Well I got stuck in the ice :x that we had here last week in the "greater toronto area".
While I was out pushing, and the gf was driving, I noticed that only the passenger side wheel was spinning. :? I honestly did'nt know this when I bought the car. Is this normal?

Only one front tire powers the car:?: or is my car hurt?
this should probably be in the newbie section, LOL

 

uhhh yea, that's no good

 

These cars don't have traction control. This means that if your wheel is stuck on the ice, then the wheel that has less resistance will get all the power. That is why you get stuck. The tire that can push on something isn't getting any power.

 

Ever spin tires and notice only one mark? Its for the reason raehtz stated, no traction control. For Tibs if you get on ice, and you start to slide, you're pretty much screwed unless your in an open area.

Some cars are worse than Tibs. I've heard of FWD Eclipses cruising around a parking lot, hitting ice at 10mph, and not being able to stop until they hit something. lol.gif V6 Tibs are similar. Tibs aren't as bad on ice as some other FWD cars.

 

Basically what happened x7x was the driver tire had traction and the pass. was on ice. Normally the driver side tire is the cuplrit of extra tire spin due to the driveshaft being slightly shorter, and going with the flow of the engine. At least it was that way with my Beretta. (Couldn't figure out why I only needed a driver side tire :roll: )

 

Basically what everyone is saying is No, you did not break your car. laugh.gif

Under Normal conditions, both tires power the car. When one of those tires have less friction than the other, that one gets all the power, and the other gets none. This is normal and the reason they created Limited Slip Differentials, to reduce this. Try www.howstuffworks.com and put in limited slip differential and it should explain how a car works with and without one.

 

^^^ Exactly

Our LSD transfers power to the tire with the LEAST resistance

A good LSD (Quafie) will transfer more power to the tire with MORE resistance


I have been told (havnt tried it) that if you backup your car 10' and then do a burn out both of your tires will spin due to the fact that you have "preloaded" the LSD and it takes it a few feet to catch up.

 

Really?? That may be something to think about doing at the track, no??

 

this is why you do a one wheel burn out on the track... BTW.. a quafe unit will NOT power both wheels when one has NO traction at all.. such as on ice or when one is in the air. a Unit like the Kaatz which is a clutch type diff will.

 

Thanks guys!
I was a little worried...
as this is an area I know very little about. Thanks for the link too smile.gif

Makes me wish I had AWD this winter hehe