Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Masayuki Hikita

Tetsuro Hamada

Koji Kuroda

Takayuki Yakou

Kazunori Kobayashi

A 4-wheel drive vehicle has a driving force control method in which a portion of a driving force for front wheels is distributed to rear wheels through clutches. In a 4-wheel drive state in which a driving force T.sub.p is distributed to rear wheels, for example, if the vehicle is turned leftwards to generate a difference W.sub.R -W.sub.L between left and right rear wheel speeds, it is ensured that a driving force T.sub.R distributed to the right rear wheel, which is an outer wheel during turning of the vehicle, is larger than a driving force T.sub.L distributed to the left rear wheel, which is an inner wheel during turning of the vehicle, thereby providing an enhancement in turning performance. As the difference W.sub.R -W.sub.L between the left and right rear wheel speeds is increased as a result of decreasing of the turning radius of the vehicle, the driving force T.sub.P (=T.sub.L +T.sub.R) distributed to the rear wheels is decreased to avoid an increase in travel resistance. Thus, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as a deterioration of specific fuel consumption, an abnormal sound generated in a drive system and an increase in the load of the drive system due to an increase in travel resistance during turning of the vehicle.

Growing community of inventors

Wako, Japan

Masayuki Hikita