FWD vehicles benefit greatly from an LSD, but I was wondering if the same can be applied to RWD vehicles or if it is less of a benefit.. also, would this help with winter driving? Strange question i know, but thanks

 

Yes it helps with RWD just like it helps with FWD. Less slip when cornering hard.. except on the back axles instead of the front. It's much easier to whip the tail out with an LSD on a RWD car too... but only if you know how to control it.

Much better for any driving, including winter.

Hope that helps ya...

 

on rear wheel drive cars, that is called positive traction. No, it doesnt help in the winter, if anything it makes it worse. Using a rear wheel drive in the winter, would probably put you at a disadvantage, as there is less weight in the rear than in the front.

 

it does help in winter or on any slippery surface. how could double the traction make the car worse in winter!? that must be why off road vehicals only have one drive wheel

 

the reason it doesnt help in the winter, is because most rear wheel drive cars have the motor sitting in the front . What this means is you have an already heavy car with wheels in the rear pushing the car along with the added weight of the passenger and motor on slippery surfaces. That, my freind, does not equal good traction. On front wheel or all-wheel drive cars you have the weight of the motor applying extra force to the wheels on the ground, which is going to help out with traction. positive traction is not designed to help cars drive well in the winter, that is why they are considered upgrades to peg-legged differentials. They are designed to proved more traction off the line.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iwhichisme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the reason it doesnt help in the winter, is because most rear wheel drive cars have the motor sitting in the front . What this means is you have an already heavy car with wheels in the rear pushing the car along with the added weight of the passenger and motor on slippery surfaces. That, my freind, does not equal good traction. On front wheel or all-wheel drive cars you have the weight of the motor applying extra force to the wheels on the ground, which is going to help out with traction. positive traction is not designed to help cars drive well in the winter, that is why they are considered upgrades to peg-legged differentials. They are designed to proved more traction off the line. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I think the other guys are mentioning how the LSD could help, and not RWD.. i agree the RWD in general would not be helpful compared to say AWD, but I was mainly asking about RWD open diff. vs. RWD LSD.. i somewhat disagree with the statement about LSD's providing better traction only off the line; obviously it will help both RWD or FWD off the line, and I know how helpful an LSD is to FWD in cornering but i was unsure how helpful it would be for cornering

 

So let me get this straight. Are you trying to say that an LSD isn't GOOD for a RWD vehicle, or are you trying to say it won't BENEFIT from it on winter terrain?

Because from what I gather, is that you're not answering his question... you're just rambling on about weight distribution and engine placement, when that is already obvious. He's asking whether an LSD is beneficial on a RWD vehicle vs. an open differential.

And whether you believe it or not, it IS.

And what you're saying here is complete nonsense:

"They are designed to proved more traction off the line."

That ALL depends on what kind of differential it is. We have locking differentials, gerodisk differentials, helical LSD's, viscous coupling LSD's, cone clutch LSD's.. and probably 50 more if you look into them..

I can tell you right now that they are not put into the majority of vehicles because of launching issues. They are put into them to limit wheel slippage while turning/cornering/etc. If you don't believe me, do some research and take apart some differentials for yourself. The main function of a differential is to provide power to wheels that are turning at different speeds. When you're just launching, that really isn't a big issue untill/unless you break traction.

They help with wheel slip off the line (ONLY because of their design), but that's not their main purpose...

So my point is, ANY WHEEL drive type will benefit more with a LSD. Especially a RWD vehicle.

If you want to talk about it more, I have a book on this stuff that I can give you plenty of information out of...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iwhichisme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the reason it doesnt help in the winter, is because most rear wheel drive cars have the motor sitting in the front . What this means is you have an already heavy car with wheels in the rear pushing the car along with the added weight of the passenger and motor on slippery surfaces. That, my freind, does not equal good traction. On front wheel or all-wheel drive cars you have the weight of the motor applying extra force to the wheels on the ground, which is going to help out with traction. positive traction is not designed to help cars drive well in the winter, that is why they are considered upgrades to peg-legged differentials. They are designed to proved more traction off the line. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The fact that the car has a nose heavy balance has nothing to do with a LSD helping traction in slippery conditions! you are comparing apples to oranges by saying a FWD setup has better traction than a RWD setup.

The question was 'would this help out with winter driving?'

Your first sentence sums up your skewed logic perfectly. That is not the reason LSD doesn't help (even though it does) that is the reason a FF might have better traction in snow than a FR.
Furthermore, traction off the line is the least of the reasons I would get LSD. Have you ever drivin either a FF or FR car with LSD?

 

LOL nameless EJ6! you and I think alike and simultaneously. funny ****

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bailhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Furthermore, traction off the line is the least of the reasons I would get LSD. Have you ever drivin either a FF or FR car with LSD?</TD></TR></TABLE>

traction off the line is also the least of the reasons i would get LSD.. and yes I have driven an FF car with LSD but not FR and understand the great benefits in a FWD car (or least i think i do).. consider when the LSD is working hardest in FWD vehicle, this occurs when you're turning very hard, you're loading the outside wheel the most, open differential basically transfers power to this inside wheel as it is path of least resistance so you're spinning the tire, whereas LSD will balance out the power between the 2 wheels...
now my question relates to RWD.. when cornering, this sideways loading occurs most on the outside front wheel so this leads me to believe an LSD does benefit RWD but not as much as it benefits FWD.. i guess it would also depend on the type of corner in question..
this is the main question i was wondering, the question about winter driving was just expanding on my understanding/misunderstanding

 

I was asking that other guy if he had driven one because he seemed to have little grasp on the concept, based on his ridiculous answers.

The cornering benifits seem to be just as great on the FRs I have driven (240sx). I drove a 97 240 without LSD and it didn't feel nearly as solid accelerating out of corners. As far as slippery surface traction I hope you realize the truth ~ which seems really easy to derive with simple logic, i thought before this thread
anyway.