Touareg 4x4 System

[Graciano Goudreau]

Thelatest generation of the Volkswagen exit warning system helps to avoid dangerous situations when exiting the vehicle in inner-city traffic. The assist system can warn the driver and passengers about road users approaching the parked Volkswagen from behind. For example, within system limits, the system can detect cyclists, who are often among the most vulnerable road users. In addition to the driver and front passenger doors, the exit warning system also provides protection for the rear doors. The new ID.7, new Passat and new Tiguan are equipped with this assist system as standard. In the Golf, ID.4 and ID.5, the technology is optionally available in a technically specific form.

The exit warning system in the new ID.7

The new ID.7 is equipped with the highest specification of the assist system. The exit warning system scans the area behind the Volkswagen via two rear radar sensors (on the left and right in the bumper) and informs the passengers of a danger before a door handle is even operated: if a road user is approaching, an LED light in the exterior mirror automatically lights up as the first warning level. If one of the door openers is nevertheless pressed, the door is also prevented from opening for a short period of time. If the door is opened, a warning signal sounds. Furthermore, the assist system remains active for three minutes after the Volkswagen has been parked and switched off in order to cover all passengers who exit the vehicle.

The exit warning system in the new Passat and new Tiguan

The exit warning system in the new Passat and new Tiguan functions in a very similar way to the ID.7: the system uses the LED light in the respective exterior mirror to inform the vehicle occupants if a road user is approaching from behind, even before the door handle is operated. If a door handle is nevertheless operated, the acoustic warning sounds via a speaker in that door. Since both models are equipped with mechanical door locks, the additional door opening delay feature from the ID.7 is not available.

The first Volkswagen with an exit warning system was the current Golf. Here, the system works in a similar way to the ID.4 and ID.5. As with the Passat and Tiguan MQB models, the Golf is equipped with mechanical door locks, which means that the additional door opening delay feature is not available.

The specified fuel consumption and emission data does not refer to a single vehicle and is not part of the offer but is only intended for comparison between different types of vehicles. Additional equipment and accessories (additional components, tyre formats, etc.) can alter relevant vehicle parameters such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, affecting the vehicle's fuel consumption, power consumption, CO2 emissions and driving performance values in addition to weather and traffic conditions and individual driving behavior.

Further information on official fuel consumption data and official specific CO2 emissions for new passenger cars can be found in the "Guide to fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption for new passenger car models", which is available free of charge from all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de/co2.

On all MQB (modular transverse toolkit) models with the 4MOTION all-wheel drive system, power is distributed between front and rear axles on an infinitely variable basis by a multi-plate clutch. Normally, power is mainly transmitted to the front axle, which saves energy. However, in the event of an impending loss of traction, the rear axle is activated in a fraction of a second. This is why 4MOTION is considered to be a permanently engaged four-wheel-drive system. The distribution of power to all four wheels becomes active before wheelspin occurs. A loss of traction is therefore virtually excluded. There is no fixed distribution of power. Power distribution is continuously adjusted to actual driving conditions. However, should any wheel slip, power is immediately transmitted to the wheels where it is needed.

The new third-generation Touareg is also equipped with permanently engaged four-wheel drive (4MOTION). On this model, which is based on the Modular Longitudinal Toolkit (MLB), power is routed via an eight-speed automatic transmission (also standard equipment) designed to accommodate torque up to 1,000 Nm. A lockable centre differential with asymmetric dynamic torque distribution distributes power between front and rear axles. Up to 70 percent of the power available goes to the front axle and up to 80% to the rear axle.

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All-wheel-drive system is a somewhat complicated topic. The main factor lies in: there are many types of differential, and also an AWD system always has 3 differentials (front/center/rear), hence there are many possible combinations of ways to implement an AWD system.

1. 1st-gen Touareg 4Motion: it uses a planetary gear-set center differential, plus an electronically controlled, multi-plate clutch as the limited slip mechanism. It also has a low range gear. The center differential is manually lockable and this comes as a standard feature; in addition, you can also opt for the optional rear differential lock;

The reason why Volkswagen did this was mainly due to the fact that Touareg is sharing its platform and some of the powertrain components with the Porsche Cayenne. Porsche wanted the front/rear power split to be 38:62 on Cayenne, while VW wanted it to be 50:50 on Touareg, and they do not want to design and produce two physically different center differentials (in order to lower the cost). Therefore, Volkswagen came out with this workaround, which uses a mechanical 38:62 center differential, and then tunes it to 50:50 within the software layer.

4. 4Motion on 2nd-gen Touareg: it uses a TORSEN Type C center differential, 40:60 default front/rear torque split, it does not has the manual full locking feature; also rear locking differential is unavailable. Rear wheel limited slip is implemented through ABS;

The 2nd-gen Touareg 4Motion has weaker off-road capability than the 4XMotion version, but it has two major advantages: (a) TORSEN center differential has a lighter weight; (b) it can mechanically detect the tendency of slipping, and even react immediately before the slipping has actually occurred; in other words: TORSEN differential can PREVENT slippage. This is extremely useful when driving in the snowy road surfaces, which can be considered to be the most common use case that a typical US consumer will face.

The 4XMotion system has the advantage of handling serious off-road situations, thanks to its 100% locakable center/rear differential (in theory the TORSEN differential cannot achieve full lockup by itself). Of course, the disadvantages are mainly in the heavier weight and more expensive manufacturing costs.

It is hard to say which one is better. My personal opinion is: the 4Motion (TORSEN based) is suitable on paved roads, and is better at high speed driving on snowy or wet road surfaces; the 4XMotion is more suitable in places where maximum traction is absolutely required (for example driving on sands, desert, swamp etc.)

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This system was designed to help drivers in difficult situations (sudden obstacles) by compensating for abrupt reactions and by helping to avoid situations in which a vehicle becomes unstable. Obviously ESP cannot defy the laws of physics and let us drive like maniacs. A driver's main task is always that of driving responsibly and paying attention to road and traffic conditions.

During this course, we will show how ESP is based on the tried and trusted ABS anti-lock braking system and how it can adopted on various vehicles along with other systems like ASR, EDS, EBV and MSR. We will also show what other versions can be adopted.

Speed sensors constantly supply data about the speed of each wheel. The steering angle sensor is the only sensor that provides information to the ECU via the CAN Bus. With the data from these two sensors, the ECU calculates the nominal direction of the steering and normal vehicle behavior. The lateral acceleration sensor communicates any sideways movements to the ECU and the yaw sensor reports tendencies towards

After all this, the system uses data from the sensors to check that the corrective action was successful. If the answer is yes, the action is concluded and the system returns to its monitoring role. If the corrective action was unsuccessful, it begins the next corrective cycle.

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