Noise is one thing. I'm more worried about how these clutch type LSDs react at the limit. Just because the wheels lock harder doesn't mean it suits an average driver. I'm skeptical about my driving skills, so I would rather stick to TBDs till I really know what I'm doing. Those 1.5way etc LSDs lock up very hard and may be very difficult to manage when things break loose.
Z:
I wouldn't worry about such things. If you doubt your skills, and there's nothing wrong with that, stay away from the limit. There's nothing wrong with that either, especially at a DE event where you're trying to learn things. One step at a time. If you remember that there are no race team scouts at your DE that will be picking you out for an F1 seat, the pressure will be off to race everyone. Just get the fundamentals in your head. After they're in your head, it takes a year or so to get them to travel out to your hands and feet.
Your car will be easier, not more difficult to control at the limit with an LSD. They're also easier to drive at speed with stiffer suspensions and more roll stiffness (to a point). Driving Buicks real fast is hard work!
Don't buy a full race diff for a street car. Buy the one they recommend for you and you'll be very happy with it. The guys at Guard are very knowledgeable at this.
I went with Giken and I'm happy with it because I don't do so many track days anymore. Too many distractions in my life now.
I'm familiar with Improved Touring BMW 2002s. Those guys used to take their open diffs apart and weld them together so there was essentially no differential. It worked great. Not so good for parking admittedly, but absolutely great on track. You could drive with one wheel in the grass and still have full power. That setup, btw, is called a "locker rear-end"....highly not recommended for a dual purpose car.
I'm describing the lockers because even those work better on track than open diffs. They weren't "tricky" nor would they try to spit you off the track. At low speeds they make the front wheels understeer terribly. The more diffs "lock", the more they don't want the car to turn. At speed, this goes away because the wheels are slipping all the time anyway. (look up "slip angle") Clutch type LSDs are tamer than those lockers. Companies like Guard can change the amount of slip in either direction (accel or decel) The whole point is to make them easier and more capable at the limit.
I drove an E36 M3 with 25% LSD on track for 10 track seasons. It was great. You could use the throttle to steer the rear wheels. When things got hairy, you floored it and kept steering the car. Lift while cornering hard and you spin.
No matter what diff you have, you don't lift in the middle of a turn except for some front wheel drive cars, and that's just for a breath to get the thing rotated a little. Read up on "trailing throttle oversteer".
:cheers: