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Cars
All-wheel drive gains sales traction
By Royal Ford, Globe Staff | November 7, 2004
It was once the domain of pickup trucks and a vehicle -- Jeep -- whose name became the generic term for off-road slogging. But now, all-wheel-drive technology, far more subtle and balanced in its distribution of power, is showing up in cars in which you might not expect to find it: luxury and midsize sedans, high-performance cars, and affordable compacts.
Early four-wheel-drive systems were not practical for everyday use because, locked in, wheels on the outside of a turn had to rotate faster than those on the inside -- good in slow crawling, but inviting mechanical disaster on fast, dry pavement.
The modern all-wheel-drive system, however, fixes that. Far less mechanical, it uses computer sensors to adjust wheel rotation by braking even individual wheels that it senses are spinning faster than others. Further, it can send power to wheels that have grip, even as it senses others spinning on slippery surfaces.
This would mean that if you suddenly hit snow or ice on the way to your ski house, some wheels would spin, perhaps out of control -- were it not for gentle, micro-second braking. And it means power is transmitted to tires still touching dry pavement, to help right the ship.
Besides being good in snow, all-wheel drive makes the same adjustments on wet surfaces or even, under stress, on dry surfaces when the driver makes a mistake.
This means that if the system senses a wheel slipping, and leading to a course different from what the driver intends it brakes that wheel, even as it gives power to another wheel to counter-balance the slippage. It can do this side-to-side or wheel-to-wheel.
It is an obvious safety option, even though, because of its recent spread into the mainstream auto market, no concrete studies have appeared. The major criticism of all-wheel drive thus far is that it makes drivers overconfident.
If you listen to New Englanders -- who drive in some of the world's most unpredictable conditions -- their verdict is clear.
From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, all-wheel drive was the sole domain of Subaru and Audi. Today, 15 percent of all Subarus sold in the United States are sold in New England. One in 10 cars sold in Vermont is a Subaru.
Who would have thought, 10 years ago, that all-wheel drive would be associated with luxurious sedans from Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Cadillac, Lincoln, Jaguar, Lexus, Acura, or Ford? Yet now, nearly 30 cars are available with all-wheel drive.
And Jennifer Cortez, an Audi spokeswoman, says when the company's sales plunged in the early 1990s, "New England kept us on the map," because the brand was associated with safe winter driving.
Other companies took notice.
First came Mercedes-Benz, whose officials, in 2001, told the Globe that they had discovered folks in New England who could afford a Mercedes were opting for Subarus because of all-wheel drive.
Mercedes took that to heart, offering in 2003 all-wheel drive as an option virtually throughout its lineup.
It worked. Jim Resnick, a spokesman for Mercedes-Benz USA, says that in New England, S-Class purchasers opt for all-wheel drive 76 percent of the time; for E-Class sedan, it's 67 percent; E-Class wagon, 92 percent; C-Class sedan, 78 percent; and C-Class wagon, 85 percent.
That means that nearly 80 percent of Mercedes-Benz cars sold in New England are all-wheel drive.
The costs for the Mercedes all-wheel drive option (overall figures run from $1,000-$3,000) are between $1,900 and $2,400, except in the flagship S-Class, where it is free.
"It's the price of doing business in the segment," said Resnick.
Now, Cadillac is saying that "Four is Greater than Two" as it attempts to sell its edgy new fleet as both luxurious and high-performance.
It is a claim that European drivers have long bought.
"Europeans absolutely associate all-wheel drive with performance," said Audi's Cortez, adding that rallying, which features all-wheel drive vehicles racing in off-road conditions, illustrated its high-speed agility to the European audience.
And in the '80s, when Audi stood almost alone in some racing venues with all-wheel drive, its cars were banned for having "an unfair advantage."
All-wheel drive is a different animal from the four-wheel drive we experienced in Jeeps, pickup trucks, and early SUVs. While the four-wheel drive vehicles had low-range transfer cases and wheels that marched in broad-axle lockstep, all-wheel drive is a far more flexible technology.
Using electronics, viscous couplers, and computer sensors, all-wheel drive sends torque fore and aft and side to side, depending on wheel spin, steering input, and throttle input, among other variables. In addition, today's all-wheel drive is far lighter and less mechanical than past systems.
Resnick, of Mercedes-Benz, points out that in 1994, when a 4-Matic Mercedes was introduced, the weight increase for the system was 800 pounds. Today's S-Class comes with an AWD setup that adds only 190 lbs.
Now, Dodge and Chrysler -- owned by Daimler-Chrysler, which owns Mercedes -- are stepping forward with the rest of America's Big Three to produce all-wheel-drive sedans and wagons.
Chrysler's wildly popular 300 series and the Dodge Magnum station wagon offer all-wheel drive as an option.
"It's totally transparent; they just jump in and drive it like any other car," John Sloan, Chrysler's director of car marketing, said of those who opt for AWD.
Among the all-wheel drive offerings, from ultra-pricey to very affordable, are (or coming soon) the Bentley Continental GT, Dodge Magnum, Ford Five Hundred, Mercury Montego, Lincoln Zephyr, Jaguar X-Type, Infiniti G35, Toyota Matrix, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Subaru WRX sti, six Volvos, Volkswagen Passat, Phaeton, and R32, many Mercedes models, and Suzuki's Aerio. There are even Porsches with all-wheel drive, and Acura has just launched an all-wheel-drive RL.
That is because as SUV drivers look for options but don't want to give up space and utility, "now you can get sedans and station wagons with all-wheel drive, and that's pretty much all you need," said John Di Pietro, a road test editor at Edmunds.com, which monitors the auto industry.
Yet Subaru, the company that first sold all-wheel drive in numbers, is now having to make a different pitch -- for the 300 horsepower Subaru.
"We have to move beyond that and make them buy it for other reasons," said Dominick Infante, manager for product public relations, referring to Subaru's new blend of Yankee utility and hot-rod power.
Royal Ford can be reached at ford@globe.com .
© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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