I drove two hours today to pick up a new torsen for my Miata for what appeared to be a great price. The ad said it was a 4.1 from a 1994 Miata with 88k miles, and he had it listed for $500 - a good price, but not crazy low. The ad showed the case a little in the pictures, but they were focused on the gears and didn't really show much of the housing. I went to pick it up, confident that I had done my research, checked the gears to make sure they looked good, paid the man his money, and left. It wasn't until I got home that I realized my mistake.
I had to look it up to confirm it, but yeah, that's a VLSD from a 91-93 Miata. Completely useless to me, and not worth nearly the $500 that I paid the guy. I messaged him hoping to get some sort of partial refund, but I'm not holding my breath :(
Are you going with an increase in power? I ran the stock VLSD in my Spec Miata for years. The sticky 205/50-15's didn't really need a torsen, and after a few laps, the diff oil got so hot I don't think the VLSD was doing much anyways.
The car was dynoed at 138 several years before I bought it, so it's healthy, but no where near turbo levels or anything. The real issue is that my driveshaft and axles don't fit this smaller diff.
Welp, nothing from the seller. Unrelated: anybody in the market for a 91-93 VLSD?
racerfink said:
Are you going with an increase in power? I ran the stock VLSD in my Spec Miata for years. The sticky 205/50-15's didn't really need a torsen, and after a few laps, the diff oil got so hot I don't think the VLSD was doing much anyways.
The bigger issue is that '90-93 is a completely different rearend from '94-up.
Check out the ring gear diameters and the distance from the pinion flange to the mounting flange. It's all different inside.
