I know it took me a long time to pick some of these acronyms up.
Some other ones you'll run across
FI = forced induction
FF/FR = (referring to engine placement/drive wheels) engine in front, front wheel drive/engine in front, rear wheel drive
WOT = wide open throttle
NOT = normal operating temperature
LFB = left foot braking
hrm, can't think of any others off the top of my head.
For the LSD thing, it puts equal power to the wheels, rather than an open diff (what the average car has) which varies its power to either wheel. It's useful in FWD cars as well as RWD, though how much so is debateable I suppose. There are better descriptions on here by people more knowledgeable than I. Do a search and you'll find some great topics.
For the LFB thing, it's not going to "damage" your brake... it's using your brakes more than what you normall would, so more it's going to wear them out rather than hurt them.
Unless you just mash on the brakes all the time and warp your rotors I guess.
Technically, an LSD doesn't put EQUAL power to both wheels. An LSD will give the most power to the wheel which IS NOT slipping. Where an Open Diff will put the most power to the wheel which IS slipping. There's also such thing as a locked diff, which will put equal power to both wheels all the time, no matter what. Then we get into Active Diff's, which only exist in racing cars, and I'm not going to getting into such complexity here.
diff's are one of the most complicated parts of a car and something not a lot of people understand, or at least i don't totally understand them. how stuff works has quite an extensive section on them with some good illustrations, but i still don't get it totally.
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Metal to burn, sparks to fly...
1992 Toyota Camry 5 Speed - 5S-FE....totally stock
I thought LSD was a hallucinagenic?
To expand on Wedge's answer, an LSD, or "LIMITED" Slip Differential does just that. It limits the amount of slip between the drive wheels. There are several ways to accomplish this, but probably most common is through a set of clutches. Both drive wheels will try to turn at the same rate until the amount of force is great enough between them that they will slip and one wheel can then turn faster than the other. The force required to cause slippage can be varied by design. Only as much power can go to the wheel with traction as the clutches will allow. Above that, it slips. There are others, such as Lockers which have several designs unto themselves, and the Torsen type which can actually apply more torque to the tire with better traction unless one wheel looses traction completely then you are stranded. Howstuffworks.com can help you out with the basics if you are interested.
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Bob Raby
Santa Cruz, CA
'88 Alltrac (broken) FOR SALE
'87 4x4 Toy Truck SOLD
'90 4Runner (3.4 swap, CA certified legal with K&N intake, modified thermal coated headers, 2.5" exhaust, and almost as fast as a stock 3rd gen ) SOLD
Yea, that's what I was just about to say, a limited slip will apply some torque to the non slipping wheel but definitely not most of the torque, but in a front wheel drive car, this one would probably be best traction adding diff, so you don't lose too much of your turning/cornering abilities.
Also, on the torsen type diff, I've read somewhere that if one wheel does in fact lose total traction, you can press on the brakes to simulate torque which will allow power to go to the other wheel...
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99 Tacoma V6 4x4 x-cab- 6" total lift, 15x12 Welds, 31"x 12.5" thornbirds, no slip rear locker
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