4 Wheel Steering

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Jamesstott

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Kind of a newb on this topic, everyone says that 4 wheel steering is limited, as in the back wheels are limited to move by only few degrees, would it be possible to make them turn just as much as the front wheels if you wanted? cheers for any replies
 
Depends on the car and the system (active or passive) but none of them move the rear wheels much. A couple of degrees is the most you'll get.

Here's a good example of the Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO's 4WS system.
 
Wouldn't be very useful for a road car.

I know some types of special purpose cars (monster trucks, ORV, etc) do have a full functioning steering rack in the rear.

GM tried 4 wheel steering on pickups to improve it's turning circle, the maximum the rear wheels were turned was 12 degrees. It was a pretty expensive option, I think I've only seen one or two on the road.

Quadrasteer61.jpg
 
I was looking into designing a vehicle with a rigid fix trailer (university, don't ask haha), so my thought would be to give 4 wheel steering for the front four wheels as in the car, problem is i need the back wheels of the car to turn up to 20 degrees when attached, when it is not attached it would only be 2 wheel steering, i realize how stupid this actually sounds but i need to get it done lol
 
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I guess it wouldn't hurt to Google the vehicles above and see if you can get schematics and work from that. The only other example I can think of is some Skylines, but I forget which exact generation.
 
Preludes had 4WS available and I think maybe the 300ZX.

Most do the opposite of what you're expecting. They steer into the turn the same direction as the fronts, adding "stability" (understeer). At very low speeds some of them do steer opposite the fronts to turn more tightly.
 
The Jeep Hurricane concept had rear wheels that could turn as much (and I do mean AS MUCH) as the front wheels. Because of this and 4WD it could do a completely stationary 360.
 
The new Lexus GS350 F-Sport offers 4WS as well.... only turns around 2-3 degrees I think but makes a big difference when driving.
 
The AWS on the Prelude was great when you were on the highway, as the wheels basically turned in the same direction as the front at high speeds, so lane changes felt smoother.

Although, as someone who was on this forum a long time ago can agree with, the AWS threw you around tight corners and sometimes into poles in wet weather.
 
2001 GMC Sierra Denali*1500 was a nice one my friend's brother bought one when it came out... And it was pretty cool to see all 4 wheels turning.. That was the first time i saw it on a normal vehicle... But if i remember correctly it was around $43,000 for the truck
 
Eric.
Preludes had 4WS available and I think maybe the 300ZX.
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The second and fourth generation Preludes did, the others did not. My Grandfather almost bought it on his '89 Si, but decided against it because he was worried about the reliability of the units. I assume that was the reason why so many decided against it. Still, C/D called it one of the best-handling cars you could buy at the time, and this was an era chock full of some pretty serious sports cars.

It seems like these days its becoming more common. I believe it is standard fare on a couple of the Infiniti models these days, in addition to the Lexxi and other models that people have mentioned.
 
Also citroen zx had floating rear subframe same as rear steer weird many skylines preludes had it but not all mitsi gallant which won rac rally had it my old reno 5 had it but that was worn out bushes lol handeled better mind 4ws prob loads of cars .
 
thedrive1967
Also citroen zx had floating rear subframe same as rear steer weird many skylines preludes had it but not all mitsi gallant which won rac rally had it my old reno 5 had it but that was worn out bushes lol handeled better mind 4ws prob loads of cars .
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Dude, punctuation, none of that makes sense.
 
MildAshers
Dude, punctuation, none of that makes sense.
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Haha, I think he means that French cars with 4ws drive weird and crash into bushes. And while Skylines and Preludes had 4ws, Gallants won rallies. Or maybe he meant he can handle shrubbery better than a car with 4ws. Who knows?
 
4th-gen Accords had a 4WS option in some countries as well. A UK owner touched on some of the mechanical differences with his '91 2.2i 4WS here.

A Prelude video:



I could see 4WS being useful to an offroader, but more of an annoyance for a road car.
 

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