1.5 way Plate LSD


nicole_

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Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
676
Done a bit of reading up, but wondering what my options are manufacturer wise,
and peoples tried and tested opinions? pros, cons etc

Kaaz, Mfactory, Cusco, anymore?
Doesnt look like Quaife do a Trans-X for the civic..
etc

Doesnt seem to be much online from people using the Mfactory plate, bit more on Kaaz and Cusco.
Is it more just a case of personal preference?
 
I run a spoon diff in my eg!

For handling ect feels immense completely changes the feel of how the car drives pulls you out corners like nothing else And stabilises the car! All in all it Pulls round corners puts power down all the good things you want :)

Only drawback is the clunking that goes with plate diffs when it's cold it feels like your car is going to fall apart! I think after a lot of miles it will end up eating CV joints but I've done about 3-4000 miles on mine and cv's are still okay!

Also I haven't had power steering for the past 2 days and sometimes it can be quite aggressive and want to tear the wheel out your hands

I've not had it on track yet was hoping to this year but won't be till next now

I've only the experience of the "legal" speed limit round corners ect! But I think it's a 100% worth while mod!
 
I run a spoon diff in my eg!

For handling ect feels immense completely changes the feel of how the car drives pulls you out corners like nothing else And stabilises the car! All in all it Pulls round corners puts power down all the good things you want :)

Only drawback is the clunking that goes with plate diffs when it's cold it feels like your car is going to fall apart! I think after a lot of miles it will end up eating CV joints but I've done about 3-4000 miles on mine and cv's are still okay!

Also I haven't had power steering for the past 2 days and sometimes it can be quite aggressive and want to tear the wheel out your hands

I've not had it on track yet was hoping to this year but won't be till next now

I've only the experience of the "legal" speed limit round corners ect! But I think it's a 100% worth while mod!

Awesome, thankyou!
I didn't realise Spoon did one - how easily available are the rebuild kits though?!

Not bothered about the clunking, car wont see the road much at all really. And I still have power steering!
 
I'm using a new Spoon 1.5 way diff with the K20 and its been great on track.. as mentioned you will think that something is broken when turning at low speeds so I wouldn't buy one unless its a dedicated track car

You can really feel the extra bite at the front end through the corners and you don't get the slight 1 wheel spinning like you would with a helical diff

Buy direct from RHD japan and save a fortune.. you can buy the replacement plates through them too but I couldn't see them needing rebuilt for a good while

Also I use Torco RTF in the box


@ted777 uses the Mfactory plated LSD in his car and it seems every bit as good as the Spoon LSD
 
A spoon diff is a rebranded kazz from what I have heard.

If that's correct I am not sure. You can get decent prices of kazz from partbox (co-ordsport) with all the rebuild kits/plates and spares.
 
As spek9 says I have the m factory one and its a great piece of kit love it around the track. Unless your doing a lot of track work I wouldnt recommend any plated diff as they are really nasty to drive at low speeds..
 
Waiting on a few places for a price on the Kaaz :) Just done a bit of reading and I've seen a few people say the Spoon one is a Kaaz - no one seems to be able to confirm though. Kaaz seems a bit cheaper without the scene tax :busy:

RHD japan are silly cheap for things, but by the time you've paid all the fees it never works out much different :(
 
Only thing that I'd add over everyone else.
In the rain I tend to just plow forward and spin both wheels.

My diff is very aggressive with no PAS. Over powers me tbh.
 
I went with an M-Factory 1.5 way in mine. No complaints really. I went for that one over the others mainly because of the easy availability of replacement plates etc.

As Jesse said, it doesn't help in the wet at all!
 
For FF applications, it is generally more desirable to have a 1.0 way setup.

This is because during decel and braking, you want the diff to be open and free for both wheels to spin at different speeds. If there is any locking such as the 1.5 way would enable, the car would understeer more than it already does because the front wheels are being forced to rotate at similar speeds while turning.

For those who are not that experienced on circuit, the 1.5 way may be faster than a 1.0 way to begin with as it provides a little margin of safety in form of understeer, which is easier to control for beginners than a sudden oversteer situation.

The initial lock/response from KAAZ/Spoon is set very high which is why the clunking is quite severe at low speeds; the loss of lock will decline much faster as the plates are constantly under pressure and will wear faster as a result - not to mention a lot more heat is generated inside the trans. Cone washers are used to push the plates together constantly which provides the lock and because the initial response is so high, this is what causes the diff to lock immediately in the rain.

Our diff is similar to the Cusco RS which uses springs to activate the locking/initial response. This initial setting is adjustable by adding or increasing the number of springs.

In general, it is desirable to have a lower initial lock so the car doesn't hunt all over the place in the rain and also makes the car easier to handle because the lock is not as abrupt.

This is also better for all surrounding components such as the CVs and the driver's sanity!

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArtic...Project-EJ-Civic-Building-the-Drivetrain.aspx
 
I have a Kaaz 1.5 way diff in mine and echo the comments already made. Will transform how the car pulls itself around corners.

However the noises it makes at low speed are worrying!
 
For FF applications, it is generally more desirable to have a 1.0 way setup.

This is because during decel and braking, you want the diff to be open and free for both wheels to spin at different speeds. If there is any locking such as the 1.5 way would enable, the car would understeer more than it already does because the front wheels are being forced to rotate at similar speeds while turning.

For those who are not that experienced on circuit, the 1.5 way may be faster than a 1.0 way to begin with as it provides a little margin of safety in form of understeer, which is easier to control for beginners than a sudden oversteer situation.

The initial lock/response from KAAZ/Spoon is set very high which is why the clunking is quite severe at low speeds; the loss of lock will decline much faster as the plates are constantly under pressure and will wear faster as a result - not to mention a lot more heat is generated inside the trans. Cone washers are used to push the plates together constantly which provides the lock and because the initial response is so high, this is what causes the diff to lock immediately in the rain.

Our diff is similar to the Cusco RS which uses springs to activate the locking/initial response. This initial setting is adjustable by adding or increasing the number of springs.

In general, it is desirable to have a lower initial lock so the car doesn't hunt all over the place in the rain and also makes the car easier to handle because the lock is not as abrupt.

This is also better for all surrounding components such as the CVs and the driver's sanity!

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArtic...Project-EJ-Civic-Building-the-Drivetrain.aspx

Im using a kazz 1.5way ATM with no power steering and 225 width semi slicks.(track only car)
I really struggle to keep my line with this setup ATM as the diff comes in it tries to pull the wheel out of my hands.
Do you think the mfactory LSD would be a better option for me for the "softer" locking would make for less of a snatch at the wheel?
It's really denting my confidence to stick the car into a bend because I'm bracing for the diff everytime....
 
Im using a kazz 1.5way ATM with no power steering and 225 width semi slicks.(track only car)
I really struggle to keep my line with this setup ATM as the diff comes in it tries to pull the wheel out of my hands.
Do you think the mfactory LSD would be a better option for me for the "softer" locking would make for less of a snatch at the wheel?
It's really denting my confidence to stick the car into a bend because I'm bracing for the diff everytime....



Just hit the gym mate and you will be grand!! Im using a similar setup with full slicks and no power steering and the steering is harder work... but sure it will keep you on your toes
 
Just hit the gym mate and you will be grand!! Im using a similar setup with full slicks and no power steering and the steering is harder work... but sure it will keep you on your toes

Problem is, I'm a lazy bastard lol
 
Im using a kazz 1.5way ATM with no power steering and 225 width semi slicks.(track only car)
I really struggle to keep my line with this setup ATM as the diff comes in it tries to pull the wheel out of my hands.
Do you think the mfactory LSD would be a better option for me for the "softer" locking would make for less of a snatch at the wheel?
It's really denting my confidence to stick the car into a bend because I'm bracing for the diff everytime....

fit power steering and you wont have a problem
 
I've run a number of plate diffs over the years so happy to offer my opinion here.

I've had a very bad run with my Spoon diff which is very similar and made by Kaaz but not identical.

The first issue I had with the Spoon is that it completely blew the spider gears to pieces - like smashed it. Spoon dont sell replacement parts other then the plates which is a good thing because the plates are also weak due to the small 'tags' or 'dog ears' on the side of the plates that hold them in the casing slot and allow them to move up and down - when these tabs break the diff stops working as it should. So I couldn't find replacement internal gears for the diff and Spoon didn't want to talk to me other then to sell me a new diff.

I did my research and found similarities with the Kaaz diff so order the parts I needed. This was a difficult exercise as well since Kaaz dealers in most countries refuse to hold stock of spare parts (other then plates) and apparently the internal gears are a custom one off order. The two large gears were slightly too tall but fortunately after a bit of machine work fit perfectly. Not wanting to go through the same problem I had the gears cyro frozen to improve their ability to handle shock loads. Once again the diff was back together and running fine once again - until another breakage. This time it was the end of the casing which broke. While it is possible to weld and machine this, I've had enough of the weak design and so I've looked else where.

Cusco are OG when it comes to making excellent diffs - they've done it for years and have had the best design. The only problem is that they're not entirely bullet proof either (its the nature of the plate diff unfortunately!). After doing some more research and talking to some experienced people I found that the MFactory plate diff is actually a copy of the Cusco (so its a great design) and you can actually mix and match most parts between the brands (which is good because MFactory sell spare parts at cheap prices). I made the call to go with MFactory because the internals are heat treated and micro-peened which could give it a strength advantage over the Cusco. MFactory also offer a warranty which is handy peace of mind to have.

With the MFactory unit installed it performs very well and I haven't noticed a major difference between it and the Spoon/Kaaz - they both perform exceptionally well when setup correctly.

Overall I much prefer using a 1.5 way diff. It just gives me alot more confidence off throttle and under brakes then the 1 way does.
 
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