All-Wheel Steering Explained; Auto History: Some Karting ideas and First Look At The Land Rover Range Rover!

Four-Wheel Steering Pros And Cons

Jeff Dziekan 0:08

Yeah. But uh it was first popularized in the 80s. Uh four-wheel steering or four WS is all-wheel steering, uh AWS is all-wheel steering, relatively common, but all-wheel steering uh does have uh uh certain benefits and also has certain things that you really don't want to get involved in. So rear-wheel steering vehicles utilize a system where rear wheels can turn in conjunction or with opposite to the front wheels, enhancing maneuverability and stability. The system allows the rear wheels to turn in either direction or in the same direction as the wheels call parallel for stability at high speeds. Why four-wheel steering you might ask? Mike was asking this. Uh car manufacturers fit four-wheel steering in various reasons. High speeds, rear steering, uh rear wheels normal to turn in the same direction as the front wheels, as whereas at low speeds they would turn in an opposite direction. These drive-by-wire systems usually have no physical linkage between the steering wheel and the rear wheels, unlike earlier mechanical steering. That's comforting to know. Yeah. Uh is it the same? Well, since all cars' front wheels are steered in the front wheel, uh and some are referred to as rear steering vehicles, that would be like a forklift or a rear skid turning uh device, uh, but not strictly correct. It refers to a vehicle that has fixed front wheels and steered by the rear wheels only, such as a forklift truck. That's just data. Now, four-wheel steering is used most popular uh to handle on the best sports cars and maneuverability of some of the biggest SUVs and truck models. It's a great way to aid the handling of a large heavy-duty truck or large heavy-duty SUV and appears to be more nimble and agile as they would otherwise be. It's usually found in more expensive vehicles and not regarded to be worth the complexity, weight, and extra cost on your everyday small vehicles like your Hondas, your Toyotas, and things. Well, how does it work? Well, we just talked a little bit about that, but mainly the front wheel steering uh steers it while the rear wheels provide the motivative force in that direction. So you're saying, well, are what kind of cars do we usually get them on? Well, the engine and the drivetrain do matter on this. Uh it's report that the different speeds and different uh turning radiuses, which are very limited on some of these as well. Some of the disadvantages, you're looking at the cost. Now, if you have the system, if you were to buy it on a car nowadays, you're looking at about a five grand option for this. If it was to go out of warranty and it breaks, you're looking anywhere between an eighteen hundred dollar minimum repair per corner or just a replacement of thirty five hundred bucks per when the mechanic sees one coming in the door, this part of the guys, he goes, how does that work? Yeah. And of course, uh one of the other parts is the malfunction. If one part of it goes down, then they all go down. So it's it's pretty much uh it's the it's a risky thing to do. Various Audis, various BMWs, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsche models, and you can still get it to today. You can get a lot of them through Mercedes. Mercedes do offer it as an option when you go in there and look at those cars. And Mike just clicked on it. My favorite, which is the uh bonus pick. There's a rear-wheel drive vehicle right there. That was actually uh a four-wheel drive vehicle. A rear-wheel drive. Four-wheel steering. Uh so the tires on this Lunar Rover were uh a wire mesh composite uh for durability to add to the temperatures so that they didn't sink in the sand and the and the moon dust and all that good stuff. But that vehicle was on Apollo 15, 16, and 17, and they're still up there. So I think, Mike, what we need to do is send you up there to bring them back on a flatbed, and we'll check them up.

Don Armstrong 3:49

Oh yeah.

Jeff Dziekan 3:50

That would be fun.

Don Armstrong 3:51

Okay, good. Well, that what a great that great feature.

Jeff Dziekan 3:54

I took that uh at uh Johnson Space Center. That was a display. Oh, really? Yeah, that's a good idea. So that's why I've sent it to Mike Lake. Let's get over to driving.

Houston Go-Kart Tracks With Personality

Don Armstrong 4:08

Let's get over to driving destinations. Mr. Mars has that. We're talking about go-karting.

Mike Marrs 4:13

Yeah, so we're gonna stay along the same lines of something that's fun to drive. So if you're looking for something that goes beyond the big indoor uh chains, you know, like around Houston, there's a couple of places, big multi-story buildings that uh take up several blocks. And it's so if you're looking for something that gets a little more personality, a little bit more host or history, or some old school Texas vibes, then we've got a few of those that we can look at. So we're gonna start with uh the go-kart raceway, great name off uh West Mount Houston Road in Houston. But for decades, it's been kind of a quiet, but it's been one of Houston's best old school outdoor kart tracks. Survived after all the similar family entertainment centers have all disappeared. Now they've all got some sort of arcade system and everything built in with it, but it's all part of trying to make that family experience to go along with it. But now this facility includes the arcade games, laser tag, and the 1960s vibe, just an old school vibe that uh families can go to, particularly the younger riders, because they've got four different levels of carts. You got regular carts, you got two seaters so that you can take and ride with the kids. They've also got what they call the supercarts, which you've got to be 15, at least 15 years old to drive, or they've got an F1 cart that you've got to be 16 with a driver's license to be able to drive. So they got a lot of variety there out there on their tracks. Then uh the second one would be Speedy's Fast Track up off Hempstead Road. Now, it's really been a neighborhood type entertainment center because that's what they've built and that's what they've kept. And that's alongside Hempstead Road, so there's a lot of attractions there with go-karts, mini golf, laser tags, and some arcade games. It's kind of a compact place, but it's all uh something you can get to, and it's a little more personal than you find with a national polish change with a lot of the neon lights and flashing indoor racing type things. It's not a big track, but it's got a lot of tight turns that might think you about the old school when you were a kid and you used to go and drive on them. And because it all keeps all the racing close, it's lively and it's very competitive because it's all such like a short track. Now, you can make it for a great casual date night destination because it balances fun. You got a little bit of atmosphere, you got lots of different things you can do at Speedy's to get because of the quirky personality that keeps people coming back year after year. This made this a really great place to go do. Now, the other one, it's a little more upscale, is Speed Sports Racing Park. We've talked to these spies before, and I brought them in because they are out of the way. They're up in New Caney, so they're up in Southeast Texas, if you will, and they've got a lot of arcades, of course. And you know, they do a lot of birthday parties and they got a big venue there. That's but it's all into motorsports culture. The outdoor track is fast, it's very technical, and it's designed for drivers who want to improve lap times because they do have league racing here that you can get involved with. They also have driver coaching that you can get involved with. So whether you're a beginner or you get into the competitive cart racing, uh, you can see different levels of driving on this track that'll reach that everybody can participate on. And uh they also actually do have a racing academy that you can sign up for if you really want to get into it and get serious. Then the next one, I was surprised to find this one, MSR in Houston. We talk about MSR in Houston a lot because of the road course on it, but did not know about the carting. Wow. They actually have carting. Now, this is down in Angleton. Uh they've got uh where they, along with all their track for their road track for their cars and stuff, it is a track that's set up for golf carts. Now, it's part of that like larger complex, it's a shorter track. Uh it's a three-quarter mile part of the track, and you've got to be at least 13 years old to get on this course and get on this track because it is a little skillful. I mean, it takes some skill and you've got to be able to drive it. And because the track itself is long, it's smooth, and it's quick enough that you're gonna get some speed up. And I think they can get up to like 45 miles an hour in this course, and so you've got with the turns and stuff, you've got concrete walls. It's a racetrack for cars that you're gonna get into in a golf in a go-kart. So you gotta be uh I gotta have some skills, you gotta pay a little bit of attention. The the last one I found that uh I thought was really interesting. Now, this is down in Galveston. So it's still, I consider that still part of the Houston area, but it's down on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston. It's the Galveston Go-Kart and Fun Center. Now, this is Beachtown. We're talking resort, Beachtown Energy. It's got a lot of uh charm to it because of the retro family amusement park setting it's in. Along the seawall, it's very easy to be part of that beach atmosphere. A lot of people on vacations going down here. But they've also got the outdoor cart track, and it's not really ultra competitive, but it's great for going out just to go for a ride that you want to get quick on and maybe have a little family racing setup or just something to do on vacation, like a lot of towns across the country. They do have arcade games and they've got uh a lot of other things like pool tables. Uh they do have some axe throwing that Don found real popular one time. We were talking about that. Then we also have a virtual reality roller coaster that I thought was rather I was trying to understand.

Don Armstrong 9:36

Don't even talk to me about roller coasters, okay? No, no, but it's a virtual one.

Mike Marrs 9:40

You just put on the headset and go, man. Okay. Well, thank you very much.

Don Armstrong 9:44

Yeah, we appreciate that. Driving destinations go-karting around the Houston area. Thank you, Mr. Mars. In real time cart.

This Week In Auto History Highlights

Don Armstrong 9:55

So Mr. Mars has this week in auto history, and um we're ready when you are, Mike.

Mike Marrs 10:01

All righty. This week we found a few stories that we thought were rather interesting, and of course, the Indianapolis 500 was just finished up. Excuse me, and and I found another little story about it. But actually, the very first Indianapolis 500 was on May the 30th of 1911. Now, it may it that's the start of the most famous race in American history. Now, the car winning car was a Marmon Wasp. This was a revolutionary single-seat car, had one of the earliest rear view mirrors, and that's significant because that's another thing that came out of the racing world and became into production cars, as well as some of the other features for the engineering advancements on this car that kind of influenced cars made for the public sector for the next several centuries. So the also this week was the introduction of the diesel passenger car. Now at the Berlin Motor Show, Mercedes Benz introduced the 260D, which is generally recognized as the first series production diesel passenger car. There were diesel engines, obviously, out in trucks and uh tractors and railroad gear, but this was the first one that was set up for everyday automobiles and improved the efficiency and the reliability of the diesel motor in that in the category. Now, it's long been held over in Europe. They've always used diesels a lot more than what we would here, but this is where it started and where it brought it into uh common usage. Now in 1934, this is really interesting. I did not know this existed, but it was the birth of the Chrysler Airflow era.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Wow.

Mike Marrs 11:38

Now, they started production of this automotive design thinking that Chrysler engineers were going to use the wind tunnel testing and the airflow, which was actually a model of a car that was produced from 1934 to 1937, and it was a unibody vehicle that I did not even know existed back then. I like it. So uh Sir.

Jeff Dziekan 12:01

I said I like it.

Mike Marrs 12:02

Yeah. It it's got a lot of features on it, including the uh it sits down low, it's got a waterfall type grill to it. The uh windshield was technology advanced because instead of it being one piece of glass that was flat, it's two pieces that come up to that V that you can see sectioned off right there. Uh it sets a little lower, it's got the wheel wheel coverings that kind of come over the tires. There's a lot of things that were done because of the wind tunnel testing that they developed on this car. And it's a shame they only produced it for three years, but they also produced one over in the DeSoto line as well as the Chrysler line, but it just never was publicly accepted. I mean, they just couldn't sell many of them. I think it was only like about 7,000, was actually they ended up selling it across three years, and uh they pulled it from production. But it was another one of those things ahead of its time. Yes, in 1986, Henry Ford's quadricycle hits the road. Now, this was the first you just said 1986? 1886. Excuse me. 1896. Yeah, there you go.

Jeff Dziekan 13:05

1896, okay.

Mike Marrs 13:06

Yeah, let me let me turn my glasses around. Okay. So this was uh in Detroit, and this was a four-wheeled vehicle powered by a small gasoline engine. Now, this is Ford's earliest practical automobile, and this is what he started off building the whole Ford Motor Company from. It's absolutely very primitive, but if you think about it, some of the things that as kids that we tried to build little go-karts, our own little motorized powers, it was basically that four wheels and a motor with some sort of steering. In uh 1928, Chrysler produced purchases the Dodge Brothers. Now, the interesting thing about this is the the Dodge Brothers were originally parts suppliers to all of the manufacturers at the time, including Ford. So in 1914, they decided to start building their own automobiles. And so through that production, and then it came up in 1928 after both brothers had uh died for one of them was under the Spanish flu, and the other one, they're not really sure, but they think it was related to that. So the family then ended up selling it, and Chrysler ended up buying it through a couple of other transactions. And what it did, it gave Chrysler, expanded their production ability to bring things in and make Chrysler that started Chrysler into becoming one of the big three of Detroit. Uh and uh yeah, and that's the things that I found that were interesting. Some of them I didn't even know existed in automobile history.

Don Armstrong 14:32

I saw the Marmon Wasp, it's in the uh Indianapolis Museum uh at the Indianapolis Speedway, and I got to see, and I think you did too, Mike, that uh that Chrysler Airflow. That was in the Chrysler Museum there in Auburn Hills when we went to visit. That's very cool. Yeah, yeah, and that those cars are around, but you have to seek them out. You just you know they don't show up at at the cruise inn or something.

Mike Marrs 14:55

No, yeah, they're they're very special cars and they treat them that way, fortunately.

Don Armstrong 14:58

All right, time now for the uh timeout for this hour's car review.

2025 Range Rover Review Real Talk

Don Armstrong 15:07

Had a chance to drive the 2025 Land Rover Range Rover that is built in Sully Hull, England.

Jeff Dziekan 15:19

Sully Hull.

Don Armstrong 15:19

Okay. Um so it's available in these trim levels. Don't laugh. The P400 S E the P550E, the S E, the P 530 S E. And um I had the S E LWB. What does that mean? Long wheelbase. Is that what it is? Yeah, okay. Long wheelbase. Seven seats, the autobiography, uh P615 SV.

Jeff Dziekan 15:56

A lot of P's in that.

Don Armstrong 15:57

There's I I don't quite understand all of that, but whatever the case may be, a beautiful vehicle. Standard SUV, so body on frame, seven seats, all new in 2022. They don't change these over a quick period of time. Look at that interior. Yeah, so exterior straight lines and smooth body panels. Front fascia is straightforward in design with a rectangular grille, very conservative, unique rear hatch with the rectangular highlight. It is stunning to look at. Concentric wheel openings. I'm sorry.

Jeff Dziekan 16:32

I was gonna say that you know an old school watch from you know the 50s to the square. That's what that looks like. It does.

Don Armstrong 16:38

Yeah, yeah. Uh, what I liked about it, the fit and finish of this thing is unbelievable. There's no side sculpting in the bodywork. Think smooth and no stupid roof rack. Roof rack. What a dumb thing. I know. And why ruin all that line with a roof rack? Well, they don't have that. We could use improvement, nothing. Interior highlights. Overall, beautiful, high-class design with top-of-the-line materials, large tablet style center infotainment screen, horizontal dash lines with a smallish instrument screen, but who looks at that anyway, unless the red light comes on. This is luxury at its finest. Take note, Cadillac. Something for Lincoln also that they should look into to mirror this. Um what I liked about it? Classy Luxo vibe. Look at use improvement. The third row is for two kids only. That's it. They squeeze the thing back there, and you can put the grandkids back there, and then they'll love it, squealing with delight. Uh screen controls can be hard to understand. It is an English vehicle designed in England, owned by an Indian company called Tata. Tata Motors. Engine. Three-liter, turbocharged, inline six-cylinder with 395 horsepower, 406 pound feet of torque, eight-speed automatic transmission. Toll rating? 7,715 pounds. That's from that straight six. Uh mileage. Do we really care? But just in case you did, it gets 19 in the city, 24 in the highway for a combined at 21. I got 19.4 miles per gallon over 371 miles. What I liked, plenty of power through this straight six. This is the same straight six that they use in the Jaguar lines as well. What could use improvement? The 5,240-pound curb weight is a little on the heavy side. And it kind of feels that way. Yeah. Start and stop. It's to go away. That is the dumbest feature ever. And especially when you're dealing with a luxury car, is it going to make you feel better because you're saving ounces of gas? Yeah. No, that needs to go away.

Jeff Dziekan 18:57

So there's no there's no offsh with the switch you couldn't turn on. I couldn't find it. Oh wow.

Don Armstrong 19:01

If there is one, I couldn't find it.

Jeff Dziekan 19:02

So was it really?

Don Armstrong 19:04

This thing is as smooth as glass. What could use improvement? Nothing. This is not a corner carver. This is a you drive this thing with respect like a sophisticated driver should. Turn your nose up, say what you will. This is one awesome SUV.

Jeff Dziekan 19:24

Get the great coupon. Get it ready.

Don Armstrong 19:26

Okay. Now you also have to get ready for the price.

Jeff Dziekan 19:28

Oh, yeah. I'm sitting down.

Don Armstrong 19:29

You ready? Yep. Okay. Base trim price, $117,200. Price is tested. Got to drive the $128,695 version. Now you can touch you. You can slip into one of these at the base model price of $107, yeah $900.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Oh, what are you doing?

Don Armstrong 19:55

So when you see one of these, you're gonna you gotta look at the guy that's driver girl that's driving it and going. For whatever the reason me.

unknown 20:04

All right.

Don Armstrong 20:05

So competitors, the Lexus LX 600, $107,000. Cadillac Escalade, Cheapo at $91,100. And the the only other thing that I could really come close to is the Mercedes Benz Maybach GLS for $180,000.

Jeff Dziekan 20:23

Oh wow. That's the other direction. Yeah.

Don Armstrong 20:25

Um next week, the GMC Sierra EV Truck Mobile. That's what I'll review. So that was a fun ride. Thank you very much, Land Rover, Range Rover, for letting me drive it. I promise I didn't put a dent or ding in it anywhere, and I turned it in just like I found it.

Mike Marrs 20:43

Hey Don?

Don Armstrong 20:44

Well, yes, Mike. It was. It was, unfortunately, yes.

Jeff Dziekan 20:57

I think any start stop is noticeable.

Mike Marrs 20:59

Well, I think I just thought maybe they hit it a little bit better.

Jeff Dziekan 21:02

No, they didn't. If I if I don't turn mine off, I've I've well wait a minute. Next thing I gotta do is I gotta turn that off.

Start Stop Gripes And Email Us

Don Armstrong 21:08

Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us, send us an email. The address is info at n wheeltime.com.

Jeff Dziekan 21:12

We're back after this.