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LSD recommendations

Q

Qasim

Messages
7
Hello All

Am looking for some recommendations on an LSD for the ep3 gearbox. I am in them middle of kswapping my car and coming to the stage where I am almost ready to purchase an engine and gearbox. Looking for some advice and recommendations.

The car will be used on the road but mainly on track. I have been looking at various brands, mfactory, quaiffe wavetrac cusco, OS giken, ect. I am swaying towards a wavetrac. I've had a brief look at the plated diffs but I heard they clunk, and require regular maintenance

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
 
I'd recommend not getting a plated diff as they're usually more aggressive when they lock up. I'd had a Drexler plate diff in a FWD car, it kicked terribly through the steering when activated.
I prefer ATB type diffs like the quaife and wavetrac due to the feel of them, and the zero maintenance thing. I think the wavetrac can still transmit drive if you lift a wheel whereas the quaife does not, for track use I don't think this will affect 99% of people. Personally either of those would be sufficient and people usually only prefer one over the other due to feel\feedback of each unit.

I've no experience of the others you mention.

I have a quaife, it suits my needs and works under braking which is nice, though it was already in the car when I bought it and it works as part of the overall build - where mine starts to struggle the aftermarket TC then kicks in.
If you were hillclimbing or rallying it would be a plated diff all the way.

If I was doing it from scratch I'd be taking a serious look at a wavetrac, though I do like having the quaife in there as it's pretty much fit and forget with an unburstable reputable and no need to use different gearbox oil, the Honda MTF stuff is fine as as quaife states normal manufacturers oil is used. This is not usually the case with plated diffs and a specific oil or additive is required, no idea what the others specify lube-wise.
 
I run a helical mfactory diff and it’s a big upgrade to the open diff.
When I fitted it I used the car daily, now I don’t and it’s only track use and the odd Sunday blast, I really wish I had a plated diff. It does come unstuck at times when on track. Especially on tracks with big kerbs causing the wheel to jump.
Requires being correctly set up and maintained though. Helical is a fit and forget.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Plated diff if you’re doing lots of track work, they are substantially better than helical types. However they are not nice at all on the road.
 
As above, if going helical then get something more aggressive as they are still rather "tame" compared to plated diffs. Wavetrac would be my first choice followed by mfactory's racepack version, wish I went wavetrac for it's additional features but I'm certainly not disappointed by my racepack kit. Quaife and mfactory's standard ones are a little too mellow in my opinion.

If you're going to do ANY sort of miles on the road other than weekend hoons or driving to the track itself a plated diff may get tiring. However if it's mainly for the track the jump to plated diff would be much, much greater.
 
By the way I got a Kaaz Super Q diff. It came highly recommended from a number of respected garages and race teams.
 
Helical 1.5 way for the road, plated 2 way for the track. It's what I've got on my road car and going to do to the track car respectively.
 
SmegHead said:
I'd recommend not getting a plated diff as they're usually more aggressive when they lock up. I'd had a Drexler plate diff in a FWD car, it kicked terribly through the steering when activated.
I prefer ATB type diffs like the quaife and wavetrac due to the feel of them, and the zero maintenance thing. I think the wavetrac can still transmit drive if you lift a wheel whereas the quaife does not, for track use I don't think this will affect 99% of people. Personally either of those would be sufficient and people usually only prefer one over the other due to feel\feedback of each unit.

I've no experience of the others you mention.

I have a quaife, it suits my needs and works under braking which is nice, though it was already in the car when I bought it and it works as part of the overall build - where mine starts to struggle the aftermarket TC then kicks in.
If you were hillclimbing or rallying it would be a plated diff all the way.

If I was doing it from scratch I'd be taking a serious look at a wavetrac, though I do like having the quaife in there as it's pretty much fit and forget with an unburstable reputable and no need to use different gearbox oil, the Honda MTF stuff is fine as as quaife states normal manufacturers oil is used. This is not usually the case with plated diffs and a specific oil or additive is required, no idea what the others specify lube-wise.
Click to expand...

SmegHead thank you for your response!

The car will only be used on the occasional weekend when the weathers good or on the track. I have been looking at the Helical Quaife, Wavetrac, and mfactory race spec diff. Your right about the wavetrack diff when it comes to transmitting drive when the wheels lift, which makes this more appealing over the others. The zero maintenance thing is also a very important factor I need to consider.

I think if I was to go Helical am swaying to wavetrac, after doing some research on a few forums, people have encountered problems when removing the shafts with the wavetrac, something I'll have to think about!
 
Lewisgame said:
I run a helical mfactory diff and it’s a big upgrade to the open diff.
When I fitted it I used the car daily, now I don’t and it’s only track use and the odd Sunday blast, I really wish I had a plated diff. It does come unstuck at times when on track. Especially on tracks with big kerbs causing the wheel to jump.
Requires being correctly set up and maintained though. Helical is a fit and forget.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply Lewis, I am in a similar same boat I'd rather get it right first time , the car will not be used as a daily, which is why am considering the plated Diff now, it woud nice to know how often a plated diff needs to be maintained and costs associated with it.
Chris. said:
Plated diff if you’re doing lots of track work, they are substantially better than helical types. However they are not nice at all on the road.
Click to expand...

Car will be mainly used on the track (75%) road (25%) - I think I need to experience a plated diff to see if I could live with it, I'll try and get a passenger ride with someone who has one installed lol . Do you know how often a plated diff needs to be maintained?

musegroove said:
As above, if going helical then get something more aggressive as they are still rather "tame" compared to plated diffs. Wavetrac would be my first choice followed by mfactory's racepack version, wish I went wavetrac for it's additional features but I'm certainly not disappointed by my racepack kit. Quaife and mfactory's standard ones are a little too mellow in my opinion.

If you're going to do ANY sort of miles on the road other than weekend hoons or driving to the track itself a plated diff may get tiring. However if it's mainly for the track the jump to plated diff would be much, much greater.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your response Musegroove

I think With Helical am looking at Wavetrac as first choice then possible mfactory racepack and Quaife. As mentioned above the car will be used occasionally on weekends, Mailny trackdays. What other diffs were you considering when you bought your Mfacotry racepack? and how does this differ of the standard mfactory diff?

Chris. said:
By the way I got a Kaaz Super Q diff. It came highly recommended from a number of respected garages and race teams.
Click to expand...

I'll have a look into Kaaz, What sort regular maintenance does this diff require and how often?

Krzys said:
Helical 1.5 way for the road, plated 2 way for the track. It's what I've got on my road car and going to do to the track car respectively.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply Krzys,

What brand diff are you running and what regular maintenance is required


THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR RESPONSES :)
 
Qasim said:
I think if I was to go Helical am swaying to wavetrac, after doing some research on a few forums, people have encountered problems when removing the shafts with the wavetrac, something I'll have to think about!
Click to expand...

I think that problem was on early production units and has since been fixed. I confirmed it with wavetrac themselves when I was considering but didn't replace the quaife with one.
 
Mfactory in the road car, no maintenance require outside of the recommended gearbox oil change Honda states :)

I believe a plated diff will want some friction oil adding and possibly more but whoever you buy your diff from or indeed members here who have had one, will be able to better advise you.
 
Qasim said:
Car will be mainly used on the track (75%) road (25%) - I think I need to experience a plated diff to see if I could live with it, I'll try and get a passenger ride with someone who has one installed lol . Do you know how often a plated diff needs to be maintained?

I'll have a look into Kaaz, What sort regular maintenance does this diff require and how often?
Click to expand...

It needs friction modifier to go with the MTF. If you get a coated one such as Super Q then they require maintenance less often, chatter less and will have smoother operation. If you're doing 75% track then you'd be daft to get a helical type, plated makes it feel like you're cheating. They are a vast improvement over the OEM DC5 diff for example.

Lots of info on the Kaaz site here:

https://kaazusa.com/faq/

I'll probably get mine served every 3 years.
 
For me it was only wavetrac or mfac racepack as they fitted my needs, there was a few week wait or a hefty premium for a wavetrac, as my box was open I just bit the bullet and fitted the racepack.

The main difference is just how it triggers and how strong it pulls, the two above don't take much to get working and are very smooth and progressive. By the time you start reaching the tyres max grip the diffs are sucking you round nicely. A plated one will obviously be more exagerrated and can be more on/off (depends on brand / type etc). The other helical diffs I just found to be too tame for the track, will do fine on b-roads but being in other FN2s with less aggressive diffs they definietly didn't pull as strong.
 
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