I think that on some of the high-end supercars that are huge and have equally huge turning circles it would make a lot of sense to use it for low speed driving. But it would also add at least 100lbs so we would complain too much about that when we did our magazine bench racing.

 

This is a subject I love. In 2002 we bought a Silverado LT 1500 ext cab with Quadrasteer. The truck had if I remember correctly a 36 or 37 foot turning radius. It was wide enough that it had to have the running lights front and rear like a dually but was almost as easy to park as my CRX. It was an amazing driving truck. You could run up to a tight corner and go around it with the same kind of speed a normal small car could with no worries of hitting the curb or crossing the line. Towing a bumper pull trailer was very easy. With the rear wheels turning opposite the fronts you didn't have to make wide turns, even with my 24' trailer. The truck was very stable at higher speeds also because with the front and rear wheels turning the same way (at speed) the truck kind of crabbed on lane changes. Sadly, a 1500 just was not enough truck for our racecar hauler or big gooseneck horse trailer. After 54,000 miles of loving it we traded it for a larger diesel truck. The first year or so the GM Quadrasteers were available the option was over $7000 and most new truck buyers wouldn't pay that much for it. GM dropped the price to $1995 but it never caught on. It was a great idea that worked very well and was well worth the price for anyone that gave it a chance. It was offered on both GM & GMC pickups and Burbs for a few years. I would very much like to have another one.

 

I've owned two Preludes with 4WS and it was neat...made parking lot maneuvers a bit easier but really didn't notice much advantage outside of that. I have a 300ZX TT which came with it and most remove it...there are several 'HICAS elimination kits' on the market. Mine was removed when I bought the car so I can't really comment on the differences.

 

Whatever happened to it? It's still alive and well.

Until recently it was an option across the G35/37 range (discontinued in 2011). It is still an option on the M37/M56. The FX still has it.

Also BMW have started to add it as well, calling it integral active steering, in the 5 series, 5 GT, and 7 series.

By their description it works the same way as HICAS worked all those decades ago.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicle...ring.html#more

 

Interesting that BMW is still doing this. BMW's system steers the rear wheels up to 3 degrees while GM's Quadrasteer moved the wheels up to 12 degrees. That's a big difference.

 

GM's system really addressed the turning radius of a truck. The BMW system is likely going for the handling advantages vs the parking lot maneuver advantage.

 

No doubt you are right about that, but the overall handling of the Quadrasteer truck was improved as a result as well.

 

wish i could have driven one of those trucks

 

I never understood the purpose of putting 4WS on a sports car. Parking and changing lanes never were an issue on a Prelude so there was really no point. And from a performance standpoint it seems like it would be counterproductive if not dangerous on a high speed or speed changing corner. Crabbing would be great for a slolom though.

 

The 3000GT VR4s also had it from 91 thru mid 95 model years. It was same-phase (tires turned the same direction) to allow for smoother lane changes at higher speeds. A lot of owners would remove it because it added 50-100lbs to the car which was already on the heavy side.