Copyright © 1997 by Eliot Lim.
This article may be distributed freely, provided
it is distributed in its entirety.
Third major revision: March 2 1997
This article is also available in russian at:
http://auto.msk.ru/rus/auto/awd.htm
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The automotive media shares a lot of the responsibility for the
confusion. Factual errors are common, so is the careless use of
the various terms interchangebly.
For this article I shall be using the terms loosely and will be
more specific where necessary.
A permanently engaged four wheel drive system needs to have three
differentials to enable it to apply power to four wheels and be able
to turn without resistance: The front, rear and center diffs. (diff =
short for differential) This is because the
distance traveled by the turning front wheels is not the same as the
distance traveled by the non articulating rear wheels.
Power leaving the gearbox first goes to the center diff, which then
splits it via the driveshafts to the front and rear diffs. Manually
engaging part time four wheel drive systems in most cases do not have
a center diff, so they cannot be used in the dry. When four wheel
drive is engaged in such a system, the front and rear axles are locked
together and will rotate at exactly the same speeds. The difference
in front and rear wheel speeds have to be scrubbed off by the tires.
Audi was the first manufacturer to successfully sell high-performance,
permanent four wheel drive with the
quattro,
released in Europe in 1981 and in the
US in 1983. (The car goes by the more popular name
turbo quattro
coupe in the US
and more recently, the Ur Quattro around the world). The cars
were
very successful in rallying
, winning several world titles and it
set the automotive world ablaze because four wheel drive was never previously
associated with ultra high performance. Even though the 1966 Jensen
FF was the first vehicle to have full time four wheel drive (and also anti lock
brakes) the car was a commercial failure and it was left to Audi to break
through the public consciousness and go into the history books for
launching the full time four wheel drive revolution.
During the 1980s Audi decided to spin off four wheel drive and the
quattro name to its entire range of cars. The first generation
quattros had simple locks for the center and rear diffs, which locked
one or both of them solid (no speed difference) to dig one out of deep
trouble. When the center diff was locked, it meant that one had to
lose grip on one rear and one
front wheel to become immobile. When both the center and rear diffs
were locked, one had to lose both rear wheels and
one front wheel to get stuck. The locks on these
Audis were manually engaged and were quite cumbersome since the driver
already had to worry about shifting and steering in addition to this.
Audi found that many drivers forgot to disengage the locks once they
got going again.
Thus development went in the direction of automatically locking
differentials. First on the scene was the
viscous coupling
(VC for short) which used a silicone liquid in a
casing designed so
that minor speed differences were allowed between the two axles but
increased slip would lead to a rapid increase in the viscosity of the
fluid which would then lock up the coupling. The viscous coupling was
used in two radically different ways:
Some manufacturers used regular differentials in conjunction with the
VC where the VC functioned as a
diff lock
that acted automatically
when conditions needed it. The current Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX and
current manual transmission all wheel drive Subarus use this scheme. The
departed BMW 325ix and Toyota Celica turbo all-trac also used it.
Audi, during the development of the original quattro, also played with
VCs and came up with a completely different way of using a VC. In
this implementation, the VC is used as the center
diff, resulting in a part-time, automatically engaging four wheel
drive system. In this implementation, the car is basically front
wheel drive, with the rear wheels coasting along and minor speed
differences absorbed by the VC when the vehicle was turning. When
front wheelspin occurred, the speed difference would increase to the
point where the VC with its viscous liquid churning would start
transferring some of the torque from the front to the rear wheels and
thus the vehicle would become four wheel drive. Note the difference
between this system and the former. The latter is auto-engaging part
time four wheel drive, while the former is full-time auto-diff-locking
four wheel drive.
The part time automatically engaging system was never put into
production by Audi but was instead spun off to VW, which did put it to
market as the syncro system. The simplicity of this
implementation has drawn a very wide range of manufacturers to use it
as well, from all the minivan implementations, many of the newer SUVs
to exotics like the current Porsche 911 turbo and Carrera 4 and the
Lamborghini Diablo VT (these have permanent drive on the rear wheels,
of course). Volvo's latest all wheel drive offerings also use this
scheme, with an unusual cocktail of limited slip devices thrown in,
namely a traction control system at the front and a regular mechanical
limited diff in the rear.
Next came the
torsen
(stands for TORque SENsing) differential,
which was embraced by Audi in its second generation quattro system.
Audi was approached by FF development (owners of the VC patent) during
development of the original quattro back in the late 1970's but the VC
was rejected for reasons that will become clear shortly. The torsen
diff was invented by an American company (Gleason corp.) and had all
the advantages of the VC and none of its disadvantages. It is a fully
mechanical device of worm gears and a worm wheel whose workings are
quite difficult to describe with words and probably beyond the scope
of this article. However, the torsen's characteristics is the issue
that is of interest here. The torsen differential will split torque
50:50 in a no-slip condition. However, when one axle slips, the
torsen diff will send more torque to the axle with
more grip, in other words, it works in an exactly
opposite way to a conventional diff. Torque splits of up to 80:20 are
available, depending on the pitch of the worm gears. And since it is
a completely mechanical device, the locking action is instantaneous
and progressive as opposed to the VC, which has a very slight lag for
the viscous fluid to "catch up". The torsen diff is thus more
sensitive to slip than the VC. Its locking action is also more
progressive. (Porsche also rejected the VC in the 964 Carrera 4
because they felt that the VC was too difficult to control and that it
had exponential rather than linear locking characteristics.)
More importantly, the torsen does not lock or inhibit speed differences
under braking, thus allowing all 4 wheels to rotate independently at
their own speeds when no power is applied. The torsen diff only
locks in a power application situation while the VC locks both
during acceleration and braking. The torsen has a torque sensing
characteristic while the VC has a rotational sensing characteristic.
The VC's rotational sensing characteristic initially caused lots of
problems for the engineers. Anti lock braking systems rely almost
entirely on speed differences between the 4 wheels to detect a locking
wheel. Thus, when the transmission tries to force 4 wheels to rotate
at the same speed, it creates serious difficulties for the ABS system.
The engineers had to use a variety of hacks to get around this
problem. Mitsubishi delayed ABS for a while for its first generation
GSX, then finally decided to make ABS and rear VC limited slip
mutually exclusive options. The VW syncro system simply disconnected
four wheel drive the moment the brake pedal was stepped on via a
secondary clutch. Most other vehicles using this implementation of VC
have a very similar disengage feature. The very successful World
Rally Championship Lancia Delta Integrale even went as far as to apply
a little bit of power (via the engine computer) to reduce the drag of
the VC when the brakes were applied! Some very crude systems used
a overrun device that is conceptually similar to the bicycle crank.
This meant that while four wheel drive was disengaged during braking
it was also inoperative when reverse was engaged!
The easiest hack was to reduce the effective viscosity of the fluid in
the coupling, so that the drag was reduced. This also meant that the
VC's locking effectiveness was reduced, which is probably quite
acceptable for a vehicle intended primarily for paved roads. The VC's
attraction is its simplicity and cheapness, not its sophistication.
In the late 1980s Porsche and Mercedes were treading slowly and came
out with all wheel drive vehicles of unparalleled complexity.
Mercedes' 4Matic system used the ABS sensors to determine wheelspin.
In the dry, the Benz was a rear wheel drive car. When the wheel
sensors determined that the rear wheels were spinning, a signal was
sent to the computer to start engaging a hydraulically actuated multi
plate clutch to send power to the front wheels. Clutch engagement was
progressively altered by the computer. When the computer determined
that even more traction was needed, a second clutch would start
locking the rear diff. When the brake pedal was pushed, both clutches
disengaged instantly to allow ABS to work without interference.
The Mercedes 4Matic was a part time, automatically engaging four wheel
drive system. The reason given by Mercedes why they went to great
pains to design a part-time four wheel drive was that they did not
want to upset their loyal clientele with a full-time four wheel drive,
which because of the driven front wheels, would "change the
traditional feel of a Mercedes". One could also speculate that they
were too proud to use anything less complicated than Audi, which in
the marketplace is considered "lower". In practice, the 4Matic system
worked no better and no worse than the other crop of full-time four
wheel drives, but its cost and complexity made it look bad. This
original 4Matic system has been ditched and the latest 4WD Mercedes is
now a full time system, including the system to be used in the "M"
class SUV. The Nissan Skyline GTR uses a system that is conceptually
similar to the original 4Matic.
Porsche used a similar system of locking clutches (though they are
implemented quite differently) as the Mercedes in the limited
production, state of the art 959, but the center diff (which is
actually just a hydraulic clutch) was engaged at all times except when
parking so that the steering would be easier to turn. Torque split in
the 959 varied with load and conditions. (via the progressive locking
of the clutch). Unlike all other implementations of all wheel drive,
the 959's torque split varied under no slip conditions. i.e. In
every other all wheel drive system, the split is fixed
until slip occurred, after which the various limited
slip devices would begin to alter the split. In the 959, the all
wheel drive computer is fed information from many sources, including
the throttle position, steering angle, g force accelerometers and even
the turbo boost gauge. In a straight line, under maximum
acceleration, the system will send up to 80% of the power (from a
normal 40 front/60 rear split) to the rear wheels, even if all 4
wheels are turning at exactly the same speed. This was by far the
most complex and sophisticated all wheel drive system ever built.
The 959 was followed by the 964 which was first introduced in 1989 as
the 911 Carerra 4. Porsche claimed that this was an evolution of the
system used in the 959 and is even more advanced. However, this was a
fixed split system like all the others, with computer controlled
clutches acting as limited slip devices. The 964's trump card,
however was that the speed sensors and accelerometers were used with
the computer controlled locking rear differential to cure the 911's
natural tendency to oversteer if the throttle was suddenly lifted off
in a turn. The rear diff would start locking when the computer
detected that oversteer was imminent. A locked rear diff would induce
understeer, which in turn countered the oversteer. Through the use of
all wheel drive and smart differentials, Porsche was able to tame a
formerly unruly beast into a much more docile animal. This, according
to their chief engineer was their main reason for implementing all
wheel drive in the 911, as the 911 with its rear biased weight
distribution is not in a real need of extra traction.
In 1993 Porsche updated the 911 with a brand new rear suspension.
Even the rear wheel drive version was tamed and thus the justification
of using a highly complex computer controlled all wheel drive system
disappeared. The four wheel drive version of this 911 (alias the
993), has a much simpler, lighter and cheaper part time automatically
engaging VC system such as those found in the Golf syncro and most
minivans. However, the smart rear differential that fought the deadly
oversteer was retained to quell any remaining tendency to oversteer.
Subaru deserves special mention here because in the automatic version
of the Legacy and Impreza (including the Outback variants), it uses a
computer controlled
system much like those found in the Mercedes 4Matic, automatic
Audi A8/V8 and the earlier Porsches. That much sophistication in a
sub $30K car is truly impressive and by all accounts it works very
well too.
The automatic version of the Audi V8 (and A8) also used a computer
controlled clutch to lock the center differential, in a manner similar
to the systems just described. The automatic transmission supplied a
ready source of hydraulic pressure to lock a pack of clutches, so it
was tapped. This system represented Audi's first successful mating of
automatic transmission with quattro all wheel drive.
Anti-lock braking systems have speed sensors on two to four wheels to
detect differences in speed between wheels so that the computer could
intervene and "pump" the brake on the locking wheel. By a few simple
extensions to the system, it could be made to brake a spinning wheel,
thus effectively transferring power to the one with grip. More
sophisticated systems would reduce engine power to further slow the
wheelspin, but generally speaking, traction control is merely an
optimization of two wheel drive using ABS technology.
Current versions of
Audi quattros (dubbed quattro IV) use all wheel drive in
conjunction with 4 wheel traction control. Under no slip conditions,
power is delivered 50-50 to the front and rear via a center torsen
differential, which would take care of limiting slip between the
axles. The traction control system would take care of limiting slip
between each wheel of a given axle. Thus for the first time, the
quattros have to lose traction on all 4 wheels before they become
immobile.
The prior generation of quattros had center torsen differentials
(except A8/V8) and manually lockable rear diffs which locked it solid.
This featured automatic unlock at speeds exceeding 15 mph to aid the
forgetful driver. The V8 quattro had a torsen diff in the rear and
either a computer controlled clutch in the center (for automatic
transmission) or a torsen (manual transmission).
For the part time VC systems this ratio is usually quoted as 95%
front, 5% rear. Some have argued that the 5% constant rear drive
would qualify it to be considered a full time system. Regardless of
the merits of this argument, the fact remains that the main reason why
there is a dribble of power going to the rear wheels is because a
little "slip" is deliberately engineered into the driveline to keep
the VC tight, so that when the front wheels spin there is little or no
lag before the rear wheels start driving. The VC in this
implementation always thinks that the front is slipping slightly
relative to the rear even if all four wheels are running at exactly
the same speed. Slightly different final drive ratios are used to
achieve this.
The conventional idea of slip suggests a scenario where one or more
wheels are spinning when the vehicle is operated under slippery
conditions. There is however an additional concept of slip to
consider. Recall that the front wheels travel a
greater distance compared to the rears in a turn. Thus to a
limited slip device sitting on the center differential, the front axle
is "slipping" relative to the rear. The limited slip action thus
directs more power to the rear in a turn. For nose heavy vehicles
such as Audis, this effect reduces the amount of driving the front
tires need to do, thus allowing them to be used for increased turning
power. This small dynamic optimization in torque distribution allowed
Audi to greatly reduce the terminal understeer experienced in the
first generation cars.
The Mercedes ML 320 SUV has a rear biased torque distribution and no
limited slip capability on the center differential. This is not as
disadvantageous as it may seem. With four wheel traction control, it
means that if one end loses grip completely, the system would transfer
power to the other end. Theoretically speaking, if one were to jack
up the rear end of the vehicle off the ground, the system could
potentially transfer 100% of the power to the front, making it a front
wheel drive vehicle, and vice versa. In reality since traction
control merely pumps the brakes rather than lock the spinning wheels
completely, less than 100% of power can be transferred to the front.
But the point to remember is that quoted torque splits like 37/63
only apply when there is no slip. Given the extreme
example above of one axle being jacked up off the ground, a AWD system
with any type of limited slip devices can theoretically go from its
nominal split of say 50/50 (or whatever it may be) to 0/100 or 100/0
depending on how solidly the center limited slip device or 4 wheel
traction control system locks. Mercedes does not quote the percentage
locking factor on its traction control system, so one cannot really
tell what its true variations of torque splits are under extreme
conditions.
Part time manually engaging systems with no center differential as
well as early full time systems such as the first generation quattros
with manual locks can have the variation of going between 100/0
front/rear and 0/100. These extreme variations also mean that no
speed differences will be allowed between axles, which is why most
modern systems never achieve 100% transfer of power. A 80% locking
ratio would allow the speed differences of turning wheels to occur
without interference.
A system that can lock the center diff solid would also mean that each
axle will have to be engineered to be able to handle 100% of the
engine's output, when in reality it would be loaded no more than 50%
most of the time. This would lead to a virtually indestructible
system with a life that would far exceed the rest of the car. The
downside is that the doubling of rotational masses would make the car
sluggish when moving off the line, affecting automatic transmissions
variants the worst because these tend to have a higher (numerically
lower) 1st gear.
Those implementations that rely on ABS wheel sensors to lock
differentials would be as likely to suffer from problems as any car
with anti lock brakes. i.e. no greater than average.
In fact, many of the suspicions of all wheel drive come from the world
of manually engaging part time systems where attempts were made to
make four wheel drive engagement less cumbersome, with features such
as automatically locking hubs and/or "shift on the fly four wheel
drive". An all wheel drive system is always engaged and is actually
simpler because it eliminates the need of these convenience "features"
and their associated parts, which are the usual source of problems.
Accusations that four wheel drive wastes a lot of gas is only
applicable to part time manually engaging systems. A full time system
with a center diff has none of the tire scrubbing waste of the former.
Furthermore, research by Audi showed that as tractive loads built up,
the tire losses of two wheel drive exceeded the losses caused by the
extra weight and inertia of a full time four wheel drive system. Tire
losses were found to rise disproportionately with load. Consider the
extreme case of the "burnout" or wheelspin scenario, where 100% of the
tractive energy is converted to burning rubber rather than propelling
the vehicle.
It does not take much to see that this is a very suboptimal
implementation compared to all wheel drive systems, which are on the
other extreme of being able to dynamically alter the division of power
to each axle depending on which end is sliding. The behavior of a
full time or part time auto engaging system is completely predictable
and is therefore optimizable to dramatic effect.
Average consumers also tend to dismiss the need for good handling.
The line "I am not going to race this vehicle" is repeated often
enough. However, even if we were to judge vehicles solely as
appliances, good handling does enter the equation. A good handling
vehicle, such as the many excellent all wheel drive examples
mentioned, will hide the difficulty of negotiating a turn, making it
seem more effortless. The average driver would then feel more
comfortable and confident and will therefore shed less speed entering
a curve, leading to less momentum being lost, which in turn means that
the vehicle does not have to consume energy reaccelerating back to its
original speed. In other words, it would be a more energy efficient
appliance. This point is hardly ever raised when discussing the
appliance value of vehicles.
It is unfortunate that old fashioned part time, manually engaging
systems are still being sold on many SUVs today with high prices that
are a match for their mediocrity. There is no reason, from a
conceptual point of view that these vehicles should not have an all
wheel drive system. It is this author's opinion that consumer
ignorance and a uncritical media are the main reasons for the slow progress in the truck/SUV market.
It is false that a permanently engaged system is incapable of handling
the rigors of off roading as well as the antiquated part time system.
The Range Rover has been on the market since 1976 and it has had a
full time system with a center differential since the very first one
rolled off the production line. Likewise, the ultimate off roader,
the Hummer uses a permanently
engaged system with torsen differentials rather than solidly
locked axles and part time manual engagement. Both of these vehicles
are held in the highest regard with respect to their off roading
capabilities.
With the success of sport utility vehicles the market for high
performance all wheel drive vehicles will remain tiny. One could only
hope that competition among the makers will eventually force all the
SUV makers to bring their technology up to all wheel drive levels.
This is starting to happen but at a very slow pace.
VW recently redesigned the Passat and based it on Audi A4 mechanicals.
Since it was using a stretched version of the A4's floorpan, it made
economic sense to use Audi's quattro system for the all wheel drive
model, rather than to create a unique all wheel drive floorplan using
the syncro system. Thus the "syncro" moniker becomes merely a generic
term to distinguish an all wheel drive VW from a two wheel drive
variant. This is not the first time that VW has used Audi quattro
mechanicals. In the mid 1980's, Americans could buy the VW Quantum
Syncro, which not only used the Audi 4000CS quattro's floorpan, but
also the trademark inline 5 cylinder engine, mounted longitudinally
ahead of the front axle.
To make matters worse, Audi has decided to market a rebadged VW Golf
syncro as the Audi A3 quattro. This car, despite the name, uses the
viscous coupling based, part time, automatically enganging four wheel
drive system. The quattro name, which used to have special
significance is now being diluted by marketing expediency.
Considerable confusion has arisen from the naming corruption committed
by the two companies.
In yet another twist, Subaru has for many years been quietly offering
radically different AWD systems in the same car, depending on the
transmission choice. The manual transmission Legacies and Imprezas
use a full time system that is split 50-50 with viscous couplings for
limiting slip. In the automatic transmission versions, however, the system is a part
time, computer controlled, automatically engaging system in some
models and a full time uneven torque split with computer controlled
locking in other models.
Mitsubishi has quietly continued to offer its four wheel drive GSX,
now with rear limited slip and ABS together in the same package, even
though its relatively low sales figures mean that it is far from a
profitable model. Advances in ABS technology mean that the
coexistence with VC systems is far less troubling than before.
Porsches, for example have different ABS specifications depending on
whether the model is four wheel drive or two wheel drive.
Introduction to All Wheel Drive systems
By Eliot Lim
eliot@cybertex.com
Last update: December 7 1997
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