Cusco 2way LSD Vs KAAZ???
 

I know a lot about the KAAZ, its a great unit, many people run them, they are very strong, no problems, ETC. Well, i might be pickin up a cusco 2 way LSD for cheap, is it just as strong as a KAAZ? my main concern is for drag racing with the LS1 swap. High ammounts of torque will be placed on it and i dont want any problems like the stocker has to offer:( So anyone with some info on cusco, post it here! it will be greatly appreciated. I just dont want to waste money to find out i should have bought KAAZ right off the bat instead. thanks to all that help me out.
-james

I've got a cusco in mine. I never drove it with the stock one so I cannot tell you a difference from the change in my car. My buddy has a relatively stock one and I can tell you that it launches better than his and when the turbos start spooling, the car seems more stable to me. That may be mostly due to my suspension mods, but take what you will from that. I don't have any input about the Kaaz diff though. The LSD did clunk for the longest time whenever it would engage (like going around a turn at low speeds in parking lot) but for some reason, when I put the larger rims and tires on there, it stopped clunking. Hope that helps.

sounds good. ANyone ever heard of the cusco exploding like the stocks under a heavy launch? i just wanna make sure this thing is beefy to handle some abuse from a 500-600 RWHP LS1. i know the KAAZ can, brian hinson pullin wheels and turnin 9.80's with a KAAZ. I have a chance to get a cusco for cheap and i just want to make sure it is as good as the KAAZ in durability. thanks
-james

I have one on order from http://www.revhighonline.com

I'll let you know how it is when I get it installed.

I've never heard of it before. I've done a couple of hard launches, but I'm usually not rough on the car (doing burnouts and doughnuts and stuff like that). I will probably be putting my crappy tires back on there and taking it out one day when it gets running again.

I have a KAAZ on my FD. At break in it did make a lot of noise but once I added KAAZ diff oil noise was down to a minimum and only on slow turns. Besides that it is strong and beefy. Did some hard launches and it hooks really good. The biggest difference is when turning you have a lot more confidence of not loosing control of your car
I dont know about CUSCO but I love my KAAZ.
I also installed 4.33 gears and all new seals and bearings for the differential. NOT CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

im going the opposite way of you, im going with the 3.90 rear gearing because it suites the LS1's 6 speed tranny better than anything else. I have two complete diff assemblies right now, one with a 4.10 and the other a 3.90. When i put the 3.90 in the car i would rather do it all at once, rather than install the 3.90,,,, then take it back out and install a LSD unit.
I think the cusco would hold up just as well as a KAAZ,,,,-crosses fingers. thanks
-james

PS i know with honda's KAAZ LSD's suck ass and grenede all the time. Then there is quaife LSD's, that run the show,,, KAAZ seems to rock with RX7's, lets hope cusco can offer the same:)

I did get everything done @ once.
Good Luck on your CUSCO diff let us know how it is????

One question guys... Why do you guys think clutch-type lsd unit (such as kaaz or cusco) will improve launch times over the stock torsen? From what I understand, torsen has better response and is very good for grip driving - I'd only consider aftermarket lsd units for drifting...

drifting is gay IMO, i have my yamaha raptor for that. i need an aftermarket LSD for its strentgh. Many people have grenaded their stock units upon a harsch launch at the dragstrip with rotary egnines. My car will have a 550hp 500FT lbs trq V-8 LS1 in it, i need durability that the KAAZ and Cusco offer. I dont want to explode my rear end and have tons of downtown. I want to be as reliable and strong as possible. Thats why my car is going v8 instead of rotary.:D

A wasn't talking about the strength. Even the strength is questionable. Cusco's and kaaz's are just lsd units. You keep the stock ring&pinion and differential housing. I believe that ring&pinions are usually responsible for differential failure, not the torsen worm gears. Besides, one thing is for sure - clutch type lsd's do wear out, torsen don't.

Can someone who has some more experience comment this? I still don't understand why would clutch type benefit on launch times in comparison to torsen diff.


P.S.: Saying "something is gay" is for kids and retarded, which one are you? ;)

fair enough, drifting is rubbish. haha
what happens when the stockers break is :
The stock LSD unit cracks, usually in half and then has no where to go so it breaks the diff housing with all the pressure it exerts on it. Not so much the housing cracks due to the torque or hard launch. Also the ring and pinion provided they arent worn down badly, usually are not the cause of a stock rear end grenading.

All i want to know is, if its as strong as a KAAZ!

ALso,,, the reason i believe it gives you a better launch is because both wheels get 100% power instantly. Whereas the stocker will jostle between the two wheels and therefor lose out on acceleration. You understand that? kinda hard to word it i guess, but thats my interpretation on it.

well guys,, picked up the Cusco two way LSD. i got it brand spanking new $555.00 shipped to my door! you think i got a deal?:cool: i think so, cant wait to install with the 3.90 rear gear set and start breaking her in!

BTW, what oil do they recommend to use with the Cusco unit?? Hopefully its not like KAAZ where you have to use their 40$/quart oil and change it every 3000 miles or some jazz like that....

Failure occurs when the LSD case cracks when twisted due to high hp/hard launches combined with wheel hop in the stock unit. Planetary gears also give way. The plate system is just a bit more durable with the Cusco/Kaaz unit. Even the 2nd gen diff (plate type) is stronger than the third gen's Torsen. It's not the ring/pinion giving out. Cusco is reported to have a stronger case than the KAAZ unit.

Where did you get the Cusco for under $600? Best price I've ever seen was about $800. www.napsusa.com is the official importer and it's close to $1K there. Just curious....

I destroyed my stock differential. Have had my FD for more than 2 years now and never ever drive it hard o.k sometimes. But I dont have that much HP to blow a diff that quickly, but then again who knows what kind of driving the previous did. I noticed it would do a winding noise when decelerating and then when almost stopping it seemed like it wanted to lock up on me. looked under the car and diff oil was leaking. Installed KAAZ and feel more confident that it wont break. Ray @ kaazusa said I should go through 3 trannies before I have to service my diff. Good thing about clutch type is that they are replacable.

I mean rebuildable
sorry

Has anyone looked into the Mazdaspeed diffs? I heard that Cusco makes them and if that's the case, Corksport.com sells them really cheap...I've seen'em around $675ish :)

$555, that's damned good price. Where did you get it? I've also heard cusco's are more friendly to daily driving than kaaz since they operate less noisy... Can anyone confirm this rumour?

About torsen diffs. I know s2000's have quite weak diffs, many owners broke it even if the cars were stock. But, they all said it waas ring&pinion, not the lsd unit. So I figured it to be the case with rx7 as well. Anyways, I'm under impression most of big hp rx-7 still uses stock diff and tranny.

But I doubt, you would go through 3 trannies before diff rebuild. I had bad experience with stock clutch lsds on bmw's. When I got it it was perfect, but after 6 months of mild drifting, it started to act unpredictably and when the difference in grip between the wheels was big it stopped locking or didn't even lock in the first place. And the lag (time between applying throttle and locking) was bigger than with torsen lsd. At least that's what I've experienced.

What are the prices of replacement clutch plates for kaaz or cusco lsd? How many plates are there?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ADME:B:BN:MT:1

The reserve wasnt met, but i was the highest bidder when the auction ended and he emailed me offering it for $555.00 shipped. I thought about it for um negative one second, :D and said " HELL YES ILL TAKE IT" :) i dont think i could have passed up that deal by any means. I was going to buy a used KAAZ unit for $700 from a member from this board and then i saw the ebay special. So before i went to race my raptor over the weekend i put it 600$ for my max bid and left it at that. I guess stroke of luck, but hey it all worked out in the end.

I think the rebuild kits are somewhere around $200 but I am not sure.

I dont know how long my tranny will last me I have over 100k on the car, original engine but tranny grinds on fifth and sometimes on third. I have a 6-puck clutch with PP from Racing Beat. Hooks awesome. But tranny will go anytime. Oh well. Lets see what happens

The only noise you hear from the diff while driving is a clunk during low speed turns. Other than that I cant tell a noise difference between it and the stocker.

Also since the CUSCO unit is a clutch type, you can rearange the plates to alternate between having a full 2 way, or 1.5 way, and 1 way i belive.