Dashcam - VW Golf R Haldex AWD-induced understeer on wet road

Описание: Watch as my Golf R tries to push forward instead of turn left on a wet road when the Haldex AWD system kicks in under heavy, but not full throttle! Increasing steering input did not turn the car. Lifting off the accelerator allows weight transfer back to the front wheels to help steer and to get the car to rotate. Getting back into the throttle pushed the car back into mild understeer before I straightened out as the DSG transmission delayed the shift into 2nd and the engine bounced off the rev-limiter.

I was turning left ahead of what appeared to be faster traffic approaching, so I entered the intersection with some urgency. In this case, I wasn't flooring the car into the turn, but it was enough throttle input for the AWD system to proactively engage for additional traction. In situations like this, when turning left under moderately heavy acceleration on a wet or (even sometimes dry) road, the 2016 Volkswagen Golf R's Haldex AWD system sometimes becomes more of a hindrance than a performance aid. When the AWD system fully (or nearly fully) engages and the front and rear axles lock together, the Golf R (in stock form) will, more often than not, push into heavy understeer as the rear wheels push the car forward and the front wheels are no longer rotating at a speed that matches the pavement. The result is what you see in the video. You can't really tell that there's understeer until I back off the throttle, which reduces AWD engagement, and the front tires are no longer slipping.

The Haldex system is a clutch at the rear axle that variably and predictively engages and disengages the rear wheels from the drive shaft for up to 50/50 torque split. That said, it's not a true center differential and, consequently, there are certain conditions when the front and rear axles are fully coupled via the center driveshaft - like a center diff-lock.


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