Acura to Include Its Super Handling-All Wheel Drive System
Acura will have an interesting 2008 model year following the overhaul of Honda Acura’s crossover lineup for the model year 2007. More gears and utilities are being integrated across their whole lineup despite the lack of new or re-engineered models. The main course for 2008 is what automakers like to call as Super Handling-All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system; this innovative all-wheel drive system will be offered on the RDX, MDX and RL models this year and the coming years as well as in Acura’s anticipated NSX replacement.
Integration of the stability control inertial and driver input sensors are the main features of the Super Handling-All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system. Unlike most stability control systems that depend on adjusting the engine torque and specifically applying and freeing each wheel brakes to apply pressure to the vehicle and attempt to force it to follow the drivers will, the SH-AWD as an alternative utilizes the clutch packs on whichever part of the rear differential to move drive torque to the suitable wheel. This would steady the vehicle with much smaller amount of brake involvement.
The SH-AWD system transmits spare drive torque to the exterior rear wheel to assist the car turn-in when it under steers. Helping the SH-AWD system is the stability control, also known as VSA in the Acura jargon, which can add some brake pressure as required. Merging the two schemes means that the brakes don’t get overused even in hard driving as compared to cars with no SH-AWD system. In the future, more Acura models will be fitted with the same or even updated version of the SH-AWD system specifically the upcoming Acura exotic sports car.
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