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Should I fit LSD?


detailer

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So if I fit ATB I don't need a soft setup on the rear? ???

It depends on your cars setup it may be fine with an ATB fitted mine wasnt I would recomend fitting the ATB and then seting up the suspension BUT REMEMBER if after fitting the ATB the cars rear end is a little twitchy all that you will probably need to do is fit softer springs.

IMHO I feel a softer setup is a million times better than a firm setup but as always this comes down to personel taste.

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I have an early 1989 narrow bodied SEi  which appears to have a westfield diff carrier. How easy is it to put an LSD or ATB in the existing diff?  I am not sure if I could buy a sierra diff and fit it to the existing prop and driveshafts ( I think not ). Any advice welcome, especially from Blatman.
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I have an ATB in my narrow SEi with an Escort diff in a Westfield diff carrier. It's the nuts :t-up:

Actually fitting the ATB unit to the diff is best left to the pro's though. Getting the diff out of the chassis is fairly simple...

Converting the rear end to accept the Sierra diff is probably do-able but you'd need to be *very* handy with a welder and have a good eye for getting it all straight once you've finished hacking the back end up and welding in new tubes.

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I have the 71/2" sierra diff casing; does the 7" ATB diff fit in this case as I can't find one for the 71/2".

Which is better the Sierra LSD or the ATB? or do they just have different characteristics with one better at one thing and theother more suited to other things?

I think everyone knows a LSD is better than an open diff but some people just try to justify not spending the cash.

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Which is better the Sierra LSD or the ATB? or do they just have different characteristics with one better at one thing and theother more suited to other things?

The ATB is probably better, but is also more expensive.

Depending on why you want it, a standard Sierra LSD may well suit your needs. I had one in my last car, and it made no end of difference. That was for a road car with the occasional track day.

If you want out and out performance, then an ATB is (possibly) the better option.

Andy

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Which is better the Sierra LSD or the ATB? or do they just have different characteristics with one better at one thing and theother more suited to other things?

The ATB is probably better, but is also more expensive.

Depending on why you want it, a standard Sierra LSD may well suit your needs. I had one in my last car, and it made no end of difference. That was for a road car with the occasional track day.

If you want out and out performance, then an ATB is (possibly) the better option.

Andy

Hi Andy

Any chance you can elaborate on why the ATB is better in this application ? I am about to build up a 3.14 diff for my TurboBusa and I am trying to decide what type of slipper to fit, Viscous, plate or ATB !!!

Bazzer

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I think there is little to choose between an ATB or the standard viscous diff. The only thing to remember is that the viscous diff is likely to have done lots of miles and may need it's internals refreshing. I seem to recall that you can replace the viscous packs in the Sierra diff, so if you can I think it would be a worthwhile thing to do.

The ATB is fit and forget. No viscous couplings, no plates, and no special oil required. In a lightweight car like a Westfield they are ace and offer *loads* of corner exit, power on grip, IME. I believe that this area is where they excel over the viscous diff, and I also think they behave better under braking than a viscous or a plate diff. Everywhere else (doughnuts, powerslides, spin turns, burn outs and whatever other hooliganery you engage in) then it's probably too close to call... IMO of course...

Drop Windy an email for his opinion though. He's probably the man to talk to who will have the most feedback to offer on this subject, and he's a big ATB fan...

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  • 2 weeks later...
Note, ATB's are typically one-way diffs (quaifes are). ie, as people have noted, the quaife only works while powering out of the turn, but not when braking into it. You will notice that more racers will use plate style LSD's, since they are two-way. It is true that the plate style diffs require setting up (pre-load and lock %), and do wear out, so there is a cost to the increased benefit. The ATB's are definitely simpler to setup/maintain, and it is true that an LSD is definitely more useful when on the power, than when braking. Really a bit of a tradeoff.
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