Several manufacturers offer selectable locking rear differentials as part of their off-road option packages. Electronic lockers are designed to allow for 100 percent of the available torque (sent from the engine through the driveshaft) to distribute all available traction between the two tires.
With this map, the gas pedal requires more travel to produce the usual amount of throttle opening, resulting in less jerkiness and jump. That makes it easier for the driver to apply the right amount of throttle in precarious situations. And what enthusiast can complain about technology that makes us better drivers?
Flexible Electronics
by Dan Carney
Not all electronic off-road devices are in the powertrain. In many cases, better traction comes from improved suspension control. Case in point: Dodge's electronically disconnecting front anti-roll bar. Off-roaders have long known that to keep the tires on the ground, you need maximum articulation, which means disconnecting the anti-roll bars. Under normal conditions, it's the job of these bars to encourage the left and right tires to compress and extend at the same time to limit excessive lean through curves. But off-pavement, drivers want each wheel to do its own thing as much as possible, seeking maximum grip no matter how far the suspension might have to stretch to reach the ground. Some off-road enthusiasts have been known to whip out a wrench at the trailhead to disconnect the links and at the trail's end to reattach. But that's all changed--the new Dodge Power Wagon Ram offers a pushbutton anti-roll-bar disconnect.
An electromechanical coupling in the middle of the bar disengages the right and left halves when the button's pushed, and, because the system's electronic, it's easy to retain on-road handling by making the system too smart to disconnect at highway speeds. If you forget to press the button when heading off the trail and onto the highway, the computer will automatically reconnect the bars for you. So forget about "I, Robot" scenarios where machines try to spoil things for humans. These electronics are here to help us. Really.
The Dodge Ram Power Wagon (lead image) uses an electronic front anti-roll bar disconnect coupler to control how much movement, or flex, the front axle will have. The push-button disconnect is partnered with push-button electronic front and rear locking differentials to make the Power Wagon a formidable steep-trail climber.