Renault Austral: how the 4Control Advanced four-wheel steering system works

Renault introduced its first four-wheel steering system back in 2007. I still remember the first time I got to try it. I’m talking about 2009, give or take a year; I was working for another publication at the time, one of the most popular weekly motoring magazines of the moment.

It wasn’t the first car with four-wheel steering I had driven, since I had already tried the Honda Prelude. But to test the advantages of this system, we set up a special comparison between a Renault Laguna Coupé fitted with 4Control steering and none other than a Porsche. The results in specific tests where four-wheel steering shows its advantages, such as a slalom at different speeds, were surprising.

All this comes back to me now that Renault presents the third generation of its four-wheel steering system, called 4Control Advanced, debuting on the new Renault Austral. It seems incredible that today, a system that appears so simple to implement, especially now with the ease brought by electrification, is still reserved almost exclusively for SUVs or high-end large saloons.

The advantages of four-wheel steering

The advantages offered by a four-wheel steering system like the third generation of Renault’s 4Control remain basically the same as those of the first generation:

• Reduced turning radius, which makes manoeuvring much easier
• Greater agility on winding roads
• Greater stability when changing lanes on the motorway

In the case of the 4CONTROL Advanced system on the Austral, the rear wheels turn up to one degree in the same direction as the front wheels when driving at motorway speeds, or when taking corners above 50 km/h. In manoeuvres, the rear wheels turn up to five degrees in the opposite direction to the front wheels, which is 1.5 degrees more than in the previous generation. This allows the Austral’s turning circle between kerbs to be just 10.1 metres (compared with 11.5 for an Austral without this system), comparable to that of a Clio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL4u8ay9e9w

The system works through an electric motor that moves a rack which drives the rear wheels’ steering. With a lower steering ratio on the front axle than versions with conventional steering, the Austral with this system needs fewer degrees of steering wheel rotation to achieve the same wheel angle, making the response even more direct.

In addition, it should be noted that the Renault Austral versions with 4CONTROL Advanced use a multi-link rear suspension instead of a trailing-arm system with a torsion beam, which is more effective. How the rear wheels’ steering is actuated depends on many parameters, including the driving mode selected (Eco, Comfort or Sport) in the Multi-Sense drive modes system.

Technical specifications of this car

CrossoverRenault Austral12 versions · from 33,620 €