Automotive supplier ZF has created a new torque vectoring rear axle drive system that has been designed to distribute drive torque individually between a car's rear wheels. This is said to improve agility and stabilize the vehicle, while also providing better handling in critical situations.

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When driving in a straight line, the torque vectoring rear axle acts like an ordinary transmission with an open differential, with drive being distributed equally among both sides of the drive-shaft. The torque is only distributed individually to either wheel during cornering, where it’s controlled by an electromechanically actuated multi-disk brake of the superimposed axle drive.

The new system is planned for volume application in future BMW vehicles and will be available for both AWD and RWD models. However, there’s no word on which new models the intelligent torque distribution system will debut in.