What options SHOULD Porsche add to Boxster list

[Adam]

I'll except that. I wonder if the Carrera has a LSD?

[Brucelee]

Well, as a mid-engine car, you would have to do some serious clutch dropping to lay any sort of serious patch down.

No so in a RWD BMW, no?

As my tech and I were speculating as to why no LSD , this thought did come up. Also, he mentioned that the tract control option does exist and that this might be why Porsche did not incorp LSD in the axle.

Hey, we can sell this as an OPTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[underDAWG]

I don’t really want to step on anyone’s foot again and I have not gotten my Boxster S yet. Therefore I don’t know much about Porsche.

In general, one can determine if car has a LSD or locker is by jacking up the axle and spin the tire. If the opposite side of the wheel spins the same direction, it has LSD or locker. If it spins in the opposite direction, it is an open diff.

For a high performance car like Porsche, I am not sure if LSD will be helpful. I think it will be extremely dangerous when cornering. The LSD will prevent the car to turn. The mechanical LSD (friction) has a long (delayed) activation time; it will not help a Porsche much. As a result, the Porsche will just fishtail all over the place. I think using the stability control makes more sense to me. The ABS can modulate the brake in microsec interval while LSD works in a few sec interval.

My 2 cents.

[Adam]

Interesting. That makes sense. This is good stuff.

[Lux]

Underdawg,

You're not understanding the various limited slips and what they do. Proper sports cars do indeed come with limited slip diffs. They help you in a corner by allowing the 2 wheels to turn at independent speeds. The amount of torque that gets directed/proportioned is also controlled by the LSD. As a matter of fact, the 911 does indeed have an LSD as an option. Same as every other sports car (M3, Corvette, etc). You would be hard pressed to find a sports car without one. The only reason it is not on the Boxster is because of Porsche's cheap ass. OOh, sell them stability control.

I don't know why you think an LSD would inhibit turning? Perhaps what you're thinking about is a straight locking diff (found on 4x4's). These make horrendous noise when you're trying to turn. But they have their purpose for 4 wheeling as they assure a 50/50 torque split between the 2 wheels at all times, even if one wheel is up in the air while you're traversing rocks.


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[Brucelee]

Well we have determined that whatever LSD really does, it does NOT do it in a Boxster.

[Adam]

That is one thing we can say for certain now Bruce.