Haldex Touts Fourth-Gen AWD System

Swedish Supplier Haldex AB is migrating its automotive customers to its new fourth-generation all-wheel-drive system, which the company says is more cost-effective, lighter and faster because it uses fewer parts.

The first vehicle offering the new AWD system was Volkswagen AG's small Tiguan cross/utility vehicle. Since then, other VW Group brands have gravitated to the technology, including the VW Golf and Passat; and Audi TT and A3.

The new AWD system adds a hydraulic-pressure accumulator, allowing for near-instantaneous torque output, says Ulf Herlin, vice president business development-Haldex Traction Systems Div.

“Before we were generating pressure by using a differential speed pump,” Herlin tells Ward's. “Now we've got an accumulator, and we can apply (full) torque at any time.”

General Motors Corp. is the most recent auto maker to sign a contract with Haldex, with plans to debut a modified version of the new AWD system on the Cadillac SRX '10 cross/utility vehicle.

The system, which Haldex and GM spent 2.5 years developing, uses the coupling found on the standard fourth-gen system but employs a differential brake in the rear axle that can control the left and right rear wheels, Herlin says.