I just had a small question for my fellow SVT owners. I've made good plans to go with a few NA upgrades and finish off with a Tune. Ultimately, I will make a switch out to a stage 1 cluth and lighter flywheel, but I was wanting to ask if the limited-slip differential is worth the money or install? Keep in mind that I will not be putting FI into my car, just to keep it's drivability and low gas mileage in check. I just wanted to do NA upgrades to make it decently fast/fun, since bolt-ons and a tune merely bring out what is already there. So in my case, would the limited-slip worth it since it is a pretty expensive piece of equipment? (at least for the SVT that is)

Thanks for the responses
-Art

My plans for my SVT include just about everything you can do to the engine and still keep it NA and I think it's capable of making upwards of 250~270bhp at the flywheel with all the bolt-on’s, cams (when they are released), valves, P&P and the proper tune, this translates to roughly 225~260fwhp with the right clutch and a LSD.

If you have the money and can afford it then it's totally worth it, it increases drivability, cornering capability, acceleration and transmission response, but the Quaffie does run nearly $1200 and the Phantom-Grip is almost $700 so it’s a lot of cash. If this is just your daily and you have no plans for racing/auto-X’ing etc. then it’s probably not the most necessary item.

Yeah, it would probably take a second or 2 off your lap time, but its not going to take any time off your drive from the house to work.

Originally posted by seraphim
My plans for my SVT include just about everything you can do to the engine and still keep it NA and I think it's capable of making upwards of 250~270bhp at the flywheel with all the bolt-on’s, cams (when they are released), valves, P&P and the proper tune, this translates to roughly 225~260fwhp with the right clutch and a LSD.



You'll never see that kind of power with out Forced Induction, most supercharged engines dont make that kind of power.

A friend of mine had an SVT that was totally modded out...she had a spec stage 3 clutch, fidanza flywheel, and the quaife LSD. We swapped cars for while (like, for a couple weeks) and that made me want her clutch, but the LSD wouldn't be worth it, to me.

The only noticeable difference it made in street driving was that while turning, the car wouldn't "return" to a straight line. If you didn't force the wheel to straighten out, you'd just keep on going in a circle. Even with all of the mods she had done (cam gears, exhaust w/ ORP, UDP, CAI etc...) I still beat her in races only having my few mods and Tom's tune. It pissed her off, to say the least...she ended up selling the SVT.

So yeah, there is definitely more grip and control with the LSD, but NOT worth the cost if you aren't competing in racing events.

I'll let you know in a few weeks. mine's on order from tom, I'm expecting it in the mail any day

its seems awfully expensive and i couldnt justify getting for street use. If you are going to be auto crossing or racing or something then yes i would say get it. But for daily use you could buy alot of other things that you would probably use more.

Originally posted by crazymechanic
I'll let you know in a few weeks. mine's on order from tom, I'm expecting it in the mail any day
Meaning, Quaife?
Are you going to do the install?
If so...
WE WANT A WRITE UP WITH PICS!!![thumb]

yes, quaife, me and another mechanic at my shop are doing it, and I'll try to take some pics

Originally posted by 03OrangeSVT
You'll never see that kind of power with out Forced Induction, most supercharged engines dont make that kind of power.


Blah blah blah, it's only 70-80 more whp than stock, with the proper boltons, match porting on the header and intake manifold to the block and head, valves, TB, MAF, intake, header coat, high-flow cat , free flow exhaust, injectors, fuel rail, cam gear, cams, UDP, hardlines and SS hoses, light flywheel, stage III clutch and the proper tune it's well within reach...and if I'm not quite there there's always N2O.

Further the stock S2000 engine is a 2.5L I4 and it makes around 220 RWHP, it's NA and stock, with a few bolt-ons it can make 260 easy...

if your gonna go to the track alot it will def be worth it

Originally posted by seraphim
Blah blah blah, it's only 70-80 more whp than stock, with the proper boltons, match porting on the header and intake manifold to the block and head, valves, TB, MAF, intake, header coat, high-flow cat , free flow exhaust, injectors, fuel rail, cam gear, cams, UDP, hardlines and SS hoses, light flywheel, stage III clutch and the proper tune it's well within reach...and if I'm not quite there there's always N2O.

Further the stock S2000 engine is a 2.5L I4 and it makes around 220 RWHP, it's NA and stock, with a few bolt-ons it can make 260 easy...


umm u cant compare a s2000 engine to a svt engine...thats like comparing apples to oranges...two different engines. With N2O you will prolly make it :P but without out i would love to see it happen but i don't know. BTW Stock the SVT does not have 170WHP it has 170HP at the crank so its lot less (dont know the equation to convert sorry)

besides, your s2000 doesn't have TORQUE, and to make all that HP, it has to rev to about 900000000000 rpm

250 should not be a problem..a zx3 that ran in world speed challenge racing made 230 at the wheels from a zetec....and quaife..go for it..the race svtf has it and wifey's svtf does not...i really miss it when i drive hers during spirited cornering...and drove a jackson s/c one at summit point raceway and REALLY missed it

I know one thing, you sure can't accelerate very hard while turning in this car. I don't know if that justifies the cost of an LSD, but in the instances when you want or need power while turning, it would be nice to have it!

I don't make a habit of flooring it while making left or right turns (I'm talking turns, not curves in the road) but have discovered that when you do, this car doesn't like it. Instead of making the turn faster, you're slowed down by your inside tire slipping and skipping around on the pavement. This isn't my first front wheel drive car, but it is the first one that's so touchy about how much throttle you use in turns.

By the way you wouldn't be N/A if you used N2O. That is a power adder and is not at all considered a mod that keeps the car N/A.
Also the S2000 has a 2.2L and makes its power @ 7800 rpm and 162ft/lbs of torque. Not bad, that engine is a great achievement for Honda if you ask me.
I don't think you would ever see 260 HP at the crank with an SVT N/A. At least not on a daily driver that would run worth a damn.
My $.02 for what it's worth!

I think it's dooable, and I can at least try, it's not really unreasonable to think it can be done, especially with some custom work. I think the SVTF block could easily be made to push a very reliable 220 at the crank, 260 is a bit more but with some tuning and upkeep it could happen, whatever, I'm sick of trying to defend every little thing I say on this forum, if it's already been said and you agree with it, then why bother posting the same thing again (??), whatever...this is silly, everyone just needs to chill out.

Those are my goals, I'm going to try some innovative things and I think I have a pretty good idea for how to set things up, if I don't quite make it then oh well, but who's to say I shouldn't try?

I hope you do , becuase it would make me want to take similar directions with my Focus. Best of luck, please post up on it intermittenly and le t me know how it goes.

i've gotta throw in my two cents and say i think 230 to 250 at the flywheel is more than do able in N/A form. i don't know if you guys read focus fanatics, but Cosworth racing (the very people that built/tuned the engines in our little rockets) took a 2.3 Duratec and cranked out 230 horses in their unGodly "red snap dragon" article of the latest FF. This did however consist of a complete tear down of the engine, and about $6000 worth of custom cosworth parts (alot of which are found in the ford racing catalog). Very, very impressive little car. i don't see why the same thing, if not a little more couldn't be done to the svt engine.

what was most impressive was the flat torque curve on that bugger

besides, your s2000 doesn't have TORQUE, and to make all that HP, it has to rev to about 900000000000 rpm
1. I love the s2000. Its my dream car.
2. At least the s2000 is able to rev that high AND you still get 200+ hp
3. It is more fun to drive a slow car fast then vice versa. Don't believe me? Check this vid out
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=204774

I have a Torsen LSD and I love it. I don't notice much difference on the street but when I autocross it makes a big difference.

I have a Torsen LSD and I love it. I don't notice much difference on the street but when I autocross it makes a big difference.

Haha, good job on bringing it back on topic!!!

Although to bring it back off again really quickly, I have to tell you guys...[duh]...


YOU WILL NOT SEE 250WHP ON AN N/A 2.0 LITER SVT ZETEC ENGINE. Show me documentation of its existence. Turbo'd, yes, Supercharged, with a lot of upgrades and tuning, yes. Nitrous, sure. N/A...absolutely not.

I don't even think you could get that kind of power out of ANY N/A 2.0L engine.

Please, be my guest and peruse these (note the highly modified engines):

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101162


Also, listen to John/03OrangeSVT. Believe him when he says something the first time.

Also also the S2000 is one of my favorite cars but it is by no means the end all of automotive engineering and on top of that, again, should not be compared to the SVT Zetec.

I love that..."ONLY 70-80 hp more than stock." Haha. That may be nothing on an LS6 but dude, give me a break...that's 46-53% MORE power than stock, and you think you can get all that power just by porting and tuning and opening up the exhaust!? phhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

One more thing--the S2000 does NOT have a 2.5L engine, it has a 2.2L engine--either way it is a larger engine with more displacement and is inherently going to make more power than a 2.0L engine mod for mod. [slap]

(I'm chilled out--just don't be spreading around false info or inflating numbers to a ridiculous height...most of us are realists)

LSDs!!! [:p]

Are you guys talking about 200+ crank hp using pump gas, because if you are forget about it. The SVT already has aggressive cams & high compression. You could increase compression to 11:1, but you would need at least 93 octane & a very good tune to be safe, but still won't break 200 even with all the bolt ons & a p&p head. Anything higher than 11:1 you would need to use 100+ octane. Honda did claim 240 na crank hp with the early 2.0 liter s2000, but that engine had dual cam profiles, vct, & a lot higher VE than the zetecs. The RWD s2000 was light enough to scoot to 60 in the lower 6 sec. time with less than 140 ft/lb of tq. The only way a zetec can see anywhere near 200 na is the 2.3 stroker, FR or custom intake, 70mm TB, & a hell of a tuner like tom. Nobody knows these SVT engines better than tom & orange, so when they talk zetec shop zetec tuners should listen.

I would love an LSD for winter time because Michigan winter's can get pretty bad and winter tires do their job, I want a little more control and a little more power.

I would love an LSD for winter time because Michigan winter's can get pretty bad and winter tires do their job, I want a little more control and a little more power.

Torsen type LSDs do not perform well when one wheel experiences 100% slip. They are able to deal with (usually) a 5:1 situation -- if the grip on one side is 1/5 the other, the LSD can still put down torque to both wheels. However, if one wheel goes on ice or hard snow, that's still going to be 0 grip, and the torsen will act the same way as an open diff and spin that loose wheel.

...I don't even think you could get that kind of power out of ANY N/A 2.0L engine...You've got to be kidding me... the Honda K20A puts out well more than 200hp stock.

Are you guys talking about 200+ crank hp using pump gas, because if you are forget about it...
What is so out of this world about 200+ WHP on a Zetec motor? It's already been done a number of times in the UK. Our cars are already pretty maxed out as far as bolt-ons go, but do some head-work, custom cams, ITBs, up the revlimit and plenty of tuning, and you'll find lots of room for improvement. Do some looking around outside of FocusFanatics... this isn't the end-all be-all of Zetec information. That motor is used in a lot of cars.


Sorry if I sound annoyed, but you guys are stating information that you only read on these forums and are regurgitating it incorrectly. Bolt-ons will not get you there, but yes it's entirely possible.

Torsen type LSDs do not perform well when one wheel experiences 100% slip. They are able to deal with (usually) a 5:1 situation -- if the grip on one side is 1/5 the other, the LSD can still put down torque to both wheels. However, if one wheel goes on ice or hard snow, that's still going to be 0 grip, and the torsen will act the same way as an open diff and spin that loose wheel.
Is this the same situation with Quaife, too? Are there other options?

Is this the same situation with Quaife, too? Are there other options?

A Quaife mechanical LSD is also a torsen-type LSD. I'm not aware of a traction system for 2WD cars that is specifically designed for snow as opposed to performance.

The really serious AWD systems use viscous LSDs and speed-sensitive (as opposed to torque sensitive) traction control measures. Here's a good starting article: http://www.autoworld.com/news/subaru/subaru_all-wheel.htm

Torsen type LSDs do not perform well when one wheel experiences 100% slip. They are able to deal with (usually) a 5:1 situation -- if the grip on one side is 1/5 the other, the LSD can still put down torque to both wheels. However, if one wheel goes on ice or hard snow, that's still going to be 0 grip, and the torsen will act the same way as an open diff and spin that loose wheel.

I never thought of it that way but nonetheless, it would still be cool have an lsd whether for summer time or winter time. I enjoy driving in the winter mostly because it has that WRC feel to it, and besides if you're in deep snow, I would imagine it would be better to have two tires spinning instead one, if you were backing up or climbing a hill. That's my opinion, but I fully understand your point Kimbo. Eventually, I'll end up buying an lsd sometime this year or next year.

Yup, I really like my focus in the winter i have the torsen diff and it feels much much better then my friends stock zx5 in the winter. I never got stuck once and i was driving through some pretty rough snow, plus drifting is much more controllable and fun, not that i do that on the streets hehe. For sure one of the best mods i got. I still have to take it to the track to see what it does there

I dont believe that the SVT Focus has enough torque to justify having a LSD installed. My old SVT Contour could definitely have used one.

I drive track days at Lime Rock Park as well as autocross at various locations in CT and only in the tightest of corners could I have found use for a LSD in the SVT Focus.

Very rarely do I get the inside front tire to spin in second gear (which is what your stay in for most AutoX's) and that is usually bc of me down driving as smoothly as I should be.

Though I have had the inside front tire break loose at Lime Rock through the downhill turn at 85 mph. But hey the track is in pretty bad shape and a lot of bumps in that corner.

IThough I have had the inside front tire break loose at Lime Rock through the downhill turn at 85 mph. But hey the track is in pretty bad shape and a lot of bumps in that corner.

I heard that turn is super dangerous because of the bumps. It's sad they don't have more money to maintain the track.

I dont believe that the SVT Focus has enough torque to justify having a LSD installed. My old SVT Contour could definitely have used one.

I drive track days at Lime Rock Park as well as autocross at various locations in CT and only in the tightest of corners could I have found use for a LSD in the SVT Focus.

Very rarely do I get the inside front tire to spin in second gear (which is what your stay in for most AutoX's) and that is usually bc of me down driving as smoothly as I should be.

Though I have had the inside front tire break loose at Lime Rock through the downhill turn at 85 mph. But hey the track is in pretty bad shape and a lot of bumps in that corner.


No offense but you have to be driving REALLY slow. LSD not only gets the power down on corner exit it saves tires. Depending on the track it's good for 1-2 seconds. Mods should go in this order: rear bar, brake pads, lsd, suspension, power.

For reference, tracks I've been to with the focus are grattan, waterford, mid-ohio, nelson ledges, beaverun, the glen, vir, shenandoah, and daytona.

I dont believe that the SVT Focus has enough torque to justify having a LSD installed. My old SVT Contour could definitely have used one.

I drive track days at Lime Rock Park as well as autocross at various locations in CT and only in the tightest of corners could I have found use for a LSD in the SVT Focus.

Very rarely do I get the inside front tire to spin in second gear (which is what your stay in for most AutoX's) and that is usually bc of me down driving as smoothly as I should be.

Though I have had the inside front tire break loose at Lime Rock through the downhill turn at 85 mph. But hey the track is in pretty bad shape and a lot of bumps in that corner.
We had our SVTF out at Autobahn Country Club last month and definitely could have used an LSD.

1. I love the s2000. Its my dream car.
2. At least the s2000 is able to rev that high AND you still get 200+ hp
3. It is more fun to drive a slow car fast then vice versa. Don't believe me? Check this vid out
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=204774 (http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/redirector.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jaylenosgarage.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo_player.shtml%3Fvid%3D204774)

have you driven one.

stop bumping old threads

stop bumping old threads

If new info is added or more people learn stuff through the bump, it's ok.

This thread isn't even old. LOL

quote by JAY LENO "Going quickly in a slow car is actually more fun than going fast in a fast car, cuz anyone can go fast in a fast car, but if you take a car that is essentially not that powerful and make it do things that is not supposed to be able to do. Well thats where the real fun is!". Gotta love it!

This thread isn't even old. LOL

2005 is old...lololol

By the way you wouldn't be N/A if you used N2O. That is a power adder and is not at all considered a mod that keeps the car N/A.
Also the S2000 has a 2.2L and makes its power @ 7800 rpm and 162ft/lbs of torque.
My $.02 for what it's worth!

Lol... I know this is an old topic but... I'm interested in info about the LSD because since I've started autox I've noticed how much I could use one. I came across this and thought to let you peeps know.. The S2000 is a 2.0L engine. That's what S2000 is based on. If you don't agree, check wikipedia. [thumb] Later!

2005 is old...lololol
Woops! [giddy]


Just to throw more off-topic in here, technically N2O is still n/a. The term itself "naturally aspirated" means the air isn't being forced in by anything other than the pistons.

Anyway back on topic: I really need an ATB diff now that I have the JRSC on the car.

Lol... I know this is an old topic but... I'm interested in info about the LSD because since I've started autox I've noticed how much I could use one. I came across this and thought to let you peeps know.. The S2000 is a 2.0L engine. That's what S2000 is based on. If you don't agree, check wikipedia. [thumb] Later!


TECHNICALLY, the S2000 started as a 2.0L engine, as it was acclaimed by many to be the highest output per liter of any motor out (at that time). 2.0L made 240bhp, or appx 120bhp per liter. When the S2000 got a minor face lift, in 2004, it recieved a 2.2L engine, cranking the same 240bhp.

I didn't agree with you at all on your reply, so I did check wikipedia. It confirms my response. They certainly didn't change the name to S2200.
[werd]

As for OP, having driven a SVT with LSD, I loved it. If and when I ever have the cash, I will most certainly be installing a LSD. Probably when I do the lightweight fly and stage something clutch....

I'm nitpicking (kind of), but these differentials aren't technically "limited slip"... they're automatic torque biasing (ATB) diffs. That "LSD" moniker gets tossed around a lot when it really shouldn't be.

definitely good upgrade i got the torsen lsd on mine it delivers the torque really good in corners

I installed a Torsen in mine. love it, works great, installed smoothly. there's a youtube video someone made on how to isntall it.

Lets see if we can bring this thread back from the dead again in another 3 years.


Also on a side note... I love my Torsen.

simple answer bolt on parts no need to waste big money put that money on supercharger

I have a Torsen on back order from Steve at Toulsey. All are on back order till June, WOW! I could use one that's for sure, If it's going to pull you out of the corner's better!

simple answer bolt on parts no need to waste big money put that money on supercharger

I disagree I think it totally worth the money, after I installed one my SC SVT the next thing I did to my basically bone stock ST (dally Driver) was put a diff in it. In my opinion it totally changed the feel of how the car drives, with the diff even in a stock car it pull though the corner with the open diff the car just seemed to drive though the corner. I was very surprised at the difference it made, I thing it one of the best upgrades you can to improve the driving dynamics of a FWD car.

Ultimately, I will make a switch out to a stage 1 cluth and lighter flywheel, but I was wanting to ask if the limited-slip differential is worth the money or install?
I did exactly this in March. In my opinion, it was well worth it. Will it help you go faster? No. Will it keep you in control while cornering? Hell yes it does! Will it give you better launches? Ooooohhh yeah. Will it help you to keep from wearing out your left front tire all the time? Yep.

I see you are not from a snow state, so I guess I don't need to mention the increased control in the snow, but if you were, I would. [;)]

Lastly, If you decide to do it, do it at the same time you do your clutch. To change the diff, the trans needs to be out of the car. Doing it at the same time will save you install money.