spinning wheel, by definition (work*time), will always have more hp than a non-spinning wheel. It's torque the open differential splits 50/50.

When the guy asks for a simple answer it's probably better to say something like, "If you get slippage, wheel spin than differential will lock to give power to both wheels to provide power to the wheel that isn't spinning. Basically thing of power to both wheels, for better traction" rather than whatever nonsense you just made up.

 

Plus...it doesn't "lock" the differencial so both wheels spin together with the same power. That would be a "locking differencial" or better known as "Posi-Traction". That locks the differencial, or better yet, IS a locked differencial... where both wheels turn together at all times regardless of traction conditions with the same power and torque. An LSD has nothing to do with "locking" the wheels together.



sorry...I just thought I'd add my two cents in to help clear any confusion

 

Close, but then engine in the cobalt isnt the one in saabs from 98-02, its 03+ the lsd looks slightly diff.

 

Right, about what happens, but wrong with the names.

Posi Trac is the same as Limited Slip. In the 60's, during the muscle wars, each manufacturer made up a unique name for its limited slip differential. Chevy/Pontiac/Buick used Posi Trac/Safe-T-Track, Ford used Equa Lock/Trac Lock, Olds used Antispin, AMC used Twin Grip, and Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth used Sure Grip. All of these do exactly the same thing.

A locking differential is called a "Detroit Locker", or just "Locker"

 

LSD helps greatly in the twisties.