Suppose i order a new mini, and i ask for the LSD to be implemented in the car! Is there a way when the car arrives to find out if the LSD is really there? How can i check?

 

Hit the gas hard and see if both tires leave black tracks. Simultaneously, that is.

 

I was wondering too...

 

If you have ever driven a open diff mini you will know , punch it through a corner in 2nd

Jack

 

Here's a bit more of a description of how to properly test for LSD.

1. Turn DSC off
2. Depress Clutch
3. Push throttle to floor until engine "bounces" off of rev limiter
4. slide foot off of clutch pedal allowing it to spring up
5. Do not lift foot off of throttle
6. As engine reaches rev limiter shift to second gear
7. Let speed build up to around 35 mph
8. Perform Handbrake turn
9. Drive back to where you started
10. Look for 2 black tire marks

enjoy

 

but i haven't ever driven a open diff mini!

 

I was actually taking you seriously for a second there. I have a Detroit Trutrack in my truck (locker) and i love the difference, I just wish it wasnt so damn expensive to put in my mini.

 

What do you say to have this guide in a how to video, especially the 8th step, seems quite wicked!

 

oh and let me say something else, suppose one cannot do all this stunt driving stuff you just proposed, is there another way... "less deadly", to check it out?

 

The $500 addition on the window sticker I don't know for sure if this will work with fwd but put the front wheels in the air, and with the car in neutral, rotate one wheel by hand. The other should move in the opposite direction. This works with rear wheel drive. Not as much fun as dropping the clutch at 5 grand tho'

 

Opposite direction will happen with the standard open diff. It does depend on the diff I think but you should be able to tell this way. In nuetral the open diff will be relatively easy to move the one wheel as the other spins freely backwards. The LSD should have more resistance and limit this, and maybe even lock and make them both turn in the same direction. Someone with the LSD might have tried this already. Easier than abusing the car. The good old flooring it with the ASC off an wheel turned hard will still let you know for sure. Or if you autocross it and the smoke is only coming from one side of the car on the corner exit you don't have it, that is what mine does

 

Best way..

 

Just put the accelerator down to the floor and if both tires spin (2 black marks) then its an LSD

 

If you "order" it...they will come!!! Including the $500 price tag. This is an option that would be best described by your MA or get a brochure.

 

Let me drive it and I will know because mine doesn't have LSD. Likewise, let someone with a MINI with no LSD drive your car. How?

Turn the steering wheels to the right, turn TC/ASC off, put it in 1st gear and accelerate hard.

 

This is NOT a valid test. An open diff MINI will leave two rubber stripes in a burnout on dry pavement. Trust me, I can prove it all day long in my '02 MCS w/open diff. For all the noobs that weren't around when the MINI first came out back in 2002, the Cooper S won a magazine shootout for longest burnout [yes, with both tires], and that was with the old open-diff transmission.

The easiest way to know if your R56 is equipped with the factory LSD [besides the window sticker], is to hand the keys to an experienced driver and take one corner. If the inside front tire lites up and the outside tire does not pull the car through the corner, then it's an open diff. If the car has a factory LSD, the steering wheel will get jerky, add lots of torque steer, and the car will pull through the corner when you MASH the throttle instead of violently roasting the inside wheel.

 

Another way to tell is if you are stuck in deep snow or mud and just one front tire is spinning and the other one isn't doing anything lol. I had this experience in a muddy driveway but both tires were spinning and kicking mud up all over the place...I was still moving forward though Made a mess of my car, but boy was it a blast! So I think that proves mine does in fact have the LSD like I ordered...not sure if that's a "valid" test though lol

The best way to tell is like previously stated, in a corner when you get on it hard the car should pull through the corner nice and hard, not start smoking the inside tire.

 

torque steer is reduced quite a bit...

 

Boy Howdy, you're throwing rocks at a hornets nest with that one. Might want to put your flame suit on! Might as well have said you like using Mobil1 in your mini and you hate the R53

 

yeah, I'd say torque steer is increased. If by torque steer one means the wheel getting yanked from your hands by mashing the skinny pedal

 

You'll see pink elephants? (I keed I keed...)

 

I woul think just the opposite...

 

LSD isn't stamped with a different designation vs the standard diff? My BMWs had different stamping on the housing. or can you not see the differential from under the car?

 

I was wondering what that was!

 

It'd be nice if they had a button for LSD along with the current DSC one.