[GLH_TC 16V]

Torque steer is caused by a number of things, drive shaft length, suspension geometry/movement, and the differential.

Torque steer by definition is lateral movement (simulated steering) caused by an imbalance of torque from the driving wheels. In a front wheel drive car with an open differential, the wheel with the most torque is also the tire with the least amount of traction. The differential will transfer the power to the wheel which isn't "stuck". If you can imagine your one of your wheels clamped to the pavement in gear, if you apply the throttle the other tire will get 100% of the power. If you have a closed differential (LSD) then the LSD acts like a clutch, transferring power to both wheels equally (ideally). If the torque is equal at both wheels, neither one of the wheels can steer the vehicle due to an imbalance of torque from the driving wheels.

As for the cornering aspect, yes you will understeer intially as both tires want to spin at the same speed. In a corner though, you want the outter tires to spin faster, and the inner tire to spin slower. The problem is, that with an open differential, the outter tires has all the traction (due to the weight transfer) and the inner tire has relatively little traction. The understeer is compounded by the fact that the open differential will transfer most of the torque/power to the inner tire because it is free. The net effect is that the inner tire will 'torque steer' you away from the apex, and we call that understeer. An LSD will 'attempt' to transfer more power to the outter wheel where it is needed and thus slow down the inner wheel in the process. The differential will still be at different speeds (that's the limited slip part of it) but much closer to the ideal of having the outter tire faster, inner tire slower. To sum up, an LSD will help you corner better because the tires speeds are 'closer' to the ideal rotating speeds than in an open differential. Yes, you still *might* understeer but not as bad as having an open differential.

The one other benefit of an LSD is that you can induce oversteer in a corner by mashing the throttle to the floor and letting the front wheels pull you out hard causing a 'swinging' motion on the rear end just like oversteering.

I hope that this explains how an LSD is beneficial in both straight line and cornering applications (it also helps in braking too). And Kirby, no disrespect taken here... I just hope that I have cleared a few things up about LSD's and why they are so great. One thing I do agree with you about is that with Stage 1 and 2 we will have to watch out for the monster that is torque steer... I believe that the LSD will be that monumental help you are looking for.