Merecedes Differentials / LSD
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From: Los Angeles
C 230K Coupé
Merecedes Differentials / LSD
I stumbled on the BMW forums n i've been reading a bunch about people switching the differentials, and adding in a LSD (limited slip differential). Now i'm not that great at this... so can anyone explain how they are able to give gains and why is there so few talk of these on Mercedes. I know kleeman makes LSD for their kleeman models... cept i thought this was mostly for automatic transmission to achieve wheel slip. So how would it help out for a manual transmission where we are already able to achieve wheel spin.
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'05 C230SS 6MT, 1966 Triumph TR4a IRS, Shelby Cobra 427 Supercharged
An LSD is good for everything! You got a little mixed up, and LSD prevents wheel spin. An LSD forces the wheels to get equal power. They can give gains because under heavy acceleration with an open diff all the power will go to the wheel that spins the easiest, ie the wheel with less traction. That gives you wheel spin which we all know is lost engine power. Having and LSD forces the engines power to go to both wheels. Now instead of having all the power go to one wheel, each wheel is getting half the engines power. Since loss of traction is a function of the torque applied, decrease the torque by half and you have less wheel spin, ie better acceleration. (This is more noticible obviously on cars with lots of power) An LSD is also better in any situation where there is low traction such as rain, snow, gravel etc... It also helps in handling too for the same reason... And yes it would help in a manual, especially since you can drop/slip the clutch giving more torque quicker than you could do in a automatic. You can tell if a car has open or limited slip by looking at the skid marks, an open diff will only have one and a LSD will have two (Or four if you saw that blown Jeep Grand Cherokee H.O. 4.7 with a Belle SC, that was nuts!!! Crazy to see 4 smoking tires on one car thats not on fire!)
Last edited by Capt Nemo o2; May 3, 2005 at 11:26 PM.
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From: The blue white rock, third out.
2002 C230 Coupe(M111)
No, pretty much all modern MBs are open diffs, with a "simulated LSD effect" from the ASR system. It modulates brake pressure(even during accelleration) to keep equal power to both wheels. It works great it slippery weather, like when youre trying to take off in snow, provided youve slapped the ESP button first.
Go do a burnout in Dyno mode. It should leave one streak.
Go do a burnout in Dyno mode. It should leave one streak.
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From: The blue white rock, third out.
2002 C230 Coupe(M111)
Originally Posted by Capt Nemo o2
(Or four if you saw that blown Jeep Grand Cherokee H.O. 4.7 with a Belle SC, that was nuts!!! Crazy to see 4 smoking tires on one car thats not on fire!)
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C230K Coupe/Orion/C4/C5/CD/AMG Spoiler/V60/TeleAid, 2 MGB's
wow, man...I thought LSD went out with the 60's, man.....
(oh...you meant Limited Slip Differential - as in posi-trac - BIG difference)
(oh...you meant Limited Slip Differential - as in posi-trac - BIG difference)
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2004 E500
If its so great why isn''t it an option?
Originally Posted by Capt Nemo o2
An LSD is good for everything! You got a little mixed up, and LSD prevents wheel spin. An LSD forces the wheels to get equal power. They can give gains because under heavy acceleration with an open diff all the power will go to the wheel that spins the easiest, ie the wheel with less traction. That gives you wheel spin which we all know is lost engine power. Having and LSD forces the engines power to go to both wheels. Now instead of having all the power go to one wheel, each wheel is getting half the engines power. Since loss of traction is a function of the torque applied, decrease the torque by half and you have less wheel spin, ie better acceleration. (This is more noticible obviously on cars with lots of power) An LSD is also better in any situation where there is low traction such as rain, snow, gravel etc... It also helps in handling too for the same reason... And yes it would help in a manual, especially since you can drop/slip the clutch giving more torque quicker than you could do in a automatic. You can tell if a car has open or limited slip by looking at the skid marks, an open diff will only have one and a LSD will have two (Or four if you saw that blown Jeep Grand Cherokee H.O. 4.7 with a Belle SC, that was nuts!!! Crazy to see 4 smoking tires on one car thats not on fire!)
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From: York, PA
2003 C230K Sport Coupe, 1986 190E 2.3
Cost savings!!! That is the only reason they are no longer even an option. Although you can take any diff and swap it as long as someone makes it! I would love to get one as my right rear tire is more worn that any other on the car and is always the first to go! Sucks really since if they had a true LSD that would cause a more equal wear on the rears!
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From: San Diego, CA & San Jose, Costa Rica & Stuttgart, Germany
1959 220S / 1979 230 G / 2002 A210 AMG / 2003 C320 SC / 2004.5 C320 SS / 2005 ML350 SE / 2008 smart
WOW... 
and all this time, I thought ESP / LSD was
psychadellic mindreading !
and all this time, I thought ESP / LSD was psychadellic mindreading !
