Z4 vs Z4m diff?

V

v8z4

Member
 Fountain Hills, AZ
What is the difference between the Z4 and Z4m diff? Is one stronger than the other? My Z4 has 3.46 gears and that works fine for my engine swap plans, however if there is a stronger diff I'd like to know.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Morning Chris,

The ///M had a limited slip differential, I don't know if you would be able to tell the difference on the road or not compared to a standard differential, i've read you can on a track however, I'm
sure someone will be along soon to explain the pro's and cons :driving:
 
hi chris they are copletely different, you have open diff, the ///Ms have a proper locking differential.... its a very nice piece as well....

this video shows you the difference.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIH0V8pg8jk

for you to convert to a locking type diff you'd need to go to quaife or similar to convert your existing setup... The ///M stuff AN be retro fitted but its very expensive and needs all the ///M backend as well...
 
I notice the difference with my LSD - roundabouts wouldn't be half as much fun without it :driving: :fuelfire:
 
With out being stupid what does it do? I thought it would do as it says, limit slip, making it harder to break traction, therefor less oversteer?
 
Without LSD, if you lose traction one wheel will spin, with LSD both will spin. Effectively it gives you the ability to pull away quicker as two wheels are less likely to break traction than one. It also makes a power slide a lot easier to control :evil:
 
Rich-hill said:
I thought it would do as it says, limit slip, making it harder to break traction, therefor less oversteer?
Click to expand...

in the simpliest words - when the wheel starts to slip it will 'move' some of the power to the other wheel
in open diff while cornering hard the inner wheel has less load on it, and therefore slips easier, and the less traction it has the more power goes to it
with lsd diff when the wheel starts to slip the outer wheel will get some of the power (eg 25%)

the first benefit is that you have more grip
the second benefit is that you have more control over the car whern its drifting
and you can spin both wheels, therefore do 180degrees turn from standstill

hope Ive been helpfull

ps. lsd is the only thing I wish I had in my 3.0si..
 
used to be my sig... I <3 my LSD :wub:

cool vid beedub .. at 3:40 that's a pretty cool demo.

[youtube]CIH0V8pg8jk[/youtube]
 
Andy said:
used to be my sig... I <3 my LSD :wub:

cool vid beedub .. at 3:40 that's a pretty cool demo.

[youtube]CIH0V8pg8jk[/youtube]
Click to expand...

yeah it explains it REALLY well :-)...............
 
Wait....I'm confused after that video (not to mention I couldn't understand a word the guy said... lol).... is the M diff an actual mechanical limited slip diff or is it an electronic (traction control related) "LSD"? I read that a lot of BMWs now use the traction control system to "mimic" LSD (which doesn't work from a performance standard....).

So are the internals (gears and such) physically different in the M vs non-M e85/e86? I wondered if a person could just pull the LDS out of an M diff and install it into a non-M.

Side question, anyone know what the diameter of the ring gear and pinion are (in both M and non-M)? I'm trying to make a comparison on strength not only between the two, but also with the older C4 corvette Dana 44 (had an 8.75" ring gear).
 
I just love this description of what a differential really is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBuauaXRl7I&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
a340driver said:
I just love this description of what a differential really is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBuauaXRl7I&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Click to expand...

Excellent, proper 1950s goverrnment information film style, but for the car-obsessed :thumbsup:
 
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