Re:Unlocking any car from X brand in most of the world
by lukasm on Monday November 09, 2026 @04:52AM
(#50423392)
That's incorrect. To have "All tires rotate at the same speed." you need 3 locking mechanism, which very few vehicles do.
At this point, the distinction is gone, because car bards marketing.
(AI something lies)
Re:Unlocking any car from X brand in most of the world
by tonyarkles on Monday November 09, 2026 @11:38AM
(#50427962)
I've thought through the "all tires rotate at the same speed" thing before and how it works mechanically (front differential, rear differential, transfer case) and I think in the "no differentials locked" condition the correct statement is: the sum of the front wheel speeds == the sum of the rear wheel speeds. So you can have your front wheels slip and the rear wheels can still get power, or you can have your rear wheels slip and the front wheels still get power, but if you have one wheel in the front and one wheel in the back that are slipping, you're hosed.
Re: the 3 locking mechanisms comment, in typical 4WD configurations the transfer case in 4H/4L is essentially locked (which is what makes the above sum front == sum rear condition). AWD transfer cases can be more flexible there; some essentially act as a 3rd differential and result in all four wheel speeds being essentially decoupled (for better or worse, easier to get stuck) while others actively control the front/back locking with clutches or hydraulics or whatever.
Re:Unlocking any car from X brand in most of the world
by cucumber3732842 on Monday November 09, 2026 @12:44PM
(#50428828)
That's incorrect. To have "All tires rotate at the same speed." you need 3 locking mechanism, which very few vehicles do.
The "locking mechanism" known as traction works pretty well most of the time and has the nice side effect that it only wears an easily replaceable consumable when you break it.
Re:Unlocking any car from X brand in most of the world
by jasomill on Monday November 09, 2026 @11:16AM
(#50427609)
All tires don't rotate at the same speed even in 2WD, otherwise you wouldn't be able to turn without slipping.
Re:Unlocking any car from X brand in most of the world
by InsideOutSanta on Monday November 09, 2026 @12:32PM
(#50428686)
For offroad use, you want all wheels to be locked to each other. Otherwise one wheel without grip will allow all other wheels to remain unmoving. You're right that you don't want this behavior for onroad use, which is why the differentiation (and the differential) exists.
4WD is for off-road use. All tires rotate at the same speed.