The gearbox and main gear are located in the Audi-100, like almost all front-wheel drive cars, in one common housing. Torque from the engine enters the final drive through one small and one large gear. The differential housing is bolted to the large gear. This crankcase contains four meshed bevel gears, of which two are connected to the drive axle shafts.
As long as the vehicle is moving straight ahead, both front wheels are spinning at the speed of the large final drive gear. The bevel gears of a differential rotating at the same pace, on the contrary, stand. When cornering, the outside wheel must travel a longer distance than the inside wheel. Then the bevel gears start to work: the faster rotation of the outer wheel and its bevel gear acts through both satellite bevel gears on the bevel gear on the inside of the turn, which rotates correspondingly slower. This alignment is necessary, otherwise the car would jerk when cornering with the front wheels slipping. The presence of a differential can also be a disadvantage if one of the drive wheels scrolls on a slippery surface. Then practically no traction is transmitted to the other front wheel, the car does not budge.
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