Something good from GM

From: Richard A Pyburn (rap777@juno.com)
Date: Fri Dec 15 2000 - 14:27:03 EST


I'd sure like this on my Gen II CC.

http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2000/12/15/home_auto/q_mateja_truck/

GM introduces new truck
                                    General Motors' new extended-cab
                                    Silverado will offer 4-wheel steering
                                    By Jim Mateja
                                    December 15, 2000: 11:21 a.m. ET

                  NEW YORK (KRT) - Many consumers are of the opinion that
the only
                  difference between riding a bull and driving a truck is
that though both come
                  with leather seats, only one has a radio.

                  To prove it can be user-friendly (the truck, not the
bull), General Motors (GM:
                  Research, Estimates) invited a group of media types to
its design center here
                  to test a full-size Chevrolet truck that soon will be
far less ornery.

                  GM hauled out an extended-cab Silverado, cordoned off
the parking lot, set up
                  a series of bright orange pylons and let scribes have
at the course in a
                  prototype truck equipped with four-wheel-steering.

                  Simply, four-wheel-steering is a system designed to
allow a truck to look like a
                  truck and haul like a truck but behave like a car when
you have to turn or park
                  it.

                  Four-wheel steering means the rear wheels turn in the
opposite direction of the
                  front wheels at lower speeds so you can make tight
turns, such as when
                  parking. At moderate speeds, the rear wheels remain
straight, as they do on a
                  normal car, and at high speeds the rear wheels turn in
the same direction as
                  the front wheels for more agile maneuvering.

                  You may have heard of four-wheel-steering (4WS) years
ago when Honda
                  brought it out on a Prelude. The purpose was to give a
small sports coupe more
                  sure-footed handling, especially when taking a turn at
speed. As an added
                  benefit, 4WS makes it easier to parallel park.

                  It wasn't long before 4WS was
                  discontinued at Honda. Small cars, after
                  all, are rather agile to begin with and few
                  motorists could tell the difference
                  between 4WS and power steering in
                  one.

                  That's the problem, according to GM
                  engineers. While 4WS makes a vehicle respond more
nimbly to steering input,
                  the benefits are more pronounced in a big, heavy
vehicle that's typically harder
                  to maneuver than in a little vehicle that's fairly easy
to move.

                  "The benefits of 4WS are greater in big trucks because
it gives them
                  easability," said Tom Zebehazy, manager of light-duty
truck steering.

                  With trucks and SUVs now popular -- and the bigger the
truck or SUV, the
                  more popular -- 4WS makes more sense than it did a
couple of decades ago.

                  Lots of folks who might be tempted to buy a big truck
or SUV take a pass
                  because the size, weight and handling of the behemoth
intimidates them,
                  especially women. And that's justifiably so,
particularly when pulling one into
                  just about any space in the parking lot, which takes a
lot of muscle as well as
                  a little finesse.

                  But, GM reasons, if you can pull a sedan between the
lanes in a parking lot
                  without a panic attack, you can do the same with a big
truck or SUV if it has
                  4WS.

                  So GM has developed a 4WS system called Quadrasteer and
said it will begin
                  offering it on an unnamed full-size truck for the 2002
model year. While not
                  being specific whether the truck will be a Chevy
Silverado or GMC Sierra, GM
                  points out that the full-size Chevy Suburban and GMC
Yukon XL sport-utes
                  also come from the same platform.

                  While the initial beneficiary of 4WS for 2002 will be
named by GM early next
                  year, you have to suspect all big GM trucks and SUVs
will offer it soon. The
                  system reportedly will be optional at first and come
with an on/off switch so you
                  can engage it when needed the most -- in low-speed
parking maneuvers and
                  trailer towing.

                  We tested a full-size Silverado extended-cab pickup
here with 4WS to check
                  out the system.

                                    GM roped off one of its massive
parking lots at its
                                    Design Center and set up a pylon
course to let the
                                    media put 4WS through its paces.

                                    First up was having to drive along
and then slip into a
                                    narrow parking space off to the right
between two
                                    rows of orange pylons. In a Chevy
Metro you could do
                                    it with your eyes closed because the
distance
                                    between the pylons would look like
the space
                                    between Wisconsin and Tennessee.

                                    In a full-size truck that space looks
as wide as a
                                    sidewalk, and the simple maneuver
often means
                  swinging out wide left then turning the wheel sharply
right to pull in -- after
                  stopping, backing up and turning the wheel sharply
right again because you
                  missed the spot by at least a foot.

                  With the 4WS prototype we started to swing wide left
before Gene Rodden, a
                  staff project engineer who was riding shotgun,
cautioned, "No need for that."

                  So we turned the wheel right and slipped into the space
without disrupting any
                  pylons. "Like pulling into a parking spot in a compact
Saturn," Rodden said.

                  Actually, it was like pulling into a parking spot in a
compact S-10 truck rather
                  than a full-size Silverado. Nonetheless, Rodden
emphasized the significance of
                  how easy the maneuver was when noting: "You just
avoided having to buy the
                  guy in the space to your left a new right rear fender."
 

                  Next came a serpentine course with a series of
right/left turns through a narrow
                  field of orange pylons, another situation that would
require wide swings left to
                  get the proper angle to turn right or wide swings right
to get the proper angle to
                  turn left without pausing or striking the pylons in a
full-size, extended-cab
                  pickup.

                  "No need to slow down or swing wide; take those turns
like in a car," Rodden
                  advised.

                  Sure enough. Right, left, right, left. No pylons tipped
or toppled and no need to
                  swing wide or, worse, stop, back up and try it again to
avoid the pylons.
                   Finally came the toughest challenge, having to
parallel park along a curb along
                  with pylons positioned to simulate the bumpers of other
vehicles front and rear.
                   

                  In backing up and turning the steering wheel, you find
that when the rear
                  wheels turn in the opposite direction of the front
wheels, the vehicle seems to
                  respond very quickly to the steering command -- too
quickly. We ended up
                  about 2 feet from the curb, but no pylons were knocked
over.

                  To help us better understand the benefits of 4WS,
Rodden had us repeat the
                  tasks, with 4WS turned off and only power steering as
our guide.

                  First came parking between the pylons. Oops. Stop, back
up, swing wide, turn
                  sharply and pull in.

                  "You just bought a fender," Rodden
                  said.

                  On to the serpentine course. Pull
                  forward, turn left, turn sharper left,
                  stop and pull back and swing right to
                  complete the turn left, now swing left,
                  swing wider left, turn right and ... pylons flopping
over pylons in the background.
                   

                  On to parallel parking. Back up, turn the wheel and the
truck is resting only
                  inches from the curb, no pylons destroyed. "Common for
that to happen
                  because people have grown up learning how to parallel
park with the traditional
                  power-steering system. It takes time to learn parallel
parking with 4WS,"
                  Rodden said.

                  Still gloating over the parallel parking, we were
directed behind the wheel of a
                  Silverado extended-cab with a horse trailer attached
for a drive through a
                  serpentine course.

                  A lesson in humility.

                  With 4WS, you take corners and turns as if the trailer
is part of the truck like
                  the bed. Without 4WS, you take turns and corners as if
pulling a 747. Even
                  going slow and swinging wide depleted the nation's
supply of orange pylons.

                  While GM will offer 4WS steering to make full-size
trucks more user-friendly for
                  2002, still no word on when GM will join Ford in
offering another user-friendly
                  system for full-size pickups and SUVs -- power
adjustable pedals. Ford offers
                  gas/brake pedals in selected cars, trucks and SUVs that
motor up to short
                  drivers so they don't have to motor the seat forward
and put themselves too
                  close to the air bag in the steering column.
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:58:00 EDT