Audi improves quattro AWD with new sport differential

Posted Thu Sep 6 2007 2:07 PM by Ralph Hanson

Audi has developed a new performance differential for its quattro AWD cars available from next year onwards. The new system distributes torque from the engine independently between the rear wheels, improving traction beyond that of the current AWD set-up. According to Audi, the tendency of its AWD cars to understeer has been reduced to almost nil thanks to the system analyzing acceleration, yaw angle and speed to identify where traction is lost.

In its basic setting, the torque-sensing centre differential delivers 40% of torque to the front axle and 60% to the rear. The new set-up is able to send part of this torque to the individual rear wheels almost instantly (less than 100 milliseconds) if it detects any loss of traction. The new differential features a multi-plate clutch running in an oil bath, with the clutches activated by an electro-hydraulic actuator.

Drivers will be able to select from three different operating modes, with ‘comfort’ mode focusing on stability, ‘auto’ mode providing a balance between stability and handling, and finally ‘dynamic,’ which offers the best handling but the roughest ride.

Reader Comments

Thu Sep 6 2007 3:06 PM
Foxfire says

Is this the new Quattro Torque Vectoring tech that's been mentioned before?
Thu Sep 6 2007 3:09 PM
admin says

Yeah, BMW is introducing something similar but for RWD only. This is an official Audi announcement about the technology.
Thu Sep 6 2007 9:00 PM
Foxfire says

Are you sure it'll be RWD only? What about xDrive cars?
Fri Sep 7 2007 11:33 AM
biturbo says

Oh, so they admit it finally: "According to Audi, the tendency of its AWD cars to understeer".
I was saying this for a long time and I am not an Audi hater.

RWD is still the best for high perfromance cars.
Fri Sep 7 2007 3:19 PM
Merax says

Hi admin,

this new system is for haldex or torsen type of quattro?

Regards!
Fri Sep 7 2007 3:29 PM
admin says

Firefox, actually we just got word that the new xDrive system on the X6 will work with AWD. However there\'s no word on when it will hit production.

See here for details. http://www.motorauthority.com/news/technical/zf-creates-new-torque-vectoring-rear-axle-for-bmw/
Tue Sep 18 2007 5:31 PM
anon says

Biturbo, I don't know where you got the idea that Audi denies that its front-engine vehicles have been tuned for understeer. Almost all front-engine vehicles exhibit severe understeer - most far worse than Audi. Quattro actually reduces the understeer compared to any FWD vehicle.

RWD is the best for high performance cars on high-traction surfaces.
Quattro is the best for ALL vehicles on less-than-perfect surfaces.
Thu Sep 20 2007 6:23 PM
biturbo says

RWD is the best. AWD proved so far to be too heavy and with too much power drain.
I am not talking about snow, deep water, etc. True high performance cars are not designed to drive in snow.

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