Why is limited slip differential better

But that's just a brief overview of how LSDs work. Check out the full explainer video right here. Join Now. New Cars. Car Culture. The main purpose of a differential is to help the vehicle make stable turns. But there are different types of differentials which function in their own unique way. The two most common differentials are open differentials and limited-slip differentials. The former is great for turning on clearer roads while the latter is better for road conditions which will likely cause your wheels to slip.

In a limited-slip differential, engine torque is distributed evenly to each wheel on the axle. Ideally, it is better to drive on roads that are clear when you have this differential.

But if you drive over mud or ice on the road, one of your wheels may lose traction as it spins. In order to prevent this wheel from slipping on the road, the limited-slip differential takes away some of the torque energy from the slipping wheel.

As a result, you can make hard turns much more easily and reduce slippage in the process. If you had the more common open differential, it would not be able to reduce slippage as you make hard turns. A limited-slip differential contains different clutch discs which are secured by springs. Locking up to any degree provides less speed differentiation than no lock up at all, which we've established is required for the car to turn. If you've ever driven a 4x4 with diff locks on dry pavement, you'll know exactly what I mean better not do that, though, because it puts a lot of stress on drivetrain components.

Putting more power down means more weight transfer to the rear end, which results in less grip at the front end. Less grip in the front is more understeer. If you've ever driven a , understeer due to rear weight transfer is very pronounced since most of the weight is at the back to start with.

You can maintain your grip for longer due to no inside wheel slip. If the rear axle can hold on for longer, you'll increase understeer. With that said, a car without a limited slip diff will generally be slower than a car with one. This is because you can get back on the power much sooner with a diff like that and more aggressively, which will let you shave a lot of time.

The only exception would be a momentum RWD car that has more traction than power and, therefore, could not excessively spin its inside wheel if it wanted to. You make the most of it by maximizing corner speed everywhere. And there are ways to get around the understeer. You can tune the suspension to reduce that understeer so you typically only notice the understeer on a car that had a limited slip diff added but is otherwise unchanged.

As with all things in motorsports, you need to learn your car, learn your setup, and learn your track. A power track could allow you to better take advantage of high amounts of lockup.

A track with a bunch of high speed sweepers might lend itself to maximizing corner speed and minimizing understeer, plus high speed corners bring downforce into the equation so you could increase your grip to make up for lower lockup and traction performance. It gets even better on a FWD car, since you only have the first two factors i. The third is actually helping you. LSDs on the front let you maintain grip for longer on the front axle, which is less understeer.

And even before the diff is working as intended, torque transferred to either front wheel generates a positive steering moment. That means a limited slip diff typically curbs understeer on a FWD car even if all else stays the same, especially if it's a high horsepower car.

The one caveat is that the axle locking can make it difficult to steer, if aggressive. Of course, as with every technology, engineers are always working to improve it.

Limited slip differentials are no exception and there are several other ways to limit slip and distribute torque that address the downsides of a traditional LSD. Stay tuned for the next post, where I will explain other LSD technologies including gear-type, electronic like the BMW M2 pictured , brake-based, and torque vectoring!

Rams Eye The Track Guy. I can't be the only one who thinks that cars on three wheels look cool, can I? You absolutely are not. It's a beautiful thing. Read more DriveMag Tags. Home Red Calipers. Andrei Nedelea. August 13th at am August 13, August 13, Read more.

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