It has been raining lately and I have been taking turn driving my S2K and Lexus LS400.

I did experiment with a hard launch from standing stop on wet surface or sudden hard acceleration in the middle of the corner, the rear end of S2K will swing one way or another and can spin the car around if I floor the gas.
On the other hand, the LS400 (do not have traction control nor LSD) will just spin one or both tires without any rear swing and will resume the forward motion as soon as the traction is regained. Unlike S2K, it will not move forward, it just spins the tire/s on the spot and will only move forward until the traction is regained.

This makes me wonder about the LSD. Is the torque transfer function of LSD actually bad for wet driving? Although LSD delivers more power to the wheel and actually moves the car (instead of spinning the tire and be still) in wet surface, it causes the rear end to swing sideway and can cause lost of control?

What do you think?

 

Yep, you're sort of right.

An LSD distributes torque between the drive wheels, whereas an open diff allows the wheel with the least amount of grip to spin, essentially bleeding off power in a relatively harmless manner.

The critical effect is this. Whatever the traction circumstances, an LSD offers the ability to put more power to the ground (two contact patches instead of one). However, when you break traction with an LSD, you do it on both drive wheels. In the case of the S2000, this means the rear end will step out. With an open diff car, you'll break traction sooner, but when you do, it will only be on one tire, hence the benign effect of not going anywhere and not losing the back end.

For all practical purposes, an open diff is safer, but an LSD will get you off the line better in slippery circumstances and is far better for performance driving.

UL

 

Without a doubt, LSD without traction control can make it more treacherous to drive in low traction conditions. When you loose rear traction you do it with both wheels and there is often sideways movement that is made worse by power application that spins both wheels.

Driving in low traction conditions needs to be done with a very light application of power. With good tires, a decent surface, and a reasonable driver it is not normally a problem, but if any of these things are lacking it can be difficult to keep the rear of the car in line.

This is not just a S2000 issue, but is a surprise because many have not experienced a fully operational LSD in a RWD car. My modified Mustang with a lot of torque, a locking rear end, and street slicks was so bad that I refused to drive it in the rain.

Some drivers have blamed problems on the S02

 

Yeah, what cdelena said. Plus, the stock rear tires are not great in the rain which may contribute to the problem.

 

Actually, an Integra R with LSD and FWD will have a similar effect of the front end stepping sideways also. But in most cases, that is easier to correct.

 

Interesting information.....don't know much about the LSD system in the Stook.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by laster
[B]Yeah, what cdelena said.

 

We are all treating this like a problem, "The rear end will swing out if it's floored in the middle of a corner." I'm, sorry but this sounds like an example of excellent driving dynamics. It's just not pc to compare an S2000 to an LS400. The LS is meant to drive for you with as much stability and safety and comfort as possible whereas in the S2000, you drive the car! Which leave me with your question, "Is an LSD bad for wet driving? Only if you are a bad driver.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by asin
[B]It has been raining lately and I have been taking turn driving my S2K and Lexus LS400.

I did experiment with a hard launch from standing stop on wet surface or sudden hard acceleration in the middle of the corner, the rear end of S2K will swing one way or another and can spin the car around if I floor the gas.