Here are a couple ways of detecting a Limited Slip Differential in a B-series transmission.



While the tranny is off the engine, take a look in the differential area. If you can see straight through it, WITHOUT any obstruction in the way...

You have an LSD equipped tranny.


If you see this 'bar' instead, your tranny is equipped with a stock differential.


A real easy way to see if you have an LSD tranny, is to look for the 'LSD' stamp on the front facial area seen here..

B-series Hydro type (ITR) tranny shown.


I've never seen this with my own eyes before, but a fellow hybrider from another country sent me this pic. It's an LSD stamp on a B-series Cable type tranny. (About 90% of the time, the Y1 cable tranny's are the LSD equipped ones) He said his motor came from Japan 'as-is'. The stamp is on the topside of the tranny casing, right under where the Vtec solenoid area.

***update***
I recently saw one of these cable LSD stamped tranny's. It made sense since this was a Y1 cable B16A tranny.
So there...=)
..LSD stamp..

The 'LSD' stamp could be decieving at times, if you're not careful. Some bad people like to pull out the LSD, replace it with a stock diff. and resell it saying the tranny IS LSD equipped, when it's actually not. That's why looking throught the differential hole is the sure way of knowing your buying an LSD equipped tranny. So be careful...

A limited slip differential helps put power to the ground for both wheels instead of just one. When making a turn, an LSD evenly distributes power to both wheels so 100% traction is made. Stock differentials cannot do that. The term 'peg leg' is what people call a tranny that is
not LSD equipped.

There are mainly 2 types of Honda made LSD's:
Gear Type
or Clutch Type
A third type is Viscous, but it's very rare and expensive.
Gear Types have gears inside of them that mesh/engage together when load is detected. This type is good to have because you'll probably never have to replace worn internal LSD parts, unlike the clutch type. The downside is that they can internally break if your into rough circut racing. Lifting a front wheel in a turn and landing back on it is how the LSD can break. Real stiff suspension is a major factor in making a car lift during a turn.

Clutch Types have small clutches inside that engage when load is being detected. These LSD's won't break if you happen to lift a wheel. The only real downside to this type of LSD is, wearing of the clutches. Just like the clutch disc inside of your tranny, the clutches inside this LSD wear out too, and needs replacement.

Viscous Type are similar to the viscous LSD's used in some AWD vehicles. The way these work is that a special fluid is used in the differential THICKENS, when excessive slip is induced. Stators and impellors in the diff make this even more efficient. Although there is a slight delay in locking of the differential, they work very well and last a long time.
According to my resources, these were 'special order' LSD's for JDM 96-97 ITR integra's only. No other countries would receive this optional LSD, only Japan. The cost was about twice as much as a the common Gear type found in all ITR's and CTR's. One odd thing though, Honda of Japan does NOT have this optional LSD type for 98+ ITR's! We're (EB & I) pretty sure it fits in 98+ ITR tranny's though...

Please take a look at the B & D Series Tranny Guide:

B-Series Gear Ratios
D-Series Gear Ratios