On 8 Jul 2005 08:27:26 -0700, "John S." > wrote:

>I drove two rear wheel drive Volvo's for several years, a 960 with a
>limited slip differential and a 740 with a standard differential. I
>can't truthfully say that the car with the limited slip differential
>had a real advantage over the other when trying to get started in snowy
>conditions. Both setups would spin and lose traction from too much
>power. I could get moving equally well by modulating the power,
>rocking a bit and starting in a higher gear. As someone else noted
>spinning the wheels on a limited slip differential car can result in
>the rear end sliding quickly to one side.
>
>Limited slip differentials are in a sense pretty dumb when it comes to
>controlling spin. A far better solution would be a car equipped with a
>semi-intelligent computer controlled traction control system and maybe
>a dynamic stability control system or a computer controlled AWD (not
>4WD) system. The real question to ask yourself is whether you drive in
>situations where it makes sense to spend the added thousands of dollars
>for some sort of enhanced traction or stability control system.
>
>When visiting sunny southern California I get a kick out of all the AWD
>and 4WD trucks and SUV's with oversized tires cruising down the 405.
>Chances are pretty remote those enhanced traction systems get used at
>all.


Not to mention the horrible gas prices in that area....dragging all
that extra weight (those enhanced traction systems) around and for no
real gain? IMHO, that crap is worse than useless in city driving, due
to the aforementioned weight (more weight = more energy needed to get
up to normal crusing speed = more gas burned, ) and due to the
increased complexity of the vehicle (repair costs go up a bit if
something goes wrong with the powertrain.)

-LMB