When the former Street Sweeper Gang 240SX hatchback was bought in August, one of the questions was asked regarding the LSD. When it was with the original owner in Arizona, it had a KAAZ 2-Way LSD. It currently has a welded differential. To each his or her own, but with the amount of effort put into this car from its original build, it deserves more than just a welded differential.
Thought was put into just buying a Nissan OE Viscous LSD (VLSD), but let’s think about it for a moment. The VLSD systems that came with the (R)(P)S-13 180SX/Silvia 1989-90 (zenki), 1991-1994 (chuki 180SX; kouki Silvia) and 1995-98 (kouki 180SX), are at a minimum 17 years old. VLSDs are less efficient than mechanical types, that is, they “lose” some power. In particular, any sustained load which overheats the silicone results in sudden permanent loss of the differential effect. They do have the virtue of failing gracefully, reverting to semi-open differential behavior. Typically a visco-differential that has covered 60,000 miles (97,000 km) or more will be functioning largely as an open differential. That’s NOT what I want, and why spend $400 for a 180SX/Silvia VLSD with questionable life in it?
The options in front of me are a custom built differential or build one up myself. Looking into custom built differentials nets very limited results from a search query. However there are companies like Weir Performance that will rebuild OE VLSDs. Again, I want to get away from VLSDs which leads me to building up our own. The choices are NISMO, OS Giken, KAAZ, ATS Carbon, Cusco and Tomei. All of the companies that make a aftermarket LSD for the Nissan 180SX/Silvia platform are good. I couldn’t go wrong with any of them, but by decision is with Tomei. You can read about it here Tomei Technical Trax Advance clutch-type LSD.
I love anything that doesn’t take a lot of maintenance to keep up. In Tomei’s opening description of the T-TRAX Advance family of LSDs, their theme for the formulation of their product is:
| ●Amazing Torque |
| ●Amazing Response |
| ●Heat Resistance |
| ●Unmatched Durability |
| ●Minimal Maintenance |
Those points sound like winners to me. One thing they don’t mention at the beginning is having a product that works in harmony with the OE to reduce the level of difficulty in installing this product. Also, prjkt 240SX MAYHEM will spend time on the street where good manners is always a plus. Tomei puts emphasis that their T-TRAX Advance is built with the street in mind with the incorporation of the “Advance Disk”
These two pieces smooth out the harshness that is traditional with clutch-type LSDs which means no crackling sounds when driving on the street.
Largest surface area possible
More discs to work with…
In order in increase the amount of friction discs possible, the T-TRAX models adopted the use of the coil spring disc. This helped with the more compact design and increasing the overall initial torque possible in mechanical LSD. In addition this unique design spring disc shows with continuous severe driving conditions, this has outlasted any previous designs with T-Trax unsurpassed durability.
More user friendly with harmony with the OE…
In Tomei’s words- “Previously all car models required the exchange of both the side flanges when upgrading the LSD unit. But with T-TRAX ADVANCE it is now possible to use the original factory side flange. Of course there is no decrease in quality, efficiency or performance but it helps with bring down the costs of upgrading your diff. (with the exception of some models the side flanges still have to be exchanged on certain models). Our aim was to increase performance while trying to give the end user best value for money.” That sounds fantastic!
Extreme driving as well as high initial torque puts additional loads and stresses on the LSD case. This can sometimes cause warping, leading to reduced performance. However, this LSD case has been designed to withstand this with ease and prevents this from happening.
In summary, Tomei T-TRAX Advance is the LSD of choice for prjkt 240SX MAYHEM. For more more information, see T-TRAX Advance Clutch-Type LSD System.