Can anyone chime in here who has actually installed a LSD into their R53. I have one to install and just need a heads up on some of the key points (need to drop engine and tranny or just tranny) and time needed for the install. Any suggestions would be welcome.

I will be somewhat of a guinea pig as I have the Torsen from the Ford SVT that will be installed.

 

Plenty of people have done the install. It's basically the same as doing a clutch except once you get the tranny out you have to open that up to. It is not a well established fact yet, but most people agree that the SVT focus LSD is the same as the one in the MINI. Which is good, the Torsen is 2/3 the price of the Quaife but probably a nicer unit then the OBX.

 

K-huevo has a very well documented thread here on NAM of his quaife lsd install. Use the search drop down function at top right of NAM.

Here's my experience of a lsd/clutch install: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...h-and-cam.html

Jeremy

 

Here

..and here.

 

I've done an OBX lsd on my car, overall it wasn't a hard job, just long, two 7hr days. The only thing that caused us grief was the slave cylinder, it took two or three trys to get all the air out of it. If there is anything specific you'd like to know PM me.

 

I see in the Ford Performance Catalog, two LSD's listed.
One for "MTX-75 Transaxle" and one for "2002-2004 Focus SVT".
Is the second one the one we would use in the MINI?

Thanks!

Jim

 

Yes, you want the SVT LSD.

 

Indeed that is the one you want. I recently found buried on the Torsen site they actually say that is the one you want to use in the MINI (in the FSAE section under "Can I get a T2 for an FSAE car?").


I have one going in my car as well. I think that makes 3 on NAM in 30 days or something.

 

Minimio how did your install go? Did you pull the engine and trans or just the trans?

 

How did the installs go?

 

Just very time consuming. I used a power bleeder and a home made compression tool and mine and it couldn't have been easier.

 

Do you actually have to remove the slave or can you just let it sit there after you unbolt it? Or does just unbolting do some funky stuff that requires a bleeding?

 

I just unbolted it and let it hang there, but the seal on the clutch line started leaking so I had to change both the slave and the line. It's much easier to change now than when you have the front end bolted back on.

 

Is the Ford LSD the same as the factory option LSD for an '05 S (ie can I still run in stock class for auto-x)?

 

Sorry it's a totally different manufacturer.

 

Lots of people would be very interested to hear how this went, and where you sourced your diff from. Ford catalog, scrapped SVT? There was some discussion on and off about this some years back, and some people said they did the install, but there was very little definitive information about it, and certainly no pics or writeups. Surprisingly few people have seemed to pursue this route as an alternative to the Quaiffe, which surprises me given the price difference.

 

Sorry if it's a bit off-topic, but does anyone know offhand if you can even buy the factory '05 LSD?

 

i dont know if you can get the factory outside a wrecked car. Running the Torsen would put you in a different class at it is a gear type diff whereas the OEM uses cone clutches. Technically that should also put the likes of OS Giken and Cusco off limits for stock as those use plate clutches.

I just installed my Torsen yesterday. I havent bolted the transmission back up but I did pull the old diff and installed the new. I can rotate the input shaft by hand and it feels just like stock. The diff was the exact same size, no need to do any shimming, just grab two bearings from NAPA (it's listed as BR35, made by SKF, $17 a piece where I was). I posted pictures of it in another thread. I'll edit a picture into this post.

I got mine from Tousley ford. PN M-4204-SVTF. http://www.tousleyfordparts.com/part...catalogid=5684





For 650 shipped it was a no brainer getting this instead of the OBX or the Quaife. While I havent heard a report of a broken OBX, Torsen makes excellent stuff, the very good machining on the unit I received further backs that up.

 

 

I agree with Some Guy the Torsen is a great unit, and at 650 it can't be beat for the price. I purchased mine from Tousley Ford. Had it mine for about a month now with no complaints. If anyone in the Dayton or Columbus Ohio area is on the fence about this I'll over them test drive it.

 

So how does the Torsen LSD feel when you apply the power coming out of the corner?

 

Here is excellent pictorial story of clutch and transmission removal, and replacement along with installation of Quaife:

http://lyle.smu.edu/rcam/cpm3v/minic...niclutch01.htm

 

@rbaker.

Well, you can definitely tell it is a torsen type. When the inside goes really light, it stops working and you feel like you have an open diff. But you only really get that doing something like going over a crest while on the power. So I would say a clutch type diff is probably better, but this will probably get you 80% of the way there for 1/3 the cost.

That said, it completely transforms the car. Much more fun to drive now.

 

How does this differ from the quaife performance wise?

 

The Quaife is a Torsen type diff.