Hyundai will plant the HTRAC logo on the back of the Gen-2 Genesis sedan, with other models to follow.
Hyundai is getting ready to join the list of makers offering all-wheel-drive options to upscale motorists – in this case with a new AWD system it is calling “HTRAC,” which will make its debut on the next-generation Genesis model.
Once reserved for off-road vehicles and a few more mainstream offerings, all-wheel-drive has been steadily gaining ground across the industry and nowhere more quickly than in the luxury market. In fact, dealers and manufacturers alike say it has become difficult to sell a non-AWD-equipped luxury vehicle in many northern regions, such as New York, anymore.
“We expect our customers to feel world-class safety and driving performance in the all-new Genesis equipped with the HTRAC system,” said Woong-Chul Yang, Vice Chairman and head of Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D Center.
The Korean maker’s HTRAC designation should be an easy one to translate, the “H” short for Hyundai, and the rest a shortened form of “Traction,” Hyundai notes.
The system uses an electronic control mechanism to split torque between the front and rear axles in response to driver input and road conditions. While Hyundai isn’t providing specific technical details it hints that the HTRAC system should allow more for a greater range in splitting torque between front and rear than many current mechanical all-wheel-drive systems.
Also remaining to be seen is whether the HTRAC system will provide for torque vectoring, the ability to control torque at individual wheels. By its nature, all-wheel-drive technology has a tendency to push a vehicle through a corner, resisting the need to turn. Several makers, including Audi, have come up with a way to use AWD to actually improve cornering, by reducing torque to individual wheels, normally those on the inside of the corner.
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Hyundai says it has tested the new HTRAC system on the demanding German Nurburgring circuit, as well as the Yeongam F1 course in Korea, while also putting it through severe winter testing in Europe.
The HTRAC system will make it into production on the second-generation Hyundai Genesis sedan – until now sold in rear-drive configuration. It debuts in the home Korean market later this year and will reach the American market in 2014.
Eventually, Hyundai said in a news release, the HTRAC system will be applied to more of its models. But the decision to roll it out on the Genesis first is no surprise. In fact, an eventual application on the bigger Equus premium luxury model would seem all but certain.
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In recent years, most luxury manufacturers, from BMW to Volvo, have begun offering AWD options on an ever-wider range of products. Earlier this year, for example, Mercedes-Benz said that going forward it would make the technology standard on all of its AMG performance models with the exception of a few special offerings, notably the SLS supercar and SL roadster.