Mechanics invent an axle that can achieve steering angles of up to 80 degrees

Looks great!<p>Couldn&#x27;t help noticing the video appears to show the demo car also has 4WS with rear wheels also steering<p>ZF&#x27;s own page about this has a bunch more info <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zf.com&#x2F;products&#x2F;en&#x2F;cars&#x2F;stories&#x2F;maneuverable.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zf.com&#x2F;products&#x2F;en&#x2F;cars&#x2F;stories&#x2F;maneuverable.htm...</a><p>Their page also contradicts the Interesting Engineering where it said:<p>&quot;The system further requires an unusually large amount of space in the wheel wells to get that kind of angle, one that can only be achieved in front-wheel drive vehicles.&quot;<p>The ZF page states the opposite:<p>&quot;EasyTurn is suitable for vehicles with rear-wheel drive, the usual setup in electric cars. And it is ideally suited for volume segments because the MacPherson axle is compatible with around 80 percent of today&#x27;s common platforms&quot;

If you want to see some even more insane steering angles, check out drift cars. They&#x27;ve been doing this for a while now.<p>Even discounting the parking &amp; u-turn use cases, the amount of extra control you get at the extremes with more steering angle can be pretty remarkable.<p>It took me a long time to figure out why so many cars in downtown Houston had super fucked up tire arrangements (extreme camber, sticking out really far, etc). Apparently drifting setups are kind of a big deal in the car community now. Makes a lot more sense once you understand the engineering and use cases.

One of the things that make this possible is the sudden increase in space in [what was] the engine compartment, now that electric cars are more common.<p>Most small cars with petrol engines have nowhere near enough space for the wheel to turn like that.

Solution from 1927<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=QilY00dCof8" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=QilY00dCof8</a><p>This was even 90 degrees

The Triumph Spitfire is notable for a few reasons. Besides having a Center of Gravity lower than the axle, giving it zero body roll when cornering, it was also a 12’11” long car with a 12’1” turning radius. It could turn around in less than two car lengths.<p>I don’t think that’s 80° but it’s damned close. That vehicle ceased production sometime around 1979.

For those who enjoy drifting cars (in some cases at urban sideshows) there are lots of &#x27;angle kits&#x27; to tighten a vehicles steering angles, enabling the driver to break the tires loose easier. The reason why mass produced cars don&#x27;t have these is because it wears the suspension out a lot quicker and puts great stress on the bodyshell.<p>ChrisFix drift car build -How to Install an Angle Kit (Shopping Cart Angle)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;39ACFSrZJrM" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;39ACFSrZJrM</a>

It should read &quot;mechanical engineers invent...&quot;

Why stop at 80 degrees? With electric drive it&#x27;s possible to do 360 degree steering[0].<p>[0]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.proteanelectric.com&#x2F;technology&#x2F;#protean360plus" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.proteanelectric.com&#x2F;technology&#x2F;#protean360plus</a>

&gt; <i>Do you have trouble with parallel parking?</i><p>Many times when I see people having difficulty parallel parking, it’s because they don’t know when to turn and how much. They end up parked 3 feet from the curb because of their timing errors.<p>Something like this would make it easier to park in spaces, but it won’t fix of not knowing the steps to parallel park.

As much as I love these concepts, there&#x27;s a hidden externality to consider: If one car only needs extremely small margins to park, it&#x27;s possible for conventional cars ahead or behind to lose too much of their normally-expected larger buffer space, and be unable to (easily) leave.

The 1953 Bond minicar Mark C has a steering angle of 90 degree&#x27;s:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;microcarmuseum.com&#x2F;tour&#x2F;bond-mk-c.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;microcarmuseum.com&#x2F;tour&#x2F;bond-mk-c.html</a>

Fascinating to see old ideas make a comeback, like wireless power or that antique Sunbeam toaster.<p>Seems to be for a few reasons but one is that mass production seems to carry enough compromises that we eventually accept them for long enough to forget how some things were better when volumes were smaller.

One thing I am wondering - i mean, everyone in the US knows Ford invented the automobile and the diesel engine was named after an american called Vin, but since when is ZF a US-company?

I am noticing more and more how headlines are promoting the big brand names and ignoring lesser known institutions. If somebody at Stanford or MIT had developed this the headline would be “Stanford&#x2F;MIT scientists invented….”. With smaller schools they probably would have written “scientists invented”. And with ZF it’s just “mechanics”.<p>The famous get more famous and the less famous get ignored. It’s a really bad spiral that the ones that already have everting are getting all the attention.

Near the end of the article:<p><pre><code> &gt; As impressive as the video is, there is no word whether this product is ready for market or not.</code></pre>

&quot;invented&quot;. Standard stuff in drifting. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tuningblog.eu&#x2F;en&#x2F;categories&#x2F;tuning-wiki&#x2F;steering-angle-kit-294940&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tuningblog.eu&#x2F;en&#x2F;categories&#x2F;tuning-wiki&#x2F;steering...</a>

Now people who grew up in suburbs will have to find a new excuse for not being able to parallel park.

My Dyson vacuum cleaner has a mechanism that can steer in pretty much every angle that isn&#x27;t gimbal locked. If we&#x27;re still talking about things you could do without regard to practicality, it could steer in 360 degrees in a RWD.

Lots of similarities to drifting car parts...also: Doesn&#x27;t look compatible with FWD

Related tidbit about London&#x27;s black cabs:<p>&gt; London taxis must have a turning circle not greater than 8.535 m (28 ft). One reason for this is the configuration of the famed Savoy Hotel: the hotel entrance&#x27;s small roundabout meant that vehicles needed the small turning circle in order to navigate it. That requirement became the legally required turning circles for all London cabs, while the custom of a passenger&#x27;s sitting on the right, behind the driver, provided a reason for the right-hand traffic in Savoy Court, allowing hotel patrons to board and alight from the driver&#x27;s side.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Hackney_carriage#Vehicle_design" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Hackney_carriage#Vehicle_desig...</a>

Another car that will do <i>very</i> tight turns:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=S1UaC51OSPw" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=S1UaC51OSPw</a>

That&#x27;s cool.<p>However (there&#x27;s always a fly in the ointment), we&#x27;d need to see how robust it is (front axles take a real beating), and how expensive it is to equip and maintain.

This would be so much more useful on the ever growing pickup trucks in the US. Even a little tighter turning radius would help in parking lots and garages.

I&#x27;m mildly amused that the animation for the second car parallel parking seems to be placed too far forward and thus scrapes the bumper of the car in front.

Since it seems to have rear wheel steering, if each wheel can turn independently and enough, then the car could be rotated in place.

Did they test this in Rome? Because that’s probably a city with a good sized addressable market.

Puts my rage in perspective when the Chevrolet Silverado devours &gt; 22ft with its turning radius.

I couldn&#x27;t care less about in-car enterntainment systems or heated seats.<p>But this... I want this.

Drifters would love this.

Queue the accidents that will occur by over correcting in distress

To be fair, you&#x27;d have to be a mechanic to invent an axle

I prefer the surrealism of omni wheels.

hope those tires can hold up

Looks cool, but is this a solution in search of a problem?

This sort of thing keeps getting invented over and over for the past hundred years but never seems to stick, and cars stay impossible to parallel park.