What happened to AWS (All Wheel Steer). Back in the 1990s Honda had few models which had AWS. When you steered the back wheel steered as well. At higher speed the rear wheel steered in opposite direction to make it easir to round corners. At lower speed the rear wheel steered in same direction to make it easir to park.
Where is this techonolgy now? Or was it found to be high maintenance in the later years
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Wrong way round I think? The rears would turn the opposite way at low speed to improve the turning circle, and the same way at higher speeds to assist lane changing? But I find my memory not as reliable lately, I'll have to do a bit of research later.
I suspect it was because it was not something buyers were particularly interested in, and was also costly to manufacture and fix/maintain.
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I thought MB's new TaxiVan for the London area had AWS - to meet the capital's requirement for a 25ft turning circle.
It's not something I want on a car - despite my primera's awful turning circle.
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"It's not something I want on a car - despite my primera's awful turning circle."
Why?
We had two Honda Accord 4WDs and they were wonderful cars. Multi-storey car parks were a doddle and fast land changes much safer. The link was mechanical and was very reliable. The later versions on the Prelude were electronic and less successful as far I recall.
I would have it again on the Outback - it would make life so much easier.
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"Why?"
I buy old cars, and don't want the mechanical complexity (and certainly not the electronic version). This type of feature has to work for the car to be road-worthy.
I wouldn't necessarily reject a car because it had AWS - but it wouldn't be one of the features I was looking for.
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what ever happened to Bird Flu too?
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Doesn't one of the new models of Laguna have this now?
Guess it went due to higher cost and upkeep (Rear tracking and steering alignment).
Edited by Honestjohn on 12/07/2008 at 12:15
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Many double decker coaches used in Europe have rear-steering axles, so it's easy to manouever in tight spaces like reversing out in a bus station.
I believe the steering axle locks @ 40 mph to prevent the swerving about whilst changing lanes.
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I recall driving the Honda Prelude 2.3i in the 1990s - a quite remarkable car to drive on country roads in particular whatever the speeds.
The Citroen Xantia Activa offered a very similar driving experience.
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Quite a few cars still have passive RWS, for example the new Saab 93 sports saloons do.
I think with AWS though it was a more sophisticated interactive system which was found to be too complex.
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Quite a few cars still have passive RWS for example the new Saab 93 sports saloons do.
As did the Peugeot 306. Still the best handling mass produced front wheel drive ever made, IMHO.
Cheers
DP
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It's included in the new BMW 7 series coming out next year
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I've got it on my 1997 Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC, its a great system for low speed manoeuvring and on the right fast roads, however as the rear wheels positioning is being decided by a computer there?s always that slight element of doubt as to how the car will respond.* Additionally there?s the extra weight and costs of the ECU, subframes and steering actuator to be considered so its not suprising most manufactures don?t use it. However ignoring cost as a safety device ? think elk test style ? it could prove invaluable for quick lane changes or swerving round stationary objects.
* This is more a criticism of mechanical paranoia on my part than any problems experienced with the system.
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Why do we need AWS for normal cars? Most cars don't have it and it is not a problem for not having this either.
Unnecessary complex mechanism means more things can go wrong and more money is spent to fix.
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Surely this is a subtle feature that most drivers perhaps wouldn't notice. It may have been invented to tweak the handling of cars without making them harsh. I don't think any cars are sold to ordinary punters that will nip sideways into parkers. That would be asking for trouble.
It can't possible be any use, surely, or do anything that a properly designed conventional suspension and steering setup can't do just as well. A bit of wear and dirt and it may not work properly too. I don't mind complexity and I love ingenuity, but I hate this kind of thing.
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