The all-new Ford Kuga benefits from an intelligent automated all-wheel-drive system, perfect to handle a mix of road, mud, snow and icy conditions which its latest driver, skater Christopher Dean, is very familiar with.
Dean, of Torvill and Dean fame, has been using the Kuga when driving to Elstree Studio to film the new series of Dancing on Ice, letting the car cope with all weather conditions when he steps off the ice.
The Kuga’s Ford-engineered system evaluates road conditions every 16 milliseconds – about 20 times faster than the blink of an eye – and adjusts the power split from the front wheels to back to give drivers a precise blend of handling and traction at all times, reducing wheel-spin, yaw rate error and torque steer.
During snowy, icy and wet conditions that cause excess wheel-slip, the intelligent ‘torque on demand’ system can send up to 100 per cent of available drivetrain power to the front or rear axles, and determines the power distribution by measuring wheel speed differences in correlation with driver steering input and throttle position.
Anthony Ireson, Ford of Britain marketing director said: “The all-new Ford Kuga’s intelligent all-wheel-drive system, complete with a handy information screen displaying the torque demand on each wheel, offers improved ride and handling.
“Complemented by the Torque Vectoring System, Electronic Stability Programme, trailer sway and roll stability control, it is also easy to understand how the Kuga has achieved its five-star Euro NCAP rating.”
