Hi Heikenwaelder,
Wow, great question! I'm no expert on
cars, but I did look up some information about Ackerman's principle on
the web; I hope the information I give you is sufficient. Basically
Ackerman's principle is a method of wheel alignment that puts the two
front wheels of a car at slightly different angles. This makes all the
wheels roll around a common point during a turn:
(This picture was taken from
AutoWare.)
As you can see from the picture, the front inner tire has to make a
tighter turn than the front outer tire. If the tires are not aligned
properly so that they turn at different angles, they "fight" each other
during a turn, causing them to wear down faster and the car to go
slower. This is particularly important for race cars, which are
designed to go as fast as possible. However, it is also important for
normal consumer cars because properly aligned tires mean easier
steering, better traction, more efficient fuel use, etc.
There
are a lot of gory details when it comes to aligning everything in a car
so that the wheels will turn properly like this, but like I said, I'm
no car expert. For more information, take a look at the above website.
(published on 10/22/2007)
