When I start accelerating (mid corner) out of a turn, I feel like the rear outer wheel is pushing the car... Is this because of the Torsen differential sending more torque to the tire with better traction (outer)? Or, would any other RWD car behave this way (maybe it's just that me hitting the gas reduces possible understeer, like any other RWD car)?

 

Forcing the car to rotate? That is your diff.

 

^ "that is your diff" like the diff behaving as it should or the diff having some sort of failure?

 

The rear wheel pushing the car is called rwd. All the Torsen does is lock the axels together so your inner wheel is spinning at the same rate as the outer. The S2000 doesn't have an active transfer system like SH-AWD that will put more power to one particular wheel, but by locking the two rear axels, the inner wheel will break traction easier so you can rotate the car - instead of having cornering traction, it will all be acceleration traction, so it won't hold the car straight, if that makes any sense.

 

[QUOTE=Saki GT,Jan 10 2010, 08:55 AM]The rear wheel pushing the car is called rwd.

 

Here's a video in French, but it has a nice illustration of how the Torsen works in a curve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iik6xKUP0nw

 

Very nice and illustrative video. Wish I knew French.

I thought the Torsen diff puts more torque on the wheel with better traction. And considering that the outer rear wheel has more traction in a turn than the inner, I thought the outer rear wheel pushing the car might be due to the Torsen diff.

 

Yup. And going to a clutch-type diff, you really feel the difference. Torsens are great as long as you don't have wheel hop / lift. That can be really upsetting to the car balance as you can imagine.

 

Great, so you do feel a significant difference between a clutch type LSD and Torsen diff. in turns.

Then I guess what we have is a somewhat similar to the SH-AWD. Unlike SH-AWD, it is not computer controlled, and it cannot transfer 100% of the power to the left or right...

But it is mechanical, reacts instantly to traction conditions (including turns), and can transfer most of the power to the left or right (amount adjusted by the torque bias ratio of the Torsen diff).

 

Huge difference in turn-in characteristics. There are advantages and disadvantages.

Torsens are very good differentials for daily driving. They don't really wear out and are pretty maintenance-free.

I wouldn't say that an OEM Torsen differential is "similar to SH-AWD."

SH-AWD uses planetary gear differentials AND electronic clutches. It's kind of a smart hybrid.