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Technology Spotlight: Mazda’s G-Vectoring

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2016 Mazda6 on gray

Meet Mazda’s newest technology: G-Vectoring Control, a system installed on its cars to keep them, basically, from jerking around so much when coming out of a turn.

You see, when you turn the wheel, there is always a short period of lag between when you start turning and when the wheels start turning. As a result, a driver has to make corrections while turning and often feels a side-to-side jerk when the entire car starts going straight again.

So, how does G-Vectoring solve this problem? Like a wrestler bracing for an impact, G-Vectoring shifts the car’s weight, in this case to the front tires during the turn-in. Of course, it can’t do this by literally moving the car’s components forward. Instead, the system rotates the car around its center of mass by reducing engine torque. This causes a slight deceleration, causing the car to lean forward onto its front wheels. This in turn increases the wheels’ grip, and this the vehicle’s responsiveness.

This system can even adjust for how hard you turn that wheel—the harder you yank it to the side, the more torque is cut to increase traction. If you stop turning and keep your wheel in the steady position, torque returns and the weight shifts backward for better stability.

This system only engages when the accelerator is being pressed and the wheel is turning, and in any case only lowers torque a little bit, but leads to an all-around smoother ride. As Mazda says of the system, the benefits are “subtle, yet important.”

G-Vectoring will be standard on all 2017 Mazda6 models, with a roll-out to the rest of the lineup following after.

News Source: Jalopnik