Can you feel the limited slip kicking in in the snow?

Does frequent LSD usage (due to winter driving) mean you should change the fluid every spring?

Does short shifting and snow tires make the car work as well as front wheel drive?

 

No. In fact I've noticed that at slow speeds at start up the differential acts more like an open differential than an LSD. In other RWD cars with LSD I've driven the LSD effect was much more obvious, not so with the S2000.


Good question but I have no idea. I intend on following Honda's recommended maintenance schedule on my car and I do a lot of autoXing and winter driving. The reasoning is that my previous LSD cars held up really well following published maintenance schedules and they, too, were autoXed and/or driven in the winter. What's more, the other cars used the "disc-type" LSDs and NOT the torsen type used in the S2000.


Others (especially xviper and jguerdat to name two) might have a different opinion, but I've found the S2000 to be limited in its ability to perform in the snow. That said, I still love the S2000 and will continue to drive it in the winter simply because I can't stand to part with it even for one season. Life's too short for that

 

To tell the truth, I've never noticed when in a situation where one drive wheel is on grippier ground than the other. I've never had an issue during those moments so I didn't pay attention.
As for more frequent fluid change, I put Mobil 1 synthetic in there last year and I don't intend on changing it any more frequently than what the manual says unless I feel something unusual.
Even in winter, my shifting style is still dependent on how fast I want to get moving. If I wish to accelerate as quickly as the conditions will allow then spinning the rears just beyond their threshold grip is the best but you had better be ready to steer the car like a rally driver or the car will be facing in directions where you don't want it to be. Short shifting is only necessary when the road surface is "extremely" slippery like mostly ice. Throttle control is more important here.
Is it as good as FWD? Depends. With dedicated snow tires it is as good and most of the times, better than any FWD car with only all season radials. It is sometimes even better than a 4 X 4 SUV with only all season radials. If the FWD car has snow tires, then it will get the jump from a standing start till about the end of the intersection at which point the grip characteristics of the S2000 changes for some reason such that the other car cannot keep up. FWD drive (with snows) has the advantage getting going but once under way the S can easily overtake. (And I'm not talking breaking speed limits but getting up to semi-freeway speeds - 50 mph).
I still think winter driving is a very good way to fully understand some of the handling characteristics of this car. Anything that can happen to you in the dry summer is accentuated at much lower speeds in winter.

 

Oh WOW man, I thought you meant the drug....

 

Damn it, you guys! You made me look! Just came back from an errand. Made a side trip to "experiment" with the LSD. Here are my findings:

Ambient temp: 0*C
Road surface: packed, semi-slushy ice/snow on the edge and dry in the center.
Tire: Blizzak MZ-01.

With right tire on the slippery edge and left on dry: "cautious start" - no problem, no slip; "aggressive start" - the dry tire would break lose and actually grabbed the road more, pushing the car toward the ice.
With left tire on the slippery and right on dry: the exact thing happened with the dry tire providing most of the grip and again propelling the car toward the edge.
Needless to say, with both tires on slippery stuff, they would grab the same on both tires and go (as witnessed by the twin rooster tails).

I had an older Chev Chevelle with GM's version called the "Positrac". It was easy to make the slippery tire just spin and you'd go nowhere. Only if you made the aggressive "spin" start and then let off the gas did the Positrac "hook" up and give some small degree of power transfer to the wheel with grip.

So how good is the Honda LSD? This thing grabs like a pipe wrench on the dry side. It really works!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
[B]So how good is the Honda LSD?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Testut
[B]

Xviper,

That's interesting, 'cuz with my car I've noted a less than aggressive LSD action.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
[B]
Have you changed out the diff oil?

 

Thanks guys. Very thorough. And I WASN'T asking about drugs