I finally got around to swapping in an LSD in my 87 base FC. Its other mods were streetport, ported intake manifold, ram/cold air intake, five lug swap, springs and struts, 300zx wheels and 225/50/60 summer tires, a GXL rear anti-sway bar, rear steer eliminator bushings, front camber adjustment slots, aluminum hood swap and about 200 pounds of crap removed from the chassis.



I had the suspension dialed to be pretty neutral before the swap. Some light trail braking could be used to counter the natural turn-in understeer on turn entry, and then all braking could be released to allow the car to glide tightly through a turn at around .8-.9G. But power could _never_ be put down early in a turn, unless I wanted to spin out into a ditch or just spin the inside rear wheel.



So I put a GXL LSD in the other day and it had 15 foot-pounds of static friction between the output shafts, measured with my torque wrench. It had about 110k miles on it and was probably half worn-out, but I wasn't complaining. The open diff had less than one foot pound of friction between the shafts, so it was an improvement.



After installation, the rear felt MUCH more stable, like I put a rudder on the car or something. Power could be put down right away, almost before the apex of a turn, and if traction broke, the car would just go sideways slightly but not spin the inside wheel like before. But the LSD caused some understeer to come back. The car wouldn't glide as hard through a turn like before.



The fix: adding a tad more rear toe-in using the adjustment cams on the front of the rear trailing arms. This increased the slip angle of the outside rear tire in a turn, reducing understeer. The car is great now and just like before, but with that stable feeling that it never had. I can drive it pretty damn hard now and wring it out like the sports car it should be.



So anyways, if anyone cares, when you swap in an LSD to your base model FC, you can get rid of some of the understeer it causes by dialing in some toe-in to the rear wheels.



https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/bigok.gif

How about on an '88 T2? I've heard all this stuff about there being this toe thing in the rear end that'll turn the tires inward or some crap, similar to the all-wheel steering of a Mitsu 3000GT VR-4 or 300Z.



What's up with that? My professional drift buddy last night was saying how me having aftermarket suspension thats set stiff helps because the toe on the rear tires won't even "activate" until a great deal of pressure is put down on the shocks or something. *shrugs* I'm clueless.

that is a completely different topic, what your 'pro' buddy was talking about was the dtss system. it's called dynamic track steering system or some b.s. do a search and many good topics will come up on it. fluid dynamics eliminated it because it can at times make the car 'unpredictable.'



fluid, my first car was a gxl and i never noticed how much of a difference having a limited slip makes until now. i now have a sport and it's night and day. i'm looking forward to swap in my turbo rear soon. good info

great news, I really need to get rid of my open diff... the car does spin out pretty easy since most of the rest of the suspension has been changed and stiffened up.. one wheeler peeler sucks

I concur, the LSD is a major difference, and that's noticeable in normal street driving.

yeah my t2 really had that stable feeling, it never ever felt bad ever. even spinning into the bushes it felt composed https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/wacko.png



why do you have a big rear bar and a small front? i'm reading about the speedsource its cars and they dont run a rear bar at all?

Spring rates, shock stiffness, anti-sway bar thickness, front and rear camber, rear toe angle, LSD or no LSD, tire pressures, and front / rear weight bias affect a car's tendency to understeer or oversteer.



With stiffer rear springs or shocks, you can eliminate the rear anti-sway bar and keep the neutral handling. Generally, a thicker rear bar will cause the rear to rotate more in a hard turn. If it is too stiff, the rear will rotate all the way around in a spin (oversteer). Stock FCs (all that I have driven, at least) have some pretty substantial understeer before about .5 g lateral acceleration when the DTSS kicks in and adds some toe-in to the outside rear hub.



You can use many combinations of the items mentioned above to affect the car's neutrality, and if you already have comparitively stiff rear springs / shocks, you might be able to get rid of the rear anti-sway bar. Also, track cars usually get set up to have some slight understeer while autocross cars (mine) can get away with having a loose rear end due to the lower speeds on the course and smaller consequences of spinning out.



I ran w/o the rear bar for a couple weeks, and the FC felt like my old Integra as far as handling balance. I have tokico HP nonadjustable struts and Eibach springs, so I was unable to choose a stiffer rear shock setting or spring rate. Adding the stiffer rear anti sway bar not only reduced body roll, but helped the car to rotate around turns instead of pushing and plowing.

I'm using 5-way adjustable Tokico's and I have them set at 4, and I'm using Eibach springs too. I was cornering a couple days ago and I wasn't pushing myself, mainly cause it was my 1st time on the road, but later on when I pushed myelf a little harder, I could feel the car understeer on the 90 degree turns. Should I soften up the front or something? Loose front stiff back = less understeer/more oversteer?

try entering the turn slower and getting on the gas a bit sooner

yeah thats right you auto-x, need more rotation for that https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png