Why does a car need a differential?

Answer by  Wayne58 (36)

When you turn a corner the wheel on the outside of the corner needs to spin faster than the wheel on the inside. So to accommodate this speed difference the differential needs to allow the wheels to spin at different speeds or the outside wheel would *hop* to keep turning at the same speed as the inside wheel.

Answer by  Amber40 (24961)

The point of having a differential is to allow the vehicle to be propelled but make turning easier. If there was no differential then each driven wheel would get equal amount of power at all times. This make turning very hard. The differential allows for enough slip that the inside wheel can slow down making for sharper and easier turning.

Answer by  diamond90 (309)

A car needs a differential in order to send power to the driveshaft, this is required for both sides of the axle. However, in order for the axle to work properly,the wheels need to be turned at about 90 degree angle from the driveshaft in order to work in the correct way.

Answer by  emussini (22)

A differential is needed to avoid any kind of slip in the traction of the wheels while turning a car. In this situation, the distance covered by the left and right wheels is different. The differential is used absorb this difference.