The rear wheels of a car always face in the direction the car is moving. The front wheels are able to turn left or right and thus can point in the direction the car is moving towards. What I don't understand is how a car can turn with all four wheels rotating (not skidding). That is, how is it possible that the front two tires can face in one direction, the rear two tires in another direction, with the four tires all connected by rigid rods and with all four tires rotating without skidding?
I'm trying to visualize this assuming the car is moving very slowly, but even then the situation just seems impossible to me. Is it in fact that the rear tires are skidding in just very small micro-steps so that we don't actually observe it happening?
Best Answer
The key here is that you think there is no skidding. In fact, there is skidding, although for normal automobiles this is barely noticeable. For normal cars, the rear wheels simply skid a lot less than would the front wheels when a turn would be fully forced.
You can see this also in trucks, where it becomes necessary to have dual or triple-axle steering when doing tight turns while manoeuvring.