I have a NA FC Im looking at putting a torsen into. Fitment isnt a problem but I dont know what to expect the diff to feel like. I have a 90TII with a viscous. I isnt bad, but for the money Id spend on the torsen Id expect a more responsive unit. I was just wondering what the torsen feels like when it "locks". If you crank the wheel and drop the clutch does the doughnut easily with just throttle input after you countersteer. I know the mechanical ones do but that would be slightly more expensive and the torsen should work good for what I want. The car is a daily driver and I use it for autoX and driftsessions. The worn out mechanical one stinks. Any feedback would be great.
Sky

 

wrong section buddy. off to the 2nd gen section.

 

Well, they are kinda heavy.. metal, the housing is sort of scratchy...
Seriously though, I don't know that you'll be able to feel a big difference unless your stock diff is really worn out. Torsens don't really lock-up. By design they will continue to vary the torque going to each wheel. So in that respect they do their work pretty smoothly in a sort of behind-the-scenes sort of way. But they are superior at getting the most out of each tire while exiting a turn.
Good luck

 

second gens dont have torsens. All you guys do.
So a torsen wont work well for drift. But they do work well for normal racing, like autoX right?

 

Torsens only lock when one of the wheels physically leaves contact with the road. Other than that, you should notice the following:

-It'll never wear out, these things last forever.
-Better torque
-Superior performance to the VLSD and the clutch type LSD's for autox situations

Why? A torsen differential is basically an open differential until just after the apex of the corner until it restricts the outside wheel to about 40-45%. This helps to prevent push in super tight corners. The problem with this is that if one wheel is not in contact with the road, your $800-1200 torsen is functioning like a junkyard open differential throughout the entire turn... Whether you decide this is ok for your drift application is up to you. I've decided to go with a torsen on my car, I'm active in the sport, if you want, I say, go for it!

Steve

 

Actually this post is quite applicable to the 3rd gen section. He was asking since 3rd gens have torsen LSDs.

 

torsens are great LSDs. ive driven Miatas that have the torsen both on the street and on the auto-x. they way it works is really cool. you cant really feel it lock up, but you know its working. the only time ive ever had a sign thats its a torsen is in a prking lot if you try to do a real tight turn around you can hear the inside tire slipping just a bit. it works awesome on the auto-x track, allows for awesome throttle steer. but it doesnt like to let the car slide for too long. its a LSD that is set up for grip and it pulls the car back in line even if i try to stay out a bit. thats why i think it might not be the best thing for a drift setup. even in the wet my friend, the guy that own the miata with the torsen, couldnt get the tail to stay out for too long. and hes a badass driver. as far as drift goes, just a plain LSD work great.

 

Has anyone tried swapping an FD torsen into an FC and how much work is involved in doing that swap if feasible.

 

I dont think the FD will fit into a FC maybe a FC turbo but not the NA. At the price for a FD torsen Id probally be better off buying a KAAZ or Cusco for my TII. Thanks for all the input guys. I talked to mazdaspeed and they highly recomend the swap.

 

The Miata Torsen will fit in the NA FC models.

You just need to swap the diff. Pull it out of the Miata case, swap gears, replace the seals, and put it into the FC case.

 

The used ones off a wrecked fd go for as low as $250 to as high as 1g, averaging $650 though.

Icemark, was that off the 94 and up type R miatas or was that a $300 option.

 

Icemark, do you know of any writeups for that?

 

Nothing online. Pretty straight forward though, and covered in the shop manual.

 

Uh...Torsen do wear out.&nbsp They are "pushed" by worm gears, and these gears are very delicate (kinda).

A Torsen is the most linearly locking differential out there, period.
The clutch-type locks up in two stages.
The viscous type locks up logrithmically.

I USED to have a comparison of the locking characteristics posted in another section, but I've pulled that pic a long time ago...


-Ted