Cars - How They work and what does all the jargon mean?
Basics of an engine
How to make a car faster
BHP, torque and VTEC
Dispelling car myths
Differentials
These are basically mechanisms which allow wheels on the same axle to spin at different speeds to each other. They are found in all cars and lorries. Also within these differentials are found the final drive ratio. Now with most cars that have open differential when both wheels are on ice the differential will allow a certain amount of torque to keep the wheels from spinning however there is a problem when ne wheel is one ice and the other isnt. Here the wheels are both limited to the torque which will allow the trye on ice to turn wothout spinning. Here is where limited slip differentials come into play. They allow the wheels to turn indepentely of each other.
So if a car is approaching a corner. The car is front wheel drive we will already know it will have a tendency to understeer, which is a safer tendency but to me less enjoyable. This means that the front wheels will skid and the front of the car will drift outwards. And can be overcomed by either straightening the wheels towards the skid, taking of some of the gas. It will not be helped by braking at all.
In a rear wheel drive car, it will have a tendency to overtsteer. Meaning that the back end of the car will tend to drift outwards. This is more dangerous if not controlled properly. You should steer into the skid, take off some gas.
Four wheel drive cars have a slight tendency to understeer as well.
A crap driver will brake while in a corner, this will unbalance the car forcing the front end downwards and this will likely to result in oversteer, which can catch crap drivers off guard. Resulting in either a nice 360, or a 180 degree skid.
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