DIFFERENTIALS IN CARS

You might have heard of the term 'differentials' being used on cars. In cars like the Kia Sorento, with the center-locking differential all-wheel drive system (quite a mouthful, no?)  and the Hyundai Genesis 2.0T R-Spec, with its rear-limited slip differential are just some of the vehicles with unique differentials. True. all cars have differentials, which is one of the things necessary to have the light steering feel. Here are some of the special differentials used on cars.

• Torsen Differential- used on all-wheel drive high performance devices, works as an open differential when the amount of torque going to each wheel is equal. As soon as one wheel starts to lose traction, the difference in torque causes the gears in the Torsen differential to bind together. The design of the gears in the differential determines the torque bias ratio. For instance, if a particular Torsen differential is designed with a 5:1 bias ratio, it is capable of applying up to five times more torque to the wheel that has good traction.

• Viscous Coupling- used on most all-wheel drive vehicles,   used to power the back wheels to the front wheels so that when one set of wheels starts to slip, torque will be transferred to the other set.

• Locking Differential (rear included)- it acts like the same as an open differential, and an electric or hydralic mechanism is used to lock the output pinions. Unlike the other systems, both wheels (rear) spin at the same speed, so even though one wheel gets stuck, nothing will happen.

These are just some of the special differentials used on cars, and so feel free to comment more.