Controllability and Stability of Various Types of Four Wheel Drive Cars

For safety, high performance, and easy to drive reasons, various types of four wheel drive (4WD) systems, which utilize a center differential or viscous coupling unit between the front and the rear axles, have been introduced into passenger cars in recent years.

This paper describes the vehicle behaviour of various types of 4WD passenger cars under the condition of acceleration, deceleration, cornering, and braking, in addition to the vehicle response to disturbance from the road surface, by both theoretical and experimental approaches.