Peter Moreton <peter@RIL.ORG.UK> wrote:
> I wrote:
> > Positraction is just another name for a limited-slip differential, which
> > actually makes it easier to spin out on snow and ice if the driver fails
> > to limit the engine power. Perhaps you mean some sort of active traction
> > control system, which either limits engine output or selectively applies
> > brakes (or both) when slippage is detected.
>
> An LSD ensures that if one wheel spins, the other wheel still receives
> some torque, hopefully keeping you going. With a non-LSD diff, once a
> wheel starts to spin, you loose all power into the spinning wheel.
> Therefore, I don't see how an LSD/Positraction is a bad thing in snow?

A spinning wheel and a spinning car are two different things.

Yes, positraction can provide the capability to accelerate if one wheel is
slipping -- which is not necessarily a good thing if you're already moving.

If you're in a situation with limited traction on all wheels (much more
common), positraction gives you the ability to break loose a wheel that
up to that point had traction -- especially lateral traction, as opposed
to forward traction. In a turn, you'll spin out faster than you can react.

I was responding to Herbert Graf's implication that positraction somehow
solved all problems with bad drivers who "floor it" in low-traction
situations. All of these technologies are merely tools that still require
a certain amount of training and practice to use correctly.

-- Dave Tweed

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