Word: four-wheeled
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...explain it to you," says Jackie Mason in his television commercials for the new Honda Prelude with four-wheel steering. Jabbing his elbows this way and that, the Borscht Belt funnyman proceeds to confuse a subject that is already complicated: "The car is going like this, the wheel is going like that, you're going like this because you can't figure out where did the back...
...pitch may be skewed, but the viewer gets the message: something new and strange is happening to the way cars are steered. Like so many technological advances these days, this one was made in Japan. Honda and Mazda began showing 1988 models with four-wheel steering in U.S. showrooms in September, and san and Mitsubishi are expected to follow quickly. Detroit's carmakers say they are still studying what is turning out to be the most talked about automotive innovation of the year...
...What is four-wheel steering? The concept is simple. Rather than controlling a car solely by the angle at which the front tires meet the road -- the method used by wheeled vehicles since the horse-drawn carriage -- four-wheel steering turns the wheels simultaneously at both ends of the car. The idea is intuitively appealing to any city driver who has ever pulled up to a too-short parking space and wished he could point all four tires toward the curb and crab right...
Experts differ on four-wheel steering's potential. Jerry Rivard, vice president of Bendix Electronics, a major auto supplier, calls it a "dramatic jump in technology" and predicts that it will be standard equipment on cars of the future. Ron Glantz, an auto analyst at Montgomery Securities, feels otherwise. "Other than parking," he says, "the only benefit is on gravel roads at speeds over 70 m.p.h." In Japan, where the technology was first marketed more than two years ago, car buyers seem favorably impressed. Nissan reports that 40% of the Japanese who pick the flashy Skyline model ask for four...
...Three U.S. automakers, spokesmen say the companies are still assessing market demand. Donald Runkle, a director of advanced vehicle engineering at General Motors, acknowledges that four-wheel steering can improve handling and maneuverability. The question, he says, is whether Americans will be willing to pay the premium of some $1,000 the Japanese are charging. "We have come down on the side of it not being worth what it costs ! right now," says Runkle. "But we could be wrong. Honda could come in here and clean our clock with four-wheel steering...