Mercedes Benz is celebrating both the introduction of the 4th generation of 4MATIC and its 25th year of being offered on Mercedes-Benz products. The importance of this fact becomes apparent when you take a new Mercedes-Benz like the E 350 Coupe for a drive on low-traction surfaces such as most of Canada has at some point in time during the winter.
After such a drive, think about your regular day-to-day driving and the gravel, sand, water or mud that you encounter. The 4MATIC system does such a good job of controlling each wheel that you never even know a wheel trying to spin.
A grin on your face, and money in your pocket
There are other all-wheel drive systems used by other companies such as quattro by Audi and xDrive by BMW. These systems each utilize some components similar to what’s in the 4MATIC system, but Mercedes-Benz has chosen to go one step further in its 4th generation.
AWD systems normally require the addition of large and heavy components such as a transfer case to get the power to the “other” set of wheels. In addition, there must be an extra differential, axles and special hubs to get the power on to the ground.
All of this extra equipment adds weight to the vehicle, and additional weight causes a loss of fuel economy. By rethinking and then re-engineering the system, Mercedes-Benz has managed to attain virtually the same fuel economy standards for two-wheel-drive and AWD Mercedes-Benz products equipped with 4MATIC as tested by following NRCan’s test procedures.
Electron chasers… with calculators
In rethinking the system, Mercedes-Benz engineers must have decided that electrons weigh less than steel because the 4MATIC system utilizes individual wheel brakes to control wheelspin, thus ensuring power goes to the wheel(s) that can use it. Individual wheels use the ABS brake hardware to detect wheel slippage, and new software to tell the brake system what to do about the slippage.
After such a drive, think about your regular day-to-day driving and the gravel, sand, water or mud that you encounter. The 4MATIC system does such a good job of controlling each wheel that you never even know a wheel trying to spin.
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| Photo: Mercedes-Benz |
A grin on your face, and money in your pocket
There are other all-wheel drive systems used by other companies such as quattro by Audi and xDrive by BMW. These systems each utilize some components similar to what’s in the 4MATIC system, but Mercedes-Benz has chosen to go one step further in its 4th generation.
AWD systems normally require the addition of large and heavy components such as a transfer case to get the power to the “other” set of wheels. In addition, there must be an extra differential, axles and special hubs to get the power on to the ground.
All of this extra equipment adds weight to the vehicle, and additional weight causes a loss of fuel economy. By rethinking and then re-engineering the system, Mercedes-Benz has managed to attain virtually the same fuel economy standards for two-wheel-drive and AWD Mercedes-Benz products equipped with 4MATIC as tested by following NRCan’s test procedures.
Electron chasers… with calculators
In rethinking the system, Mercedes-Benz engineers must have decided that electrons weigh less than steel because the 4MATIC system utilizes individual wheel brakes to control wheelspin, thus ensuring power goes to the wheel(s) that can use it. Individual wheels use the ABS brake hardware to detect wheel slippage, and new software to tell the brake system what to do about the slippage.
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| Photo: Mercedes-Benz |