MD-AWD-150

THE MD-AWD-150. Fixed wheelbase, linked AWD performance dynamometer.

The AWD-150 model comes with a K140 Model Eddy Current Power Absorber that has a maximum load capacity of 625 horsepower and a total power measurement capacity of 2,000-hp in AWD Mode.

The key to designing an AWD dynamometer properly is to understand the methods currently being used by manufacturers in the field of AWD drivetrain technology. A dynamometer that can accommodate various types of AWD vehicle transmissions and wheelbases without excessive complication and, more importantly, without risking damage to a client’s AWD system is paramount.

Full time AWD vehicles are designed to provide maximum performance regardless of road conditions. In cases where traction is less than ideal, a vehicle may be designed to improve stability and traction at the expense of power. This means adding torque to a spinning wheel or retarding of timing. In order to properly test an AWD vehicle for peak performance, an AWD chassis dynamometer must be able to simulate ideal road-load conditions to the vehicle. This approach allows the vehicle to be evaluated under “optimum” operational conditions; whereby torque is distributed to the vehicle’s tires in the same manner that would normally occur when a vehicle has equal traction at all four drive wheels, and is therefore operating at peak efficiency.

To achieve this, Mustang’s AWD-150 incorporates a linked drive system that synchronizes the front and back rollers to simulate a flat, dry road condition. Synchronization, or linkage, insures that the front and rear rollers are always spinning at precisely the same road speed. This process eliminates the possibility of activating a vehicle’s traction control system and also insures that a vehicle’s torque management system is operating under the assumption that the vehicle is not skidding, turning or slipping.