Limited Slip or Posi-Trac or Trac-Lok or Detroit Locker or...

[excelguru]

I thought that I was knowledgeable in this regard. I thought that limited slip meant that more power would be transferred to the tire with the least amount of traction (would only leave one black stripe during a burnout), but my conversation with someone this weekend clouded that theory.

My old Galaxie would burn rubber to the county line and back, but only with one tire. Was that not a limited slip diff? I thought it was. Maybe I was wrong all this time.

I wanna be able to put as much power to the road as possible, so having both tires working their hardest should be important to me, right? And if I lay drag in some Holiday Inn parking lot (ahem) I don't wanna leave only one stripe, do I?

What are the differences between the differentials mentioned in the title. How do they work differently? Are some differentials known by more than one name (i.e. is Limited Slip and Trac-Lok the same thing?) Which applications are better suited for 99% street use? I understand (or think) that the Detroit Locker diffy will actually lock both sides to work together, which can cause problems in turns. Is this "locking" feature something that can be turned on and off with some differentials?

Thanks guys.

Keith