LSD in my MA5 Gearbox?

[Gadgetman]

They claim this is an LSD conversion kit for the regular diff in MA-series gearboxes: 
https://racingdiffs.com/collections/lsd-...ersion-set    

Would it work?   

I'm not a rallydriver, though, I just want better winter driving. Tired of being stuck, with one wheel spinning freely...   

Seems it's on sale right now for £160...

[ffrenchie]

Well I got stuck once in 10 years so definitely not worth it for me but if it would fit your car it might be for you. Chains or wheel socks might be a cheaper alternative and less work though.

[Gadgetman]

I completely thrashed a set of chains last winter, trying to get unstuck from a place I shouldn't even have gotten stuck in the first place.

Winter driving in Norway is fun sometimes... then reality sets in and you have to dig out the chains...

Visiting my parent in the winter usually means putting on chains, then high-speed backing up a steep, narrow road. The power company have a transformator station further up the road, and they often get stuck with a 4WD...

https://www.google.com/maps/@62.5746313,...312!8i6656

That's with very little snow and ice...
Yes... up that narrow path.

The number of times I have had to stop halfway up because one wheel lost grip, even with chains...

[Sol]

Stock car drivers used to weld the diff, I wonder how that would work on a road used car?

[Gadgetman]

A welded diff would REALLY suck on a public road. It actually sucks on rally cars, too.
Because the car will have a tendency to go straight ahead in turns if you even think about the throttle.

I don't have ABS, so no traction control(ABS was optional on this model. Was TC even an option back in 1999? ) to help stop the wheels spinning.

No one's got any experience with these LSDs?
Or any other 'sport' LSDs?

I know there's a company that makes/made a different diff that doesn't use friction plates that's supposed to give a 'smoother transition' but I think that one costs over £400...

I may need to pull the engine soon, to do some work both on it and in the engine compartment, and if so, it would be a good time to mess up my gearbox...

[Sol]

Sounds like a plan. Or buy a 4WD and dump the Berlingo.

[Gadgetman]

But I LIKE my Berlingo. And the 4WD version is bl**dy impossible to find secondhand here.

A SUV is right out as I need space in my car. Also, most of hem are pretty sh!t on winter roads. Too high CoG and too short distance between axles.

[Sol]

Best car I ever had in winter - Subaru. I've had Imprezas and Legacies, in the winter of 2010 when the snow was chest deep I had a Legacy 2.5 with AWD and an auto box with Snow-mode, simply superb. I could drive at 60mph on thick fresh snow after a night shift, and nothing (I do mean nothing) could keep up.

Everyone else was slithering around at 20mph trying to drive in a straight line. My Legacy drove as if there was no snow.

[Gadgetman]

Also, my garage won't fit anything bigger than my Berlingo.
Actually, it doesn't even fit that right now...

Slithering at 20mph on fresh snow sounds more like a 'driving on summer tires' situation...

[Sol]

Oh indeed. People in the UK just try regardless with the summer tyres on, when winter comes.

The Subaru had normal summer tyres on, no slithering however.