European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 1, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Steering into new technology Bojoh Holusha new York times of that four wheel drive has become an accepted feature on some passenger cars Auto makers me turning their attention to four wheel steering the  co., Japan s fourth largest Auto maker will Start Selling a 626-based Model in the United slates this fall with rear wheels that turn Side to Side rear wheels Are normally fixed straight ahead but these will Pivot parallel to the front wheels in some circumstances and in the opposite direction in others the Honda motor co. Has announced a similar though technically different system Tor its new prelude Mode which is already on Sale in Japan and May reach the american Market by summer. Other japanese car makers say they Are working on four wheel steering american and european manufacturers say they Are looking into the technology but question whether the advantages will to Worth the costs. Four wheel steering reduces a car s turning radius. Motorists would be ate to Man Euver More responsively through crowded streets and parallel parking. The Bane of City Drivers would be much easier. Pour wipe steering advocates say. However i. At the major advantage comes Al higher speeds. When a Driver changing lanes on a Highway turns the steering wheel of a conventional car there is a lag before the Lurn starts because of the resistance of the Forward facing rear wheels. When the car reaches the desired Lane moreover the rear end ends to overshoot and continue in the new direction forcing Tho Driver to Lurn the wheel the opposite Way before settling into a straight line. Al Highway speeds this Fishl ailing can make a car feel unstable with four wheel steering All the wheels face in the same direction the car glides into the adjacent Lane without any unsteadiness. No one who has driven a car with Lour wheel steering would question ils ," said Donald Sherman an automotive Engineer who is editor of a of and Driver Magazine. The sporting Driver will Teel dramatic benefits in handling and even John o. Average will gel some help in evasive  Erma Bombeck some cars on the Toad today already have limited tour wheel steering capability built into their Roar suspensions. A have had compliance rear steering for years said Donald Runkle the director of advanced vehicle engineering Al general motors pc group. Compliance rear steering works by designing some give of compliance into the fear suspension bushings. As a car starts to turn the bushings comply twisting the rear wheels As much As 1 degree to improve the handling. You can t see it but ii does help and you get it essentially for free Rune said. He said pm had tested full four wheel steering on High performance cars like the Chevrolet Corvette but remained unconvinced thai the advantages outweighed the Cost of the sex Ira components. If you do your suspension designs Well rear steering does t add much to Overall performance Runkle said. But Mazda and Honda apparently Teel that improved handling capability is Worth striving for and 1ha customers will pay Tor it. Honda is charging the equivalent of $550 for its All mechanical four wheel steering option in Japan. Mazda has not yet announced a Price for its More complicated electronically controlled system. One of the problems facing designers of four wheel steering is that at High speeds the rear wheels must turn in the same direction As those in front while Low Speed mane vering is Best done with the front and rear wheels aimed in opposite directions both Honda and Mazda have solved the problem by developing systems that Lurn the rear wheels opposite the fronts at Low speeds and parallel to the fronts when the car is moving faster. In both systems the rear wheels turn considerably less than those in front because Honda s system is composed entirely of mechanical linkages i effectively has one setting regardless of the car s Speed. Mazda also has a mechanical link to the rear but its electronics will override the Driver for Best handling even if a Driver s input is constant the rear steering Angle will vary according to conditions said Bunzo Suzuki an official Al Mazda s Headquarters in Hiroshima. Honda �y9tem gives 90 percent of the Virtues Al Low Cost and great simplicity Sherman of car and Driver Magazine said. Mazda gets that last 10  a third approach would be to control the rear steering to Lirey by Electron los a drive by wire equivalent of the Fly by wire systems used extensively in aircraft. Runkle said that might come once improvements were made in the reliability of components i m not comfortable ust running wires to a steering Box Yel he said. Mazda officials say they Are hoping that he improved handling offered by four wheel steering win Appeal to affluent buyers who appreciate technology. Inside the four wheel stowing car four whilst Mihic reduced turning Circle with soffit motor Drivers negotiated a Una change at 65 Mph in a four wheel steering car left and a conventionally steered ear right. Tow 4wscar corrected a Ore quickly than the car at right Tor steering Angle lateral acceleration Yaw velocity and Raff Angle in nontechnical term the car behaved More predictably and required Tenter steering corrections. The diagram at Center shows the electronic system at the Mazda 4ws prototype vehicle. Critics say added get outre Friis advantage o4w& i opened a College graduation speech one year by saying i know All of you Are Silling Oul there today frightened scared and apprehensive about your future. You re wondering How you re going to lit into the scheme of things and face the challenges thai lie ahead for you but i m not Here to talk to you parents. I m Here to address your  actually the parents needed he speech More than their offspring. The kids were still under warranty. What did they know they were still someone s tax deduction until the end of the year still had their old door key of if Weir old room and enough cuteness and youth to borrow Money. They should have gotten the empty Neil speech and their parents should have gotten the graduation is not the end. It s the beginning. You Are on the Brink of a new horizon. And beginning today you Are in control of your own destiny number. Graduation Day is Tough for adults. They go to the ceremony As parents. They come Home As contemporaries. After 22 years of child raising they Are unemployed. They no longer have to have a locked refrigerator when they go on vacation. They can buy a new car without worrying whether or not their child is going to need tuition or summer school. They can get their own apartment and not fee guilty. They can come and go As they please and nol have to Check with their kids. They have the Opportunity to put into practice All the things they be Learned Over the past four years. That there is a life after children and bread can be Frozen. My heart went out to parents As i saw them sitting there out of a Job and wondering How they would handle their new lifestyle when they no longer had children to Lell them what to do. What was it they did before they had children did they speak entire sentences to one another did they Ever have a social life did they Ever do things that weren t planned they Are the ones who should Nave been told inert Are rewards Tor those who finish something they started and thera must have been times when they questioned thai. After tha ceremony. I watched the parents us they smiled awkwardly into cameras embarrassed at the attention they were receiving instinctively mothers settled into their roles. They filed the programs in their purses carefully folded the graduation gowns to be returned to gel the fees Back. The fathers began heir ritual of lugging stereos boxes and bedding from the third floor of the do i to the station Wagon for the rip Home. They would face the reality of their graduation Day tomorrow. A los Angeles Timos Syndicate Page 16 the stars and stripes monday june 1,1987