Driving in the 4th Dimension

Four-Wheel Drive, as we know it, started around the time that Hitler got some bad advice from his astrologer and decided to see Paris in the spring. In response, we sent an entire generation of males to Europe, along with several million jeeps, so our boys could drive to the V-2 launch pads and bring back all those German scientists who had terrific jobs waiting at places such as Lockheed and General Dynamics. The jeep our soldiers drove during the last big one is the grandfather of virtually every civilian 4x4 vehicle built since. Modern methods and technologies have made tremendous improvements and elaborated on the idea, but, until recently, the basic 4x4 concept remained the same. The salient characteristics were lots of ground clearance, lots of wheel travel, engines with lots of low-end torque but little high-end horsepower, tires the size of millstones, interiors as Spartan as a K.G.B. holding cell, mechanical components that could survive a nuclear attack and minimalist exteriors that looked as if they had been designed by Charles Bronson.

In the late Seventies, A.M.C. and Subaru slowly began to change the concept of four-wheel drive when the Eagle, SX/4 and various Subaru wagons and notchback coupes were introduced. Both Subaru and A.M.C. marketed these cars as safety vehicles, passenger sedans and wagons with the ability to plow through rain, mud and snow without any more effort on the part of the driver than merely pressing the gas and turning the wheel. They didn't have off-road capability and you didn't need nine shift levers on the floor and the arm power of an ape to shift into four-wheel drive. They were cute, very useful and more livable than the traditional off-road cars, but they were exciting to drive on the highway only if you were being chased by a Libyan death squad. Then, in 1982, Audi introduced the Quattro--a car that did for all-wheel drive what Don Johnson did for clown-size sports coats. Suddenly, they were legitimate and everybody wanted one.

Here was a real car, not some quirky hybrid between a car and a truck, that had the power, looks and handling ability of a sports car. It was also obscenely expensive (35,000 big ones) and Audi imported only about 600 of them. They didn't sell very well, but, frankly, Audi didn't care. Audi, you see, wanted to win the world rally championship in a big way. In Europe, a lot of prestige is attached to that title and the winner usually gets the kind of press coverage that generates traffic in the showrooms. The racing version of the Quattro was the car to do it for Audi. Under the rules, however, a car maker has to have a street-ready production version of the race car in order to qualify for competition. So Audi built the street version and hoped to sell enough of them to at least break even. Although it didn't sell many street Quattros, Audi dominated the rally championship for years afterward.

Audi currently has two models with all-wheel drive, the 4000CS Quattro and the 5000CS Turbo Quattro. The 5K is available as a sedan or a wagon. The system they use is full-time. That means you don't have to switch from two- to four-wheel drive. Audi also offers an antilock braking system as standard equipment on the 5000CS Turbo Quattro. No matter how hard you nail the brakes, the wheels never lock up and you retain full steering control.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, Just what is the big deal with four-wheel drive? Didn't all the car makers tell us a few years back that front-wheel drive was the superior arrangement? Absolutely. Back in the dark days of the alleged fuel crisis, front drive was the logical way to package a fuel-efficient motor and drive train in a light car and still have room left over for people and luggage. When the crisis evaporated, the buying public began demanding more horsepower and the car makers responded by squeezing more horsepower out of the wheezy, fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines in order to satisfy the demand.

That's when they ran into problems. Putting a lot of power through the two front wheels overburdens them. The front wheels are being asked to do everything: turn, stop and provide the driven traction as well. Those front wheels are working their rubber hearts out, while the rear wheels are just along for the ride. A number of approaches were considered to ease the burden on the front tires, including different geometries, very wide tires and various suspension designs. The best solution, however, appears to be to give power to all four wheels.

Just like Audi, which developed the Quattro to go racing, Porsche is about to launch the 959, a car whose sole purpose is to put Porsche at the top of rally competition.

Unlike most of the all-wheel-drive performance cars, the 959's twin-turbocharged, 450-hp engine is positioned in the rear. It drives all four wheels through a sophisticated drive-train arrangement that uses viscous clutches. The power delivery is controlled by a microprocessor that takes constant readings of wheel slip and delivers power to the wheels that need it most. In other words, the power goes to the wheels that have the best traction.

The computer also controls ride height and shock-absorber rates. For town driving, the computer raises the car's ride height and softens the shocks, allowing you to easily negotiate high driveways and soak up bumps and potholes. When you nail it in on an interstate or when you're carving up a mountain road, the computer lowers the ride height and sets the shocks to maximum-effort hard for all-out capability.

As with the original Quattro, only 200 street copies of the 959 will be built to qualify it for racing. Porsche doesn't plan on selling any in the U.S., but we will get the inevitable trickle of gray-market cars. Don't be shocked at a price tag of around $175,000 for this 195-mph puppy.

While not quite in the same league as Audi and Porsche, Subaru last year offered its version of a sport-oriented 4x4, the XT Coupe. This Sube features a horizontally opposed, turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

Nissan's approach is a little less radical than Porsche's. Its running all-wheel-drive prototype is called the MID4, which stands, natch, for mid-engine, four-wheel drive. The engine is a four-valve-per-cylinder, quad-overhead-cam V6 that produces "only" 227 horsepower. Like the Porsche system, the MID4 is equipped with viscous couplings that allow the power to be delivered to the wheels that have the best traction. Nissan, however, has gone Porsche one better. The MID4 also features four-wheel "steering." Hydraulic actuators allow the rear wheels to turn in and out. This provides outstanding handling and response. Since Nissan isn't as elitist as Porsche, this car, or something very similar to it, will be sold in sizable numbers in the U.S.

Volkswagen is making no secret of the fact that it wants to be known as the Audi for gonzo drivers on a budget. To that end, it recently introduced the Quantum Syncro, an all-wheel-drive version of the Quantum wagon. Just like the Audi, the Syncro uses a locking center differential. It also uses the Audi 4000CS Quattro's engine. The 115-hp Quantum Syncro sells for about $16,000. It will eventually be joined by all-wheel-drive versions of the Golf and the Jetta.

The all-wheel-drive phenomenon is so hot that everyone wants to get into the race. Mazda has a show (concluded on page 178)

The 4th Dimension(continued from page 88) car, the MX-03, that features a 315-hp, turbocharged, three-rotor rotary engine hooked up to a full-time all-drive system. BMW has already grafted a four-wheel-drive system under the floor pan of the European version of the 325i. We'll eventually see an all-drive BMW in the U.S. Peugeot has entered international rally competition with a 430-hp, mid-engine, Beetle-size all-drive based loosely on the 205 GTI and is seriously considering introducing an all-drive version of the 505 sedan. Ford of Europe has introduced an all-drive Scorpio on the Continent, but when the Scorpio is introduced in the U.S. next spring, it will appear as a conventional two-wheel-drive car. Last year, Chrysler trotted out a four-wheel-drive, 16-valve, turbocharged version of the Shelby at a press introduction, but a production version of that car is pure conjecture at this point. Of all the world's car makers, G.M. has been the least active--publicly, at any rate--in producing either production or experimental 4x4 passenger cars. But with increasing market pressures, that may change overnight.

Although the drums of progress are beating loudly for the performance 4x4s, the traditional off-road vehicles haven't stopped evolving into ever more refined vehicles. A.M.C. recently retired the CJ7. It's been replaced by the Wrangler, a 4x4 in the tradition of the CJ7 but more modern and civilized than its bone-crunching predecessor. In 1987, it will be powered by a new 4.0-liter, six-cyclinder engine that delivers about 50 percent more poke. Mitsubishi is rumored to be working on a performance 4x4 but is currently offering only the Montero 4x4, a sport/utility vehicle with excellent off-road capability. And Isuzu continues with the Trooper II, a tough 4x4 cult car with automatic-locking front hubs that's also available in a plusher LS version.

Toyota is being very cautious about this market. The all-drive passenger vehicle currently in the line-up is the Tercel wagon. The Toyota 4Runner, its 4x4 truck, is mainly an off-road/utility vehicle. Next year, its van is rumored to go all-drive.

It's safe to say that in the near future, virtually every car maker will produce at least one all-drive car line just to stay competitive. Chances are you'll probably find yourself needing to get one just to stay competitive on the off ramps and in the stop-light drag races.