Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong

[ning]

And if it was such a great idea why was it discontinued?

My suspicion: The 4ws Prelude was a "sporty" car in its time - not a sports car - and the demographics of who actually bought the car were substantially tilted towards women. 4ws being a "cool" and "gizmo" kind of feature of dubious use was more of a feature that young men would want... and they weren't buying Preludes as much already. Swap the 4ws for a turbo and they would've bought it...

FWIW, the Honda system was entirely mechanical and not speed-sensitive; at low steering angles it had the rears turn with the fronts (for speed stability), but if steering angles exceeded some point the rears would turn the opposite way. Obviously you don't have such high steering angles at speed without spinning the car. Mazda's 626 turbo of the same vintage also had a 4ws, but it was a more complicated system and speed-sensitive.

Overall, the real-world handling benefits were pretty dubious; parking lot/U-turn behavior is definitely improved, but the cost and added complexity of these systems kept them more on the fringe.

It'll be interesting to see how well it works for the newer trucks.

 

[kenmbz]

Porsche has dabbled in 4 WS for a while and has some cars now that can be ordered.
More detail on it's benefits from them:

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

presskit.porsche.de

 

[WinterDeere]

Insurance companies probably told them that they're already better drivers than men and don't need it.

I've come to the conclusion that, while young men may indeed generate higher insurance costs, that has nothing to do with frequency of accidents. It's just that when a man manages to crash a car, we do it with much more gusto, more often putting people into the hospital.

My wife has hit at least two things per year, for 20 years. Just an hour ago, I found the front spoiler on her car torn and dangling down... no one knows why. A few months ago, she managed to hit the side of the car against the door jamb for the garage.

Based on my very narrow experience, women appear to be somewhere between 100x and 1000x more likely to rub their vehicle up against a curb, another car, a parking barrier, etc. But these things do not generate insurance claims.

 

[California]

I recall when I bought the Subaru Outback in 1999 the brochure described 'cornering assist' where the rear a-arms flexed toward the rear, toeing out the outside tire slightly in a curve while the front wheel drive pulled the nose around.

You can feel this where the surface is uneven, loading then unloading the suspension subtly.

 

[Dftodd]

Who steers the rear wheels? That’s amazing.

I believe by remote control. And would assume by a passenger in the pilot car following the trailer.

 

[Dftodd]

GMC has new p/ups with rear steer. The TV ads make 'em look kinda cool, but what's the point/benefit?

I remember talking to a gal at my girlfriends college about 30 years ago.

Her parents had a GMC 3/4 ton that had rear steer in it.

She said it was super handy when backing up to their horse trailer.

Usually the purpose of rear steer is for a tighter turning radius.

 

[Dftodd]

They were pushing them pretty hard to the equestrian crowd.

I heard about this about 30 years ago. The gal who told me about it, her parents had that feature in their 3/4 Chevy truck.

And ironically enough, they were big into horses and were constantly pulling a horse trailer.

From what she said, it made it super handy when trying to snake a trailer into a tight spot when they were at shows and such.

 

[Dftodd]

Am I the only one who has a problem with this? Say what you will but I want a direct line connection between the steering wheel and the ground.

I've seen them in action. We have a pipe manufacturer in the industrial complex i work out of that makes the large green pipes you see heading out to those large pipeline jobs.

When the trailers set up correctly, they can handle some pretty sharp turns.

But I've also see a couple that had the cables out of sync so once the truck got out on the interstate trailer was tracking a couple feet over to one side.

I've also see the trailers with the remote controlled steer axle.

There's a company that makes wind mill props in the industrial complex.

They are located off a two lane road. They wouldn't be able to make the turn and clear the telephone poles without the rear steer axle.

I've gotten stopped on numerous occasions when they are bringing the props out. They pull them out in 3's. 3 trucks with one prop each on the trailers.

It's pretty impressive seeing them come out. They clear the telephone pole on the corner by a foot or so.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I love simplicity in everything

 

[Jstpssng]

I've seen them in action. We have a pipe manufacturer in the industrial complex i work out of that makes the large green pipes you see heading out to those large pipeline jobs.

When the trailers set up correctly, they can handle some pretty sharp turns.

But I've also see a couple that had the cables out of sync so once the truck got out on the interstate trailer was tracking a couple feet over to one side.

I've also see the trailers with the remote controlled steer axle.

There's a company that makes wind mill props in the industrial complex.

They are located off a two lane road. They wouldn't be able to make the turn and clear the telephone poles without the rear steer axle.

I've gotten stopped on numerous occasions when they are bringing the props out. They pull them out in 3's. 3 trucks with one prop each on the trailers.

It's pretty impressive seeing them come out. They clear the telephone pole on the corner by a foot or so.

You aren't talking about a passenger car though.