German carmaker BMW has been one of the leading names in the luxury car segment. For a while now, the brand has stood strong with just rear-wheel drive for its car models. But, this time around the company has revealed its plans to expand its options with AWD technology in M-tuned passenger cars. Frank van Meel, head of the M division has recently indicated that the company may first introduce the all-wheel drive system in the next-generation M5 and M6 trims, whereas the other models in the M-badge shall receive the same sometime later. To minimize unwanted under-steer, the all-wheel drive system shall be tuned with rear-wheel drive bias.
Speaking more about the upcoming cars, Meel said, “the technology would be used to increase traction in order to avoid the under-steer traits with which all-wheel-drive performance cars are associated. The philosophy will remain rear-wheel drive, even if there is all-wheel drive. As we increase power and torque, then the M5 and M6 will have large outputs, so we'll look at those solutions [all-wheel drive] with these cars in the future.”
