If you want to go off-roading, one of the ways you prepare your vehicle is by ensuring that as much power produced by the engine as possible reaches the tires. The differential is responsible for this, and there are different types depending on the type of performance you want.
What is a Differential?
Understanding what a differential is will be crucial to understanding the different types you can have in a vehicle. A differential takes power from the engine through a rotating shaft and transfers it to the wheels. Different differentials connect the wheels and the vehicle differently, meaning that they transfer power to the wheels differently. These differences also allow the car to perform better in off-roading versus highway settings, for example.
Below we will discuss three types of differentials that affect your offloading capabilities and performance.
Open Differential
An open differential allows for the transfer of different amounts of power to the wheels. The wheels end up spinning at different speeds which can be incredibly advantageous for vehicles that turn a lot of corners. You want this difference in rotational speed because the wheels on the inside cover a small distance and thus spin slower than the ones on the outside of the curve which have to travel further and faster. The wheel getting less traction gets more power to help it keep up with the one that has higher traction by avoiding slipping. An open differential is great for normal on-road driving but provides significant disadvantages when off-roading.
Locking Differential
A locking differential is sometimes known as a welded differential. It connects the wheels so that they always spin at the same speed. This is regardless of whether you are traveling on a straight road, off-roading or a highway.
You do lose some traction when cornering, but you have a lot of power when off-roading. This is actually a well-known benefit of a locking differential. The wheels will keep spinning regardless of how much traction they do or do not have. This means that the car will always have at least half the power of the engine on the ground regardless of the traction either wheel has.
In situations where one wheel might get stuck or be in the air so that it loses all traction, a locking differential comes in very handy.
Limited-slip Differential
A limited-slip differential gives you the benefits of open and locking differentials. It performs as an open differential in normal driving conditions but acts as a locking differential if one wheel loses traction.
A limited-slip differential is for those who mostly drive on normal streets but venture out to the open wilderness once in a while. Having a rear limited-slip differential can help in these situations, but more serious situations require a locking differential.
These are the more common types of differentials that affect off-roading performance. You will also find torque-vectoring differentials in some Lexus and BMW vehicles. Either way, your differential will affect your off-roading, and you might also want to think about how different differential combinations in the front and rear do so, too.