Re: the perceived poor weather traction, I tested my car's wet weather handling limits pretty well in the wet. I normally won't drive it in wet conditions, but it rained the first week I had it, and I was very anxious to break it in.

My rainy route included City Park Road (very hilly and curvy for those of you unfamiliar w/ Austin), and it passed w/ flying colors. My rear tires are now pretty shot, so I'm sure it would be a different story now. Even in the dry, they're not nearly as confidence inspiring as they used to be.

Also, shouldn't a LSD improve traction in all conditions by reducing wheel slip?

 

I may have to start a new thread to examine how LSD's work and affect driving. Here is what I think may have happened in this instance: very slick road (yes, like ice in this section), cold tires with 4000 miles (plenty of tread), driving at what I thought was a cautious speed (30mph). The road goes downhill then makes a slight left turn and starts uphill. I did not trail brake after the downhill section, started in the turn and as I accelerated (very slightly, which should have transferred weight to the rear) for the uphill section the rear end breaks loose violently. I am wondering if the right rear tire began to slip and the lsd transferred power to the left wheel, overpowering the traction and contributing to the spin. Just a theory. The bottom line is that I blame me and not the car. I LOVE this car, I just want to know all it's handling characteristics so that I can adjust for them and share the info with the rest of the owners.

 

Russ:
I think you're right on the money. When the LSD looses traction on one side, the power is transferred to the other side. That combined with a slick road could have easily broken the only tire with traction loose. The result would be a violent loss of rear traction with little hope of recovery. Any bumps in the road would also have contributed to the loss of traction.