All four wheels are powering the next step in the
evolution of the luxury-car business: the rise of all-wheel drive.
汽车的全部四个轮子正共同协力推动着豪华汽车业向着新的方向迈进:全轮驱动的兴起。
在很多消费者眼里,一辆高性能豪华轿车的典型特征早就被定性为一辆由一台六缸或八缸的大功率发动机驱动后轮的汽车。而现在,能将动力输送到全部四个车轮的汽车越来越受人青睐,其销量在美国气候较寒冷地区占了豪华汽车销量的一半或者一半以上。即便在不下雪的那些州,其销量在豪华汽车中的比重也达到了15%,与过去的一位数比例相比已经有了明显增长。许多行业高管说,全轮驱动在美国市场现在是一项必备的技术。
The epitome of a high-performance,
luxury sedan for many consumers has long been a car with a big six- or eight-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels. Now, cars that send power to all four wheels are gaining traction, accounting for half or more of luxury-car sales in the colder parts of the U.S. and as much as 15% of sales even in snow-free states, up from single-digit shares in the past. Many industry executives say all-wheel drive is now a must-have technology for the U.S. market.
通用汽车公司(General Motors Co.)全球营销总监吉姆•沃皮勒(Jim Vurpillat)说,"这甚至都不存在什么争议。"豪华汽车买家希望自己购买的庄重的豪华轿车上配备有全轮驱动系统,他说,这就是为什么凯迪拉克(Cadillac)新出品的紧凑型轿车ATS、大型轿车XTS以及中型轿车CTS都有全轮驱动版车型的原因。
可能引起争议的问题是,全轮驱动系统带来的安全和性能方面的好处是否真的物有所值,因为配置了全轮驱动系统后汽车制造商一般都会加价2,000-3,000美元,而硬件安装导致的重量增加会让汽车单位油耗的行驶里程减少。
'It's not even a debate,' says Jim Vurpillat, global marketing
director for General Motors Co.'s Cadillac brand. Luxury-car buyers expect all-wheel drive to be
available on any serious
luxury sedan, he says, which is why Cadillac is
offering the technology on its new
compact ATS and large XTS sedans, as well as its midsize CTS model.
美国公路损失数据研究所(The Highway Loss Data Institute)对2008-2010车型年份内的10款热销的中型豪华轿车进行了碰撞数据统计,每一款轿车既有两轮驱动车型,也有全轮驱动车型。全轮驱动汽车在其中的四款车型中碰撞率更高,在六款车型中碰撞率低于两轮驱动轿车。
安全专家强调,全轮驱动系统可以帮助汽车在光滑路面上提速,但它并不能打破控制摩擦的物理定律,也不能消除冰雪路面上摩擦力缺少的现象。
What is debatable is whether all-wheel drive delivers enough safety and
performance benefits for the $2,000 to $3,000 extra
charge car makers typically add to the price tag, as well as the mileage
penalty that the extra weight of all-wheel-drive
hardware still exacts in most cars.
《消费者报告》(Consumer Reports)在易造成打滑的天气条件下对丰田卡罗拉(Toyota Corolla)和路虎(Land Rover)的性能作了对比,《消费者报告》汽车评测栏目的共同主管杰克•费希尔(Jake Fisher)说,最后发现卡罗拉──轮胎窄车身轻──在雪地里的停车速度远快于那辆厚重的、全轮驱动的豪华SUV。
就连力主将全轮驱动系统推广至更多车型的行业高管们也说,在促进对全轮驱动系统的需求方面,情感因素和确切的数据起到了同样重要的作用。
The Highway Loss Data Institute compiled
collisionstatistics for 10 popular midsize
luxury sedans from the 2008-2010 model years that had both two-wheel and all-wheel-drive models. The all-wheel-drive cars had higher
collision rates in four model lines, and lower
collision rates for six.
捷豹汽车(Jaguar Cars)北美销售公司的营销副总裁大卫•普莱尔(David Pryor)说,"这是个信心问题。"捷豹将在其2013款的XJ和XF轿车上首次配置全轮驱动系统。普莱尔说,在售价为53,000美元的XF所在的竞争区间,五年内全轮驱动汽车在市场中的比重从30%上升到了50%。他说,"这种增长趋势还没见停止。"
为提高全轮驱动的吸引力,汽车制造商和他们的动力传动系统供应商都在努力把它的缺点减少到最小程度,尤其是在燃油经济性方面。
Safety experts
stress that all-wheel drive can help with acceleration on a slick surface, but it doesn't
repeal the laws of physics governing friction, or the lack of it on snowy roads.
德国大众汽车公司(Volkswagen AG)的豪华汽车品牌奥迪(Audi)30年多前就已经开始推出配备"卡特罗"(Quattro)全轮驱动系统的汽车,如今该公司正在推出一个重量更轻、旨在提高操控性和速度的新系统。奥迪汽车美国运营部的产品规划经理巴里•霍克(Barry Hoch)说,这个全新设计的可以将引擎动力传送到各个车轮的系统──名为中央差速器──重量从前一代系统的15磅减到了11磅。这个新系统占用汽车底盘的空间更少,而且不再那么影响燃油效率了。
奥迪同时也在试验混合动力的全轮驱动系统,这种系统使用电动机代替变速箱,使用光纤代替传动轴。
Consumer Reports compared the slick weather
performance of a Toyota Corolla to a Land Rover and concluded that the Corolla -- with its thin tires and light body -- stopped much more quickly in snow than the burly, all-wheel-drive,
luxury SUV, says Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' co-director of auto testing.
博格华纳公司(BorgWarner Corp.)负责全轮驱动技术的产品战略主管约翰•巴腊吉(John Barlage)说,通过使用电子器件,用重量轻的铝材替代钢材,并利用设计变化彻底淘汰某些部件,综合路况下每加仑燃油行驶里程方面的损失可以减少一至二英里。
博格华纳公司将其技术出售给奥迪、凯迪拉克和其它汽车品牌。据该公司预测,全轮驱动轿车的产量每年将有大约8%的增长,并且持续到2017年以后。
Even industry executives who are pushing all-wheel drive into more models say demand for it is
driven as much by
emotion as hard data.
汽车制造商也在大力宣扬全轮驱动系统提高汽车性能的特性──这一点业已证明可以激起豪华汽车购买者的兴趣。
奥迪及其豪车竞争对手所使用的全轮驱动系统并不总是将动力平均分配给四个车轮。它们可以连续不断地在前后轮及左右轮之间改变动力流量,对汽车的制动、转向或其它系统传来的数据作出响应。系统能够给汽车一侧的车轮输送少许额外动力,即使在干燥路面,也能帮助汽车更加平顺地完成急转弯。
'It's about confidence,' says David Pryor, vice president of marketing for Jaguar Cars North American sales arm. Jaguar will offer all-wheel drive on its cars for the first time on its 2013 XJ and XF sedans. In the
segment in which the $53,000 XF competes, Mr. Pryor says all-wheel-drive cars have moved in five years from just 30% of the market to about 50%. 'We haven't seen it plateau,' he says.
霍克说,"当一名普通驾驶员无计可施之际,卡特罗全轮驱动系统就是一个有力的助手。"
全轮驱动系统还能帮助汽车提速。保时捷(Porsche)公司称,一辆售价为75,850美元、车重3,880磅的后驱保时捷帕纳梅拉(Porsche Panamera)轿车从0到60英里时速的加速时间为六秒,而一辆价格高出4,600美元、净重多出132磅的全轮驱动帕纳梅拉四型车从0英里提速到60英里时速的时间只有5.8秒。
To boost the
appeal of all-wheel drive, car makers and their drivetrain-technology suppliers are
working to
minimize the disadvantages, particularly in fuel economy.
福特汽车公司(Ford Motor Co.)林肯(Lincoln)品牌的集团营销经理C.J.奥唐纳(C.J. O'Donnell)说,"如果你把动力分配到四个车轮上,你会得到更大的突破效果。"
这就是为什么林肯汽车在争取让其新出的MKZ轿车在销量上与雷克萨斯(Lexus)ES这样的畅销车对手并驾齐驱的过程中,全轮驱动会起到核心作用的原因。奥康纳说,雷克萨斯ES没有推出全轮驱动版车型。
Volkswagen AG's Audi
luxury brand, which began
offering cars equipped with its 'Quattro' all-wheel-drive
system more than 30 years ago, is launching a new
system that is lighter, and designed to improve handling and speed. The newly designed
system that sends engine power to the wheels -- called a center differential -- weighs 11 pounds, down from 15 pounds in the
previousgeneration system, says Barry Hoch, a product-planning
manager for Audi's U.S. operations. The new
system takes up less room in the car's chassis and is less of a drag on fuel efficiency.
雷克萨斯说,它的ES车型顾客对这款车的前驱系统性能非常满意,那些锺情于全轮驱动汽车的顾客可以选择该品牌的顶级产品LS460及其IS和GS轿跑车型。