Quote Originally Posted by newpaddy3 View Post
I was of the belief that it was due to inertia
An open differential will apply 50/50 torque. If one side has a greater rotational mass then indeed the tyre will see less of the torque.

Unfortunately for such an argument, the radius of the driveshaft is about 0.5cm so the moment of inertia would be microscopic relative to the wheel and tyre. Then consider that we are only interested in the DIFFERENCE between the moments of inertia of the two driveshafts. I doubt such a difference would consume even a millionth of the mechanical energy.