Torsens have come way down in price recently. I used to be that a torsen with axles and a driveshaft would sell at $1200-$1500 only a few years ago. Now I can get just the diff and housing for 300-500 all day. OBX really doesnt make sense anymore.

 

So you're saying that a Torsen will outperform a "fixed" OBX?

 

In theory, yes, probably. Do we even know what the TBR is on the OBX? I still wish they sold a T2R for our cars to get the even more aggressive torsen setup.

 

If it won't cause me to leave wet spots on the seat with glee when i drive it, then i no longer care.

 

Not locally to me, or on Ebay that I've seen. What do you guys consider the realistic lifespan of a beat-on torsen (because I assume the worst about second hand parts)?

 

Torsen that isnt getting launched at the drag strip should be good for like 400k miles.

 

They were $800-1000 a few years ago, they're $800-1000 today. 4.10s slightly less, 4.30s slightly more, 3.90s in the middle. Where do you come up with this stuff?

 

Look harder. There's been half a dozen torsen rears without the aluminum housing for that price on forums in the past 2 months

 

"i can get them all day"

"look harder, jeez"

 

Its not like the ones I saw sold instantly.

 

There have been a few on here and ClubRoadster in particular in the $500 range in the last 6 months it seems.

 

Too many variables.
No housing, no axles, no driveshaft, $500. Ok.
Full housing, axles, 1.8 driveshaft, aftermarket bushings already installed? $1200, Ok.

 

I got my 4.3 torsen for $400 a few months ago.

The best deal I got (well passed it to a friend for no profit, I wanted to kill him...) was a $70 complete 4.1 Torsen.

 

Goodwin Racing sells a Tomei diff.

 

Ok, so we've hashed out Torsen pricing - but can anyone speak to the merit of the OBX diff? Crap or no (on a miata)??

All I can find are a bunch of favorable first impressions (all compared to an open diff), nothing that suggests ownership of a longer time than half a year, nor a non-theoretical comparison to a torsen.

 

Leafy, seriously... I've noticed recently that this sentence covers 90% of your posts on this forum

 

Interesting to see Miata guys using these with some success. I know Honda guys have been playing around with them as a cheap LSD option for a while now.

 

S2000 diff is T2R and fits in a 1.8 diff housing, right? You just need MSM axles.

 

I've had one in my Miata for about a year and a half with no issues at all and it works great!

 

I've got one in my car that I bought used from a guy's parts car on ebay for a song (unknown mileage). I ordered a "rebuild kit" (new bolts and washers) and tore it apart when receiving it to install new parts.

Upon disassembling the unit, it was immediately obvious that the rebuild was not done prior. There were two problems, 1st, all of the washers were pulverized (not crushed or broken, but turned to dust). 2nd, the sun gears were installed backwards so the load was being transferred into the washers and not into the much stronger case / housing. I have now rebuilt it properly, and it has been working for the past 20K miles.

If you can get a good deal on a new OBX and rebuild it for less money than a used torsen, there is absolutely no issue with it in my mind, but I wouldn't say it's any better or worse once the OBX is worked over.