It’s a simplistic notion, but when any manufacturer bringing a new EV to market in these past five or 10 years has mentioned fully asymmetrical torque vectoring, only one thought has entered this road tester’s mind: tank tracks.
Why shouldn’t a car with no joined driveshafts or differentials, which can drive opposing wheels in opposite directions, be able to spin 360deg on the spot? And why shouldn’t it handle in a totally transformative way? Surely a car that can deliver any torque load to any wheel in either direction ought to rip up the rule book on vehicle dynamics?
It turns out there are many reasons. Good, understandable reasons – some of which apply to the current generation of EVs but might not to the next one or the one after that. Reasons I wasn’t aware of when testing the likes of the Honda NSX, Polestar 1 and Ferrari SF90 Stradale, all of which feature electric motors that can supposedly vector torque fully asymmetrically across either the front or the rear axle, and none of which struck me as quite the dynamic landmark that my simplistic notions had led me to expect them to be.
They’re reasons that I’m now having explained, slowly and clearly enough for my puny road tester’s brain to comprehend, by a very nice man in an Audi-branded padded jacket while standing on meter-thick ice in Arvidsjaur, northern Sweden.
This is Kilver lake, one of several that are turned into ice-driving tracks and proving grounds in this area over the winter. And while it’s not the very one that Audi uses for vehicle development, it’s very like it (how different can one test track carved into a frozen lake be from another?).
"It doesn’t struggle to follow almost any cornering line on a surface on which you struggle to walk"
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MG 4
An EV changes your driving style - but not to the detriment of pleasure
PEUGEOT E-208
Time with our French hatch is up. Is it good riddance or au revoir?
In the hot seat
Is the best automotive job in the world actually in miniature scale? Hot Wheels' design boss assures STEPHEN DOBIE it is
Correcting the record
Autocar invented the road test back in 1928 - or did we? KEITH JONES trawls the past to find the true starting point
Road test rebooted
As the Autocar road test forges into its second century, its brief is expanding and it's returning to a familiar place. MATT SAUNDERS explains
Cyber attack
MG is back on the international stage and now trying to return to its sports car roots. MATT SAUNDERS sees if the Cyberster EV can match up to a rival from the present and a relation from the past
KIA PICANTO
As rivals fall by the wayside, Kia's popular city car gets a makeover
MASERATI GRANTURISMO
Latest coupé in a long line of Maserati GT cars hits the UK with V6 power
PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS COUPE
New V8 model gets all the goodies
TOYOTA PRIUS
Back by popular demand with a cool new look and greater driver appeal