Sport AWD rear biased in Turns?

[omar302]

I recently noticed that during acceleration in a turn, the AWD display will show more power going to the rear wheel than front. You can see it at 0:05-0:06 in the below video.

 

[Waldo]

Yep, pretty smart system, huh?

[akirby]

It uses a steering angle sensor and a yaw sensor to predict potential slippage and shift torque before it actually slips.

 

A very smart system.

[Mikula]

I recently noticed that during acceleration in a turn, the AWD display will show more power going to the rear wheel than front. You can see it at 0:05-0:06 in the below video.

I didn't need that display to tell me that, based on the one time... and one time only... when the back end came around when I was taking corners a bit sportier than I should have been.

 

pooped my pants and never did that again!

Edited May 4, 2018 by Mikula

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

This was not the case originally, AFAIK. Possibly changed sometime after the 2012MY, based on reports from SHOs. Once Jason (jmr061) started providing the capability for people to enable the AWD system display, it came easy to tell.

[akirby]

I’m pretty sure it’s always worked that way in the Edge and Fusion. It may not have been advertised though.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Well, there's the amount of power sent to the RDU, and there's the amount of power applied/speed allowed at a specific wheel (e.g., torque vectoring). At launch, at least in the 15+ SHOs, ~100% power is applied to the rear wheels momentarily to gain the advantage of RWD, and then back to normal AWD/FWD operation.

 

What percentage of power is sent to the RDU in an EdgeMKX, and has it changed over the years? I am sure it has for Gen 2, but if we can figure it out for all years, that would be kool

[akirby]

But there is no torque vectoring in the rear - that’s only on the Focus RS. The PTU is always connected to the rear drive shaft. The electronic clutch in the rear differential determines how much torque it gets.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

You are correct with "true" torque vectoring. But Ford mimics it with EBD, ESC, etc.

 

The driveshaft does not spin in Park or Neutral. And yes, the power sent to the rear is signaled by the 4x4 module sent to the ATC solenoid sent to the RDU.

[Waldo]

This was not the case originally, AFAIK. Possibly changed sometime after the 2012MY, based on reports from SHOs. Once Jason (jmr061) started providing the capability for people to enable the AWD system display, it came easy to tell.

 

The reason the AWD display isn't on the SHO from the factory is because it didn't provide accurate information. The SHO (and Flex) cluster supplier is different from the Edge/Explorer, and they didn't get the algorithm right, so Ford just disabled the view because there wasn't enough time to fix it. So if people are trying to understand the AWD performance of the SHO based on the cluster graphic, they are fooling themselves.

 

After all, how can 100% go to the rear? There is no disconnect of the front axle, so the only way the front can receive 0 torque is to use the brakes. That wouldn't make much sense if the goal is improved performance.