Cars Blog April Archive

• In an automobile and other four-wheeled vehicles, differentials are devices, usually consisting of gears, which allow each of the driving wheels to rotate at different speeds, while supplying equal torque to each of them
• Purpose: When cornering especially, car's wheel rotate at different speeds. The differential is designed to drive a pair of wheels with equal force, while allowing them to rotate at different speeds
• Here is a milestones in the history of this device: 1027, 1107 AD - Documented Chinese reproductions of the chariot, postulated to contain a differential
• A pinion gear at the end of the propeller shaft is encased within the differential itself, and it engages with the large ring gear or crownwheel in Britain, shown in the diagrams
• The torque on each wheel is a result of the engine and transmission applying torsion, a twisting force, against the resistance of the traction at that wheel. The engine and transmission can usually supply as much torque as necessary, so the limiting factor is usually the traction under each wheel
• The locking differential, which employs a mechanism for allowing the planetary gears to be locked relative to each other, causing both wheels to turn at the same speed regardless of which has more traction
• Fully integrated active differentials are used on the 2005 MR Ferrari F430 and on rear wheels in the Acura RL