e-nthusiast. May 2009
One hundred milliseconds. That’s far less time than it takes to blink, but in that freeze-frame of time, the BMW xDrive all-wheel drive system can change the split of power between the front and rear axles, in response to sensors detecting the onset of wheel spin or slippage.
And when you consider each tyre’s footprint is about the size of a postcard, you have only around the equivalent of one A4 piece of paper’s worth of contact with the road, under prime conditions. So imagine steering a BMW X5 on a greasy road at speed with just one sheet of A4 for grip.
But thanks to the BMW xDrive traction system, the efficiency of that sheet of A4 is greatly enhanced.
BMW xDrive delivers such an amazing grip-meister performance on even the slipperiest of surfaces - such as moving off an icy car park onto a tarred road, or suddenly encountering a slippery bend – that drivers will rarely notice its intervention.
Advanced electronics, a power divider and a multi-plate clutch lie at the heart of the BMW xDrive system; working together to ensure engine power is seamlessly turned into useable drive torque at the axle that can most ably use it.
In normal driving, 60 percent of the torque goes to the rear wheels, but this can be as much as 100 percent or as little as 50 percent depending on conditions under tyre. The split is infinitely variable and occurs at warp speed.
The BMW xDrive all-wheel drive traction system is so successful that more than one quarter of all BMW cars sold worldwide in 2008 featured it.
In Australia, the xDrive system is fitted to the X Series vehicles; X3 and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and the X6 Sports Activity Coupé.
In the new BMW X6, a new BMW feature, Dynamic Performance Control is for the first time able to split the torque received by the rear axle, sending more torque to the wheel with most grip. The result is a cornering-on-rails feeling, even if the driver lifts off the throttle mid corner.
BMW has been offering all-wheel drive vehicles since 1985, initially converting a 3 Series Touring to all-wheel drive status in the shape of the 325iX. The arrival of the X5 in 1999 gave the concept more impetus and since then, more than 1.3 million BMW X Series vehicles have found very willing owners.
The success of the BMW xDrive equipped X Series vehicles has led to the development of a new model. The BMW X1 Concept.
Shown at the Paris Motor Show in 2008, it is slated for production during 2009. The BMW X1 will open up yet another chapter for BMW, creating a new niche of driver-friendly vehicles with all-wheel drive.
