Anyone drive/has driven a welded diff for non-drifting purposes? I'm debating whether or not to weld mine up or leave it open.

How hard is it to control vs. an open? Will it be ridiculous or will it just be twitchy and under-steery? If it's going to be dangerous I'm not going to do it, but if it will just be slightly annoying at low speeds and sharp turns then I'm going to go ahead. It will stay in the car for about 2 or 3 months and then I'll be switching to an OBX LSD.

Anyone have personal experience? And please don't tell me a friend of a friend of a cousin of a guy who read something on the internet says it sucks/rocks.

 

It is the WORST DRIVING EXPERIENCE YOU CAN IMAGINE X2.
I'm not joking or exaggerating: it is utter ****. The car will understeer like crazy, and basically fight you every time you want to take any sort of turn or corner.
I cannot even begin to tell you how shitty it is.

I've driven many welded diff 240's.
I can only imagine how much worse a miata feels with one, since its so much lighter and has so much more steering feedback.

 

Thanks, I guess I will keep it open for now.

 

This is pure conjecture, but I'm guessing the bad manners would be even more pronounced in the shorter wheelbase of the Miata compared to the 240SX.

Are you regularly spinning the unweighted wheel right now?

 

Pretty much every single time I hit the gas.

 

If you want something better but don't have the cash for a torsen get an rx7 clutch type. I've seen them for 50-70 at junk yards.

 

I have enough, but I'm budgeting this year. If I do the cooling system and oil lines right now I'll have to save the diff for later, but if I do the diff right now those two have to wait. My solution was to do the cooling system and oil lines and weld as a temporary solution.

Either way, cooling system and replacing the shitty leaking lines I have now come first.

 

I've never seen one in a miata...but we've worked on several 240 drift cars at the shop that have had them. A complete and total pain in the ***.