Open diff - so frustrating
Why do car manufactors put open difs?
I really can’t understand why?
For me as an driver with an open diff rwd car this is one of the most frustrating things. I am not talking about manufactors to put 50% LSD in all cars, but diffs with atleast 10% lock. I don’t mean for drifting and etc, but just for safety?! I give you now an example:
How stupid is it to be on a road in the winter. One of my tires is on ice, the other is on clean tarmac and I can’t launch because the stupid open dif is spinning only one tire?! And this is so common on older cars. Nowadays more cars have some tractioncontrols, but they stil don’t help the open dif, becase they just apply the brake on the slipping wheel and do not transfer the power to the other or lock and spin them both.
I also understand that an open diff has almost nothing to maintain only an oil change would be better, and lsdiffs need some maintenance over time, but.. Still even no fwd cars a low locking number like 10% lsd would give drivers so much more confidence in my oppinion.
Comments
both of my cars are rear wheel drive with open differentials. it’s a simpler, more robust design that also happens to be cheaper than a limited slip differential. they have both been sealed for decades, and when I opened them both up to change the oil, the oil inside was full and wasn’t dirty. when I drive in ice and snow I use tire chains on my rear tires and that fixes the problem. a limited slip differential isn’t needed for road driving unless the conditions are already too dangerous to drive in.
by this argument, why doesn’t everyone have independent rear suspension? same answer. a live axle is the simplest, cheapest, most robust design possible. older cars are built to last with little maintenance (in general) and that is why both of my cars have live axles in the rear.
you can’t drive the entire winter with chains. Witner tires help, but not always. It can happen even in the city that one of your tires is on ice and the other is on lets say snow. open doff will spin the tire on ice and you are not moving.
BMW used to have 25% lsd as an optional extra when you bought your car new. Atleast for older cars like E32, E34 and E36. Sadly my E34 has open diff :(
that’s why I said that only 10% locking diff would be a compromise but something, just in some sliperry situations like the one I described
The reasons are a lot: if you have an open diff you can push hard on the gas and the wheels aren’t going to spin, then the tyres will have less deterioration, the drive will be smoother… Then if you need to drive on snow your car will probably have a traction control system (which will give you enough grip), some safety systems (which will guarantee you even more grip) and snow tyres then your drive will probably be safe. Then if you have a 10% locked diff you will probably not have enough torque to move the car
I don’t get your point.
Nowadays almost every car comes out of the manufactor with traction control which on low speed acts by appling the brake to the spinning wheel, which will never help by launching lets say in snow. Also lots of people just turn it off, because it just doesnt help even a bit.
Cost.
It’s cheaper, the germans can’t afford it. While almost every Japanese car has LSD.
Cost, packaging, and why does a Camry need a LSD. It’ll never go performance driving and the most hooning it’ll encounter is at a rental fleet.