Why is turning a vehicle much more difficult when you are in 4WD than 2WD?
In: Engineering
When you’re turning in a car the tires travel different distances. The inside tire travels a shorter distance than the outside one. This also means they spin at different speeds, different rates.
Typically in two wheel drive the tires are allowed to spin freely so this difference in distance and speed isn’t an issue. This is literally what a differential does, it allows this to happen (*how* this happens is a totally different eli5)
However, in 4WD the differential is typically locked, and therefore tires are not allowed to spin at different rates. When you’re driving over something slippery like snow or mud the tires slip just enough on the surface that you don’t feel anything herky-jerky in the car, but if you’re on a dry surface that the tires grip really well you will feel the car bouncing around the corner because the tires are struggling to spin at different rates
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