24.10.2004 After a successful development program carried out by CRF, Alfa Romeo are now well advanced with plans to introduce four wheel steering onto future models

Alfa Romeo are currently well advanced with plans to introduce four wheel steering onto future models, as they seek to use this technology, along with their recently rolled-out four wheel drive system, to help carve out a distinct market niche, much in the same way as Saab have created a brand link with turbocharging.

The concept of all-wheel-steering is not however new to Alfa Romeo, and indeed they were already experimenting with the idea in the 1990's, with their highly regarded, production viable, Proteo concept.

More recently, the Fiat Research Centre (CRF) have been developing a state of the art fly-by wire interpretation of the design, using an Alfa Romeo 147 as a test mule.  Now in its second phase of development, this extensive project hints that a similar design may be featured on near future Alfa Romeo's.   

CRF have introduced a recent series of patents relating to four wheel steering. Two are genuine systems, designed to be electronically controlled, while the third envisions self-steering, a feature that Fiat are expected to introduce on smaller segment models in the future.

The idea behind the general designs is to allow for both comfort and manoeuvrability to be controlled separately, which requires the rear wheels to be able to turn. It also allows for an active steering control.

In the same way that the Italdesign Brera introduced the face of the new generation of Alfa's, the more recent Visconti concept introduces several innovative technical features, including a direct reference to the advanced development nature of four wheel steering. Unfortunately, these features are not presented on the clay display model.

Based on an extended Premium platform, the Visconti features a combination of four-wheel-drive and four-wheel-steering. The four-wheel-drive layout is built on Alfa Romeo's 156-based Crosswagen, which has been modified to accept the extra power and torque delivered by the bi-turbo 3.2 JTS V6.

It is already well-known that many variants of the replacement Alfa Romeo GTV will use this drive layout, as well as the top of the range 157. The engine featured in the Visconti concept will also be included in the future Alfa Romeo line-up.

The Visconti steering design uses a combination of Alfa Romeo's current VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) system with ARC, a stabilizer active rod control system, to ensure excellent handling characteristics. 

Meanwhile, Delphi has been developing four-wheel-steering designs with General Motors, Fiat 50-50 Powertrain partner. GM already have SUV models on sale in the US that incorporate Delphi's four wheel steering to assist with parking ability, of what in this application, are quite bulky vehicles.

As the future range of Alfa Romeo's will be based on the GM Premium platform, and use GM-derived engines, it is a strong possibility that a integrated GM four-wheel-steering system will also be adopted by Alfa Romeo.

Delphi engineers have taken many factors into consideration for the electronics of the new four-wheel-steering design. When hitched to a trailer, for example, the degree of rear wheel steering will be less.

by Paddy Granger

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Fiat’s engineering arm, Centro Ricerche Fiat, were responsible for this Alfa 147 Selespeed prototype fitted with a “fly-by-wire” rear wheel-steering set-up that aimed to explore the arrangement in terms of active safety.

Patents have recently been taken out on this four wheel steering arrangement, that Alfa Romeo envision eventually being incorporated into a sporty four wheel drive arrangement.

Back in March, at the Geneva Salon, Giorgetto Giugiaro unveiled a proposal for a new Alfa Romeo flagship, the Visconti. It is seen here, last month in Paris, were visitors were once more provoked by the thoughts that the Italian designer has projected, including the incorporation of four wheel steering.

This is the second of three patent proposals put forward by CRF. Two are genuine four wheel steering systems, designed to be electronically controlled, while the third envisions self steering. (In this picture, no 28, clearly demonstrates the electronic steering actuator that controls the steering angle.)

Four wheel steering offers better stability in turns, since the rear wheels are running in the same track than the front wheels, as well as increasing ability to undertake parking manouvers.