Whatever happened to 4 wheel steering?

[MrOrange]

I remember a time in the 1990's when it was all the rage on fast ricers. I'm thinking Honda Preludes, Nissan 300ZX, BMW 850, and a few others that escape me now. The inherent benefits seem sound to me so why didn't it really take off. I see from a quick Google that the new 7-series has it.

[300bhp/ton]

MrOrange said:

I remember a time in the 1990's when it was all the rage on fast ricers. I'm thinking Honda Preludes, Nissan 300ZX, BMW 850, and a few others that escape me now. The inherent benefits seem sound to me so why didn't it really take off. I see from a quick Google that the new 7-series has it.

Cost I suspect, and minimal real world advantages that can't be seen as just niceties rather than essentials.

[k15tox]

I used to have it on my skyline hicas it was called, didn't mind it.

It was goof for tight slow turns, and it never really effected the 'purity' of the car that I felt.

I'm sure the new laguna has it on, must be a weird sensation with front wheel drive! The preludes had it aswell

[Steffan]

Cost: the Accountants are running most car manufacturers now. Look at SAAB.

Innovation is a four letter word to Accountants. Cost is the Mecca.

[EDLT]

There was a thread about this last week:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Turns out quite a few cars have had 4WS as an option over the years.

nickythesaint said:

4th and 5th gen Honda prelude used to have AWS.


Production cars with active four wheel steering

BMW 850CSi (optional)
BMW 7-Series (2009 onwards, part of sport package) [3]
Chevrolet Silverado (2002–2005) (high and low speed)
Efini MS-9 (high and low speed)
GMC Sierra (2002–2005) (high and low speed)
GMC Sierra Denali (2002–2004) (high and low speed)
Honda Prelude (high and low speed, mechanical from 1987 to 1991, computerized from 1992–2001)
Honda Accord (1991) (high and low speed, mechanical)
Honda Ascot Innova (1992) (high and low speed, computerized from 1992-1996)
Infiniti FX50 AWD (option on Sports package) (2008–Present) (high and low speed, fully electronic)
Infiniti G35 Sedan (option on Sport models) (2007–Present) (high speed only?)
Infiniti G35 Coupe (option on Sport models) (2006–Present) (high speed only) [4]
Infiniti G37
Infiniti J30t (touring package) (1993–1994)
Infiniti M35 (option on Sport models) (2006–Present) (high speed only?)
Infiniti M45 (option on Sport models) (2006–Present) (high speed only?)
Infiniti Q45t (1989–1994) (high speed only?)
Mazda 929 (1992–1995)(computerised, high and low speed)(all models)
Mazda 626 (1988) (high and low speed)
Mazda MX-6 (1989–1997) (high and low speed)
Mazda RX-7 (optional, computerized, high and low speed)
Mazda Eunos 800 (1996–2003) (Optional, computerized, high and low speed)
Mitsubishi Galant/Sigma (high speed only)
Mitsubishi GTO (also sold as the Mitsubishi 3000GT and the Dodge Stealth) (Mechanical) (high speed only)
Nissan Cefiro (A31) (high speed only)
Nissan 240SX/Silvia (option on SE models) (high speed only)
Nissan 300ZX (all Twin-Turbo Z32 models) (high speed only)
Nissan Laurel (later versions) (high speed only)
Nissan Fuga/Infiniti M (high speed only)
Nissan Silvia (option on all S13 models) (high speed only)
Nissan Skyline GTS, GTS-R, GTS-X (1986) (high speed only)
Nissan Skyline GT-R (high and low speed)
Renault Laguna (only in GT version of 3rd generation which was launched October 2007, GT launched on April 2008)
Subaru Alcyone SVX JDM (1991–1996) (Japanese version: "L-CDX" only) (high speed only)
Toyota Aristo (1997) (high and low speed?)
Toyota Camry / Vista JDM 1988-1999 (Optional) [5]
Toyota Celica (option on 5th and 6th generation, 1990-1993 ST183 and 1994-1997 ST203) (Dual-mode, high and low speed)
Toyota Soarer (UZZ32)