Why is turning a vehicle much more difficult when you are in 4WD than 2WD?
In: Engineering
Because such a vehicle usually doesn’t provide a differential between the front and rear axles. Which means the average distance traveled by the front wheels must match the average distance traveled by the rear wheels. But when looking at the geometry of pretty much any turn, it’s safe to say that that never actually happens. So instead one or more wheels wants to slip, and if the surface is soft or wet then that’s what happens. But if the surface is paved and dry then it would wear out the wheels that are trying to slip.
That’s why it’s important to shift the vehicle to 2WD when driving on paved dry roads.
AWD systems do not have that problem because there *is* a differential between front and rear that allows them to turn different distances. There is other technology used to preserve power to each wheel in that case.
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