Curious

"SHARPSPEED" (SHARPSPEED) 10/17/2016 at 10:55 • Filed to: None

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Pardon me if the following is a stupid question. So thanks to someone else around here I found out about GM’s Quadrasteer. There’s been cars with rear steering but nothing like this as far as I’m aware. After some brief screwing around I learned that this system apparently isn’t good for high speed. But say GM engineers re-worked some things and made it work for higher speeds. Would there be any real benefits to the cars handling? I know newer 911s utilize a rear wheel steering but again, it’s nothing like Quadrasteer. If we got this system on a C7 for example would it be even more ridiculously fast everywhere it goes?

random001 > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 10:59

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Far as I know, all cars that came equipped with this disabled it over a certain speed, like 20 mph. It’s useful for parking, slow speed maneuvering, etc. but yeah, at high speed it doesn’t really do much.

Party-vi > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:00

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Porsche said rear steer cut approx. 15 seconds off the 2014 911 GT3 Nordschleife lap time. There are proven benefits to handling at low and high speeds, but I don’t feel the Corvette would benefit like the GT3 has from the same technology.

Klaus Schmoll > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:03

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On most 4wsteering system the rear wheel turn against the front wheels at low speeds to help maneuverability and like the front wheels at high speeds to help with stability. I have no idea if these trucks switch at some point.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:04

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Quadrasteer had two modes of operation. At low speed, the rear wheels were turned opposite to the fronts to decrease the turning circle and increase maneuverability.

At higher speeds, the wheels would turn in the same direction, so a highway lane change would be a little like crab steering. This was done to increase stability when towing.

Milky > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:06

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#BringBackTheC3

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Klaus Schmoll 10/17/2016 at 11:11

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They do. The crossover point is normally 45MPH but can be selected to 25MPH for towing. This is what the control looks like.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:11

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My auto shop teacher owned one. Needed the shop since shit broke monthly on it, mostly in the rear

AfromanGTO > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:18

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Twin Turbo 300ZX had quadra steer, and one of the first mods to do is to disable it. They make a kit to get rid of it for 300 bucks. One of my friends had a TT 300ZX with close to 450whp, and the quadra steer made it extremely squirrelly.

DynamicWeight > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:30

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Fun fact: When I was an impressionable 14 year old I was given a ride in a WRX around San Francisco. He parallel parked and I was amazed at how maneuverable it was and commented on it. He told me the car had four wheel steering and I believed it for almost a decade. Told everyone about how the WRX has four wheel steering.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:38

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In my mind all full-size trucks should have four-wheel steering. A crew-cab long-bed truck had like, a 50' turning circle. I had to take one home from work with a trailer and discovered I couldn’t turn the unit around in the cul-de-sac behind my house. Then a couple weeks later I took the same truck home and discovered it wasn’t because of the trailer. But the six-point-turn was a hell of a lot less awkward without the trailer...

interstate366, now In The Industry > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 11:42

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The 3rd gen Prelude had a mechanical 4WS system available. It functioned like most of them, parallel at low speeds and opposite at high speeds. It was solid. They switched to electronic with the 4th generation and it was, uh, less solid.

Klaus Schmoll > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 10/17/2016 at 11:58

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Nice!

Nibbles > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 13:01

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I must’ve put tens of thousands of highway miles on these things when they were fresh. It worked flawlessly for the truck and seriously helped keep it planted at speed. A quick course in the system:

The Quadrasteer system was an electronically controlled steering rack placed on the rear differential.

When in regular mode, under 25 mph the rear wheels turned opposite the front - up to 11° at full lock. This created a much tighter turning radius and the rear swung outward a bit when turning - great for not hitting curbs and rashing up that SWEET CHROME. Over 25 mph, they turned complementary, allowing the rear to track in with the front while making lane changes or following the curve of the road. This kept the truck planted and was more competent at high speeds than its non Quadrasteer-equipped counterparts.

When in haul mode the wheels turned complementary to the front at all times. This helped keep trailers more stable during cornering and made reversing a trailer a freakin’ breeze .

If the system were to detect a fault, the rack would center and lock in place, defeating the system and minimizing the chance of catastrophic failure until the fault could be repaired.

Quadrasteer 3, if it hadn’t been aborted, would have really brought it mainstream as the system was lighter and more adaptable. It could’ve been for more than just trucks.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > SHARPSPEED 10/17/2016 at 16:17

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As a former owner of a truck with quadrasteer, it was awesome. I personally never had a single reliability issue with the truck at all and would frequently tow on highways with it at 80+mph. Amazing for tight parking maneuvers and perfectly stable on the highway. Another fun benefit was that the thing was unstoppable in snow. Even if all four tires were spinning you could turn the wheel and often catch some traction somewhere. That truck was the proverbial tits and I would buy one again.

deekster_caddy > SHARPSPEED 11/08/2016 at 23:50

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Take a closer look at the 4WS Preludes. IIRC they did a pretty good job.