GKN awd vs the Haldex in my Chevy Equinox

[wbwanzer]

I currently have a 2016 Equinox with a Haldex AWD system that works well for my needs. I don't go rock crawling or even off road for that matter. The awd is mainly for peace of mind in snow. It has no torque vectoring. But to the best of my knowledge it starts up from a standstill with some power to the rear wheels up until some specified speed is reached. Then is activated if front wheel slippage is detected.

I understand that the new Equinoxes have a GKN system. In that vehicle there is no torque vectoring either, which I'm ok with. What I would like to know is if the GKN system also starts up from a standstill with the awd activated? The new Equinox has a button that has to be pushed for the AWD to work at all, but assuming that the button has been pushed, will some power be sent to the rear every time I start from a standstill?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by wbwanzer
I currently have a 2016 Equinox with a Haldex AWD system that works well for my needs. I don't go rock crawling or even off road for that matter. The awd is mainly for peace of mind in snow. It has no torque vectoring. But to the best of my knowledge it starts up from a standstill with some power to the rear wheels up until some specified speed is reached. Then is activated if front wheel slippage is detected.
I understand that the new Equinoxes have a GKN system. In that vehicle there is no torque vectoring either, which I'm ok with. What I would like to know is if the GKN system also starts up from a standstill with the awd activated? The new Equinox has a button that has to be pushed for the AWD to work at all, but assuming that the button has been pushed, will some power be sent to the rear every time I start from a standstill? Thanks for any help.


Don't have an Equinox, but I'd venture that if you do have to push a button that would be to lock the differential. Normally all electronically controlled AWD put power to all wheels upon starting from a standstill.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Originally Posted by Pelican
Don't have an Equinox, but I'd venture that if you do have to push a button that would be to lock the differential. Normally all electronically controlled AWD put power to all wheels upon starting from a standstill.
No. I have an '18 Equinox AWD. The button is simply to engage rotating parts at the front differential all the way through to the rear axle.... Its not GKN. It uses:

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
"Who supplies the Equinox's new disconnecting rear-axle set-up? That's the American Axle system called EcoTrac." https://www.sae.org/news/2017/04/engineering-chevys-lighter-stronger-cuv ....."The system disconnects at the power transfer unit (PTU) and the rear drive module (RDM) allowing large portions of the driveline to stop rotating while in front-wheel drive mode, including both the PTU and RDM hypoid gear sets, the bearings associated with the gear sets, and the driveshaft." --- https://www.aam.com/media/story/aam-s-next-generation-ecotrac-increases-

A GM engineer was a part of an Equinox video and flashed some info on the screen, maybe used to educate salespeople or technicians at the dealership. It shows the specific parts in green which do not move unless AWD is engaged via a button on the dash. When engaged, the engineer said something about the Control Laws (software algorithms) using clever heuristic predictive smarts to figure out how to send torque to which wheel, could be quite advanced:

--- from https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4513390/1

 

[wbwanzer]

Thanks oil_film_movies. Interesting. It sounds like a smarter AWD system than in my '16, but I'm still not sure if the rear engages every time on startup from a standstill (assuming the AWD button was pushed). I just like knowing that the rear is working to some degree when I start from a stop. I also like that when changing oil on my Equinox that it walks right up my ramps without the front wheels slipping. I've had some front drive cars where the fronts would slip some trying to get on the ramps. With the Equinox no slipping because not all of the power is to the fronts and the rears are pushing.

Also nice catch about American Axle instead of GKN. I had been told on another forum that the new Equinoxes used GKN.

 

[oil_film_movies]

wbwanzer, It is confusing about GKN vs. AmericanAxle on GM vehicles. GM doesn't talk about it much, and GKN units are indeed found on Traverse, Acadia, Regal TouringX, XT5, and probably a couple I've missed. GKN units are on Ford Focus RS hot hatches as well. GKNs are more upscale with their twin rear clutches.

American Axle units, when AWD is engaged, probably do put some torque on the rear wheels. I don't know what the percent is. I haven't found a solid source of tech info on it.
My only other direct experience with AWD was on an '07 BMW 530xi, which I once read always sent 40% to the front in the dry (no slipping), the rest to the rear, unless of course wheel slip was detected.

 

[wbwanzer]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
wbwanzer, It is confusing about GKN vs. AmericanAxle on GM vehicles. GM doesn't talk about it much, and GKN units are indeed found on Traverse, Acadia, Regal TouringX, XT5, and probably a couple I've missed. GKN units are on Ford Focus RS hot hatches as well. GKNs are more upscale with their twin rear clutches.

American Axle units, when AWD is engaged, probably do put some torque on the rear wheels. I don't know what the percent is. I haven't found a solid source of tech info on it.
My only other direct experience with AWD was on an '07 BMW 530xi, which I once read always sent 40% to the front in the dry (no slipping), the rest to the rear, unless of course wheel slip was detected.


Thanks. I guess the higher end stuff get the GKN units and the Chevys get the American Axle. But you're happy with your '18 Equinox AWD so far? Has it been used in snow conditions? I had mine out the other day in about six inches of virgin snow (no tracks to ride in) and was very pleased. This is my first AWD vehicle and that was the most snow I've had it in.

 

[oil_film_movies]

18 Equinox AWD works pretty well. Had it out in some storms, and it laid down torque at all wheels & seemed to get through OK.
Without a real test, it is hard to tell if it truly is superior to anything else out there. I do know the current Cherokee uses the American Axle system too.
I do like the MPG fuel economy boost from having the AWD moving parts disconnect & stay perfectly still when AWD is not needed. I like the manual switch since it puts the driver in control of whether it is engaged or not.

 

[oil_film_movies]

One thing I haven't tried is to contact American Axle directly and ask them what percent torque gets sent to the back wheels on dry pavement.
Also, a good question is if the single clutch in the rear end is just off-on, or varies continuously. In other words, maybe just the brakes are used to slow a single spinning wheel down, which I think is typical for Traction Control set-ups. Stability Control (anti-skid, yaw damping) also uses brakes, typically.
The GKN in the Focus RS and maybe others is a more active clutch situation, and hence "torque vectoring". Not absolutely sure about that though.

 

[wbwanzer]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
I do like the MPG fuel economy boost from having the AWD moving parts disconnect & stay perfectly still when AWD is not needed. I like the manual switch since it puts the driver in control of whether it is engaged or not.


I agree. Having some control would be nice. The 2.0T Equinox is at the top of my list for my next vehicle. Probably won't happen until late this year or more likely 2020. But I have to start the research early, because it fun.

 

[Andrew1972]

This AWD system has sole benefit of gaining 1 MPG compared to an efficient system.

I think Chevy is looking for cheap way out in engineering an active AWD system in terms of unit cost, develop and integration costs.

I prefer AWD to kick as needed vs thinking about something to press when I get stuck on patch of ice on incline where my front wheels are like pulling out onto road.

No thanks.

The most important thing is you put it into some sort of lock mode or disable stability/traction for deep stuff.

 

[MrHorspwer]

The rear drive unit (RDU) in the Equinox is GKN.

The power take-off unit (PTU), which is positioned off the back of the transmission and includes the mechanism for connecting and disconnect the prop shaft, is AAM.

Crawl under your Equinox and look at the manufacturing tag on the RDU. It'll say GKN.

Here's a press release from AAM touring the XT4 using their PTU:

https://www.aam.com/media/story/cadillac-xt4-to-feature-aam-s-awd-power-transfer-unit

Quote
The vehicle's twin clutch AWD system features an AAM Power Transfer Unit (PTU) that allows the driver to decouple the driveshaft and rear axle to reduce drivetrain losses when not in AWD mode.


The "twin-clutch AWD system" is a GKN Twinster. AAM doesn't even make a twin-clutch RDU. AAM makes the PTU, GKN makes the RDU.

The crazy thing is, GKN also makes a disconnecting PTU. Some of the larger SUVs, like the Acadia, use a GKN PTU along with a GKN RDU (both in single and twin-clutch versions).

 

[wbwanzer]

Originally Posted by MrHorspwer
The rear drive unit (RDU) in the Equinox is GKN.

The power take-off unit (PTU), which is positioned off the back of the transmission and includes the mechanism for connecting and disconnect the prop shaft, is AAM.


Thanks MrHordpwer. That explains our confusion about the newer Equinox using GKN or AAM. It has both.

Some of the GM models may have the twin clutch setup but I'm not sure that the 2018 - 2019 Equinox has that.

My current '16 Equinox has what I believe is the Haldex system.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Confirmed, yes the 2018 Equinox has a rear (RDM) GKN unit, and a front (PTU) Amerian Axle unit. I guess it works just fine to mix parts in the system since there is a clear module independance here. .........
GKN is best known among enthusiasts for it's cool "Twinster" RDM, but that is not what is on the Equinox, no surprise. It's RDM is a differential with single clutch.

Originally Posted by wbwanzer
Some of the GM models may have the twin clutch setup but I'm not sure that the 2018 - 2019 Equinox has that.
Not a twin-clutch sans-differential system. Single clutch with differential on the newest Equinox.

Originally Posted by wbwanzer
My current '16 Equinox has what I believe is the Haldex system.
Haldex AWD systems might be the most popular on the planet. I've always heard of that name popping up on many makes of vehicles over the years.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Originally Posted by madRiver
This AWD system has sole benefit of gaining 1 MPG compared to an efficient system.
More like it averages 5% difference (1.5 to 2.5 MPG difference). The problem is the heat generated turning hypoid gears when you don't need them.
Here are just a few examples (many more available):

 

[benjy]

seeing that its GM is prolly cheaper + will prove to less reliable IMO