How much power can stock diff take?

Dan_Gyoba

Turbo Swapper
Aug 9, 2007
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If your NA had the sport package (Or was a Canadian model) then it will have limited slip, which will help with traction. Otherwise, it's open (Look at the data tag in the driver's door, it will list the differential code as G284 or G285. The 4 is open, the 5 is limited slip.)

The NA differential will take more torque than the turbo ones because it is a numerically higher ratio, passing more torque through to the axles due to a higher mechanical advantage. This is still pretty much moot, since the limiting factor is more likely the axles themselves. So long as the axles can take as much torque as the tires have traction, you'll be fine. An open diff will mean that it's only the traction of one tire to overcome.

A lot of torque can be very hard on the limited slip clutches, and they may not last long, particularly if you'll be drifting, or just having a lot of wheelspin.

Not often that you see the differential fail on a Mk3.
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
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Dan_Gyoba;1944800 said:
The NA differential will take more torque than the turbo ones because it is a numerically higher ratio, passing more torque through to the axles due to a higher mechanical advantage.

Bzzz, wrong. Higher numerical numbers mean a smaller pinion which leads to easier failure.

Dan_Gyoba;1944800 said:
This is still pretty much moot, since the limiting factor is more likely the axles themselves.

Our axles are stronger than the ones in the MKIV. They'll be fine.

Dan_Gyoba;1944800 said:
Not often that you see the differential fail on a Mk3.

Failure is fairly common at high output levels, but it's from the crush sleeve being a completely shit design, but everyone does it because it's faster to assemble. Crush sleeve very quickly becomes loose and then you lose the preload on the pinion bearings leading to failure. Easy enough to fix though.
 

AGlobalThreat

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Apr 4, 2005
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Dan_Gyoba;1944800 said:
If your NA had the sport package (Or was a Canadian model) then it will have limited slip, which will help with traction. Otherwise, it's open

IIRC LSD was available as an option all by itself. You didn't need the sport package or need a Canadian model to have an LSD.
 

Dan_Gyoba

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True, however I'd never heard of a US model NA that had the LSD without the sport package, so I assume that it would be very rare for just the LSD option to have been selected.

Of course my '89 is a Canadian model, so it has it. In any case, checking the vehicle data tag is going to be the best answer to see if you have it or not.
 

AGlobalThreat

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Apr 4, 2005
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Mine did, LSD is coded on the VIN and it spins both wheels ;) . 87 NA with no options except LSD.

The page that decodes the VIN has all the information. I don't have a link to it though.
 

IndigoMKII

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May 9, 2011
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AGlobalThreat;1944904 said:
IIRC LSD was available as an option all by itself. You didn't need the sport package or need a Canadian model to have an LSD.

Off topic but how did you get your car THAT light? I thought the lightest it could get was 2800..
 

MadRPM

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Nov 9, 2012
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I'll say the most most power a diff can take is directly proportional to the amount of clutch dumps delivered up to a certain point of course
 

Maple191

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Mar 21, 2012
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Dan_Gyoba;1944800 said:
If your NA had the sport package (Or was a Canadian model) then it will have limited slip, which will help with traction. Otherwise, it's open (Look at the data tag in the driver's door, it will list the differential code as G284 or G285. The 4 is open, the 5 is limited slip.
Not all canadian models came with an LSD. I have a customer at my dealer with an 88' without the sport package. and low and behold no LSD
 

AGlobalThreat

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Apr 4, 2005
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Since nobody posted it yet and there was a lot of discussion about it, here is a direct link to the VIN decoding.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?47729-Data-Tag-VIN-Decoding-Information


IndigoMKII said:
Off topic but how did you get your car THAT light? I thought the lightest it could get was 2800..

There's no limit to the weight reduction you can do. Everyone will do something different. For example my car could still be back-halved or tube-framed to reduce weight even further.
 

DeMoN2318

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May 24, 2012
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AGlobalThreat;1945483 said:
Since nobody posted it yet and there was a lot of discussion about it, here is a direct link to the VIN decoding.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?47729-Data-Tag-VIN-Decoding-Information




There's no limit to the weight reduction you can do. Everyone will do something different. For example my car could still be back-halved or tube-framed to reduce weight even further.


There is absolutely a weight reduction limit...full carbon fiber body, super lightweight motor, custom lightweight frame, etc still have weight...you cant endlessly reduce weight...at some point its not a supra anymore also...
 

AGlobalThreat

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DeMoN2318;1945505 said:
There is absolutely a weight reduction limit...full carbon fiber body, super lightweight motor, custom lightweight frame, etc still have weight...you cant endlessly reduce weight...at some point its not a supra anymore also...

There is no factual limit, it is all a matter of opinion. Who says you even need a body? Who says you even need a motor? Can it be remotely controlled? :) There was no mention of it having to be running or requirements. What I said is absolutely true, you can do weight reduction until you reach 0.0 lbs with nothing left if there are no requirements. You can't do that if you retain stuff of course, and the amount of things you want to retain or your requirements will vary by every single individual. :)

The point at which it's "not a supra anymore" is all a matter of opinion. What if it's a stock supra with a Geo Metro engine? Is it still a supra? :) What makes a "supra" an actual "supra" is an opinion and everyone will have a different idea. Some race cars in SCCA are only required to have the roof of the car they resemble. So they cut the roof off of one and build an entire custom racecar around it. :) Would you consider that to be the same car still? :)

In case you missed it, 220 lb porsche gt3 rs, and you can drive it on public roads.
http://awesomobile.com/cardboard-porsche/
Is it not a porsche? Answer will vary from one person to the next. ;)
 

Janz99

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Jun 6, 2008
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Winnipeg, Manitoba
Well, I can tell you that it definitly does not like a 1.31 60' at the track! It made one pass like that, then I sheared the pinion off. If you're only driving the car on the street, and you can avoid hard launches, I think you'll be fine. Like mentioned earlier in this thread, there is a few things you can do to make it live a bit longer. One being replace the factory crush sleeve, with a solid pinion spacer.

Every diff I put in the car the first thing I do is replace the pinion spacer, then I shim the LSD to get around 70ft lbs of break away torque. This prevents the one wheel wonder burn out :) It gets a bit chattery, but a small amount of ford friction modifier normally takes care of that.
 

DeMoN2318

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May 24, 2012
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AGlobalThreat;1945509 said:
There is no factual limit, it is all a matter of opinion. Who says you even need a body? Who says you even need a motor? Can it be remotely controlled? :) There was no mention of it having to be running or requirements. What I said is absolutely true, you can do weight reduction until you reach 0.0 lbs with nothing left if there are no requirements. You can't do that if you retain stuff of course, and the amount of things you want to retain or your requirements will vary by every single individual. :)

The point at which it's "not a supra anymore" is all a matter of opinion. What if it's a stock supra with a Geo Metro engine? Is it still a supra? :) What makes a "supra" an actual "supra" is an opinion and everyone will have a different idea. Some race cars in SCCA are only required to have the roof of the car they resemble. So they cut the roof off of one and build an entire custom racecar around it. :) Would you consider that to be the same car still? :)

In case you missed it, 220 lb porsche gt3 rs, and you can drive it on public roads.
http://awesomobile.com/cardboard-porsche/
Is it not a porsche? Answer will vary from one person to the next. ;)


You can’t say "I have a car that weights 0 lbs..." since there is no car, you are referring to nothing.

If you are going to refer to anything tangible then it has to be made up of some amount of matter...and matter has mass...and on earth mass has weight...

So there is absolutely a limit to weight reduction...what that limit is will depend on what you are making...but there is a finite limit
 

dslocal

New Member
Nov 9, 2008
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^^ If you were blind, and there is a car in front of you however you're unaware of its presence. Does the car exist? And better yet if your were blind could you guess the weight of my mom's fat sister?? Shes looking for a husband. Everyone else gets that statue look like she's medusa, but I think you'd be perfect!



And back to the topic, has anyone broken a properly set up diff while doing a pull on the street? I.E not launching on slicks.