What's the news?
Ford Ireland is introducing its new 'Intelligent All Wheel Drive' transmission to the Galaxy, Mondeo and S-Max models as the company continues to expand its product offering. The all-wheel drive systems in each car carefully monitor the speed of each wheel in relation to the vehicle's speed. If the system detects that a wheel is slipping it reacts in under 20 milliseconds to adjust the power delivery to other wheels to compensate.
The need for all-wheel drive doesn't just include being able to go off-road, it can make driving in slippery conditions that bit safer. Buyers in Ireland can now avail of such a system in the Ford Mondeo, as well as the larger Ford Galaxy and S-MAX models. On the commercial vehicles side, the Ford Transit can also be specified with a similar Intelligent All Wheel Drive system that features a selectable all-wheel drive lock mode for trickier conditions.
Back in 2012 there was just three models in the Ford line-up that featured all- or four-wheel drive, now it is offered across eight of the 17 models in Europe. If Ford manages to sell the 139,000 such transmissions it expects to this year it will represent a 120 per cent increase compared to 2014. Ford claims the uptake in such transmissions is helped by its new Intelligent All Wheel Drive having a minimal impact on fuel efficiency as well as CO2 emissions in comparison to permanent all-wheel drive transmissions. The Intelligent All Wheel Drive system can still split torque delivery evenly between the front and rear wheels.
Commenting on the expansion of Ford's all-wheel drive models, Ciarán McMahon, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford Ireland, said: "We are delighted to be demonstrating these Intelligent All Wheel Drive vehicles to the media and customers in Ireland. These vehicles enable us to offer a growing number of customers the right technology that meets the needs of their daily lives".
Anything else?
In comparison to front-wheel drive transmissions these all-wheel drive versions carry an average cost premium of €3,200 on the Galaxy, Mondeo and S-MAX models in Ireland.