2013 Ford Escape All-Wheel Drive System Stops Skid Before It Happens

Ford is touting its all-wheel drive system in the 2013 Escape. Ford has tuned the system to scan the road surface 20 times a second, and Ford claims that the system can detect and stop a loss of traction before it even happens. 

The all-wheel drive system can send all of the vehicle's torque front-to-back depending on the need. Ford claims that it is the first time that a torque vectoring all-wheel drive system and Curve Control have been brought together in an SUV. The Curve Control system sends torque to the rear during cornering to prevent understeer. 

The system uses 25 sensors including wheel speed and steering input to calculate every 16 milliseconds where the driver wants the car to go and where the car would go. It then adjusts the all-wheel drive system to help drivers do what they want the truck to do. 

The system displays how the torque is being vectored on a display in the cockpit.