viscous diff replacement for R33 gtst

[Dasmbo]

Hi after all these years my original viscous diff has turned itself into a single spinner. The car is 1996 gtst model i have owned it for nearly14 years and has 150,000 kms on the clock and diff. I dont want to get another viscous diff to replace it with i believe there was a second model of diff which came out in this model that was a Real LSD. Can anyone inform me to what type it was and if possible post me a pic of any real LSD diffs that would fit my car many thanks Sam...  

[Nostalgia]

I believe you're referring to the factory option A-LSD which isn't easy nor worth to retrofit.

If I could recall back in the days the R34 Series 2 Helical LSD (R200H) was a popular upgrade. not sure about fitment, diff ratios etc so maybe someone whose more knowledgeable can chime in?

[GTSBoy]

On 5/23/2022 at 4:40 PM, Dasmbo said:

i believe there was a second model of diff which came out in this model that was a Real LSD.

No. A-LSD is more poo than the VLSD, and not a viable option even if you were willing to go down that path because it's just too damn hard to put it in.

On 5/23/2022 at 7:11 PM, Nostalgia said:

R34 Series 2 Helical LSD (R200H)

Yes, but, rare as hen's teeth. Not even worth trying to chase one down.

The only sensible option here is a Nismo or Cusco or Kaaz or etc from Japan. I'm not going to try to school you on the rights and wrongs of choosing between 1, 1.5 and 2 diffs though.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

1.5 way Nismo, so smooth, so sexual.

KAAZ, Jesus.. it's like the world is ending when you try to do a sensible 3 point turn. Makes clutch dumping to do 3 point turns or U turns the norm. 

Disclosure: I made the mistake of buying a KAAZ LSD lol..

[Kinkstaah]

On 5/23/2022 at 10:48 PM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

1.5 way Nismo, so smooth, so sexual.

KAAZ, Jesus.. it's like the world is ending when you try to do a sensible 3 point turn. Makes clutch dumping to do 3 point turns or U turns the norm. 

Disclosure: I made the mistake of buying a KAAZ LSD lol..

There is no 1.5 way nismo.

There is a 2 way nismo and a 1 way nismo. The "1.5" one is the 1 way nismo. This is much better on the road than a 2 way nismo. See above.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Are you sure?

Both my mates have 1.5way Nismos in their S15s

 

Here's a 1.5way for a R33 Skyline

https://otakugarage.com.au/product/nismo-gt-1-5-way-lsd-38420-rs015-b/
https://nismodirect.com/nismo-gt-lsd-1-5-way-ecr33-nissan-skyline-gts-t-38420-rs015-b/

 

[PLYNX]

In the end I went with the GTR mechanical option.

Never looked back

[Kinkstaah]

On 5/24/2022 at 9:35 AM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Are you sure?

Both my mates have 1.5way Nismos in their S15s

 

Here's a 1.5way for a R33 Skyline

https://otakugarage.com.au/product/nismo-gt-1-5-way-lsd-38420-rs015-b/
https://nismodirect.com/nismo-gt-lsd-1-5-way-ecr33-nissan-skyline-gts-t-38420-rs015-b/

 

100% - Nismo only sell two items, and we had them side by side and opened them up to look at the center ramp rates.

NISMO themselves label them as 1 way and 2 way, but everyone else referrs to them as 1.5 way and 2 way.

The "1.5 way" has a 45 deg and 90 deg ramp face. 90 deg is an open diff, on deceleration the "1.5" way is entirely open.
The 2 way has a 45 degree and a 60ish degree ramp face. So on deceleration it is partially locked, not as locked as it is when fully open.

"1.5" way is a misnomer in itself. There can only ever be a 1 way, and anything other than a 1 way is a 2 way diff (because it locks up in... 2 ways, accel and deceleration) with differencing ramp rates to identify how harsh it locks in either direction.

[Kinkstaah]

In any case, here's the photos of the "1.5 way" from nismo's center.

You can see that on decel, there is no lock, and accel there's a ramp there.

And one of my "1.5 way" which clearly pushes in both directions. Which is an actual 1.5 way, but is also a 2 way, because a '1.5 way' is not a thing that exists.

A keen eye will notice the ramps are different angles in my old one, so it's not a complete 2 way, hence its 1.... X way (not 1.5 1.8 or 1.3 or whatever) but VERY different on decel.

Remember top one is labelled as a 1.5 way but has nothing on decel at all.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Interesting, by the photos yes it does show that.

Does your diff have the option to use a setting similar to the middle figure below:

[GTSBoy]

On 5/24/2022 at 11:21 AM, Kinkstaah said:

because a '1.5 way' is not a thing that exists.

Well, yeah it does. A 1.5 way is just a 2 way that has gentler locking % on decel than accel.

[tridentt150v]

Interesting...I thought I had a Mechanical Nismo Selective L.S.D. 1.5 diff?? I still have the box it came in in my shed, I will check it out tomorrow if I remember [too dark, too cold, and shed is too far to do it now].  Maybe it doesn't say 1.5??

I do know it chatters when you do a leftie around a street corner.  But hooks up solid when you tramp it, quite confidence building to drive with.

[Kinkstaah]

On 5/24/2022 at 6:11 PM, GTSBoy said:

Well, yeah it does. A 1.5 way is just a 2 way that has gentler locking % on decel than accel.

But it's still locking... in both directions.... two ways, one might say.. but yes the .5 implies the locking is softer in one direction.

On 5/24/2022 at 4:25 PM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Interesting, by the photos yes it does show that.

Does your diff have the option to use a setting similar to the middle figure below:

Neither option was the pro version, so it wasn't configurable.

On 5/24/2022 at 7:52 PM, tridentt150v said:

Interesting...I thought I had a Mechanical Nismo Selective L.S.D. 1.5 diff?? I still have the box it came in in my shed, I will check it out tomorrow if I remember [too dark, too clod, and shed is too far to do it now].  Maybe it doesn't say 1.5??

I do know it chatters when you do a leftie around a street corner.  But hooks up solid when you tramp it, quite confidence building to drive with.

The first one I posted did not chatter off throttle when going around a corner. Mine did chatter around corners off throttle. It drove me insane as to why when my housemate had the same diff and had no such troubles, until we took them apart to find out that they were not the same.

Nismo label them as 1.5 and 2 (I checked)
Its possible that when I bought my diff 2nd hand that the guy describing it as 1.5 way understood it the way I do (now) and expected locking on decel.
It made sense to me that the diff shop found no issues in my 1.5 way diff because they saw the ramps and were like "Yeah this will also lock on decel" which makes sense.

TLDR: When buying one of these, check the center if they are used, or buy the least locking option if you want to use it on the street. One of them is super okay, the other will drive you silly.

I have a helical now and super happy lol. I don't think there's an option for a helical in a R33 unless you swap to the S15 subframe and use the S15 helical diff and axles. In which case I'd say put a Quaife in it. Noone does this.

[GTSBoy]

On 5/25/2022 at 7:44 AM, Kinkstaah said:

In which case I'd say put a Quaife in it. Noone does this.

That's because there isn't an easy Quaife option for non-GTRs.

[joshuaho96]

I think the A-LSD is cool, but it has nothing to do with practicality. Fun conversation piece as I believe the R33 was one of the first cars to ship an active LSD. Ferrari I believe did not do their E-diff equivalent until the F430. As with any technology though, being first to market has nothing to do with whether it's actually any good.  

[GTSBoy]

It's the same with 3 out of 4 such things Nissan did.

HICAS? A bold idea, hampered by insufficient sensors, processing power, and experience with the required algorithm design. Result? Good up to 7-8 tenths, then a f**king nightmare to drive around.

A-LSD? Ditto.

Ceramic turbos? Yup. Bold idea. Perfectly valid for usage "as intended as a street car without any modification". No bloody good in practice in the real world. Turn up the boost and say bye bye (to the wheel, not the guy you were racing).

Only ATESSA came close to being a good first effort and result. Still not perfect, but not really bad in any way.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Good in theory lol...

[niZmO_Man]

Sometimes, when I want to feel alive, I plug in my HICAS computer and go for a drive. The car trying to constantly kill you won't make it a boring drive.

[Kinkstaah]

On 5/25/2022 at 10:04 AM, GTSBoy said:

That's because there isn't an easy Quaife option for non-GTRs.

There is for S15's though, and 350z's which are both swap options for R series skylines, and the only way to generally get a helical (of any type) into a R series.

[GTSBoy]

On 5/25/2022 at 10:19 AM, Kinkstaah said:

There is for S15's though, and 350z's which are both swap options for R series skylines, and the only way to generally get a helical (of any type) into a R series.

I was skeptical. I haven't looked for a while. But they're now listing the QDF7L for all the R200 chassis cars. All S and R. Just has to be 29 spline stubs.

But.... the thing that bothers me about that (apart from the slightly eye watering price) is that the imply you can use it on any such car....but clearly there are different stub axle lengths for the open diffs, VLSDs, and factory helicals. Surely the Quaife can't accept all those axle lengths and you have to either use the equal length stubs or the VLSD unequal length stubs, or maybe even the Nismo equal length stubs. Would require clarification before jumping on board.