[PaulDexler]

Just thought you might be intersted in a somewhat pertinent side note. While SVXs with all-wheel steering were never offered in the U.S., Hondas and Mitsubishis were. I have had the experience of driving all three variants.

First was a Honda Civic, which had mechanical all wheel steering. When the steering wheel was turned only a few degrees, as with normal highway driving, the rear wheels worked as they do on an AWS SVX, that is, they turned parallel to the fronts, but only a few degrees. However, the steering box was set up so that when the wheel was turned beyond a certain amount, the rears would steer opposite to the fronts, enormously reducing the turning circle. It was a delight to drive, the on-road handling was excellent, and parking was a dream, it could make a u-turn in a parking lot aisle. The system used a shaft from the front steering rack to a steering box at the rear axle. All mechanical, and relatively simple.

Honda next went to an electric system which was offered on the Prelude. I believe this is the same system that was offered on the Mitsubishi Galant the same year. (I think 1989, 1990, perhaps.) This system did not produce the opposite lock for parking, but did have the parallel steering similar to what was offered on the SVX. On the Mitsubishi, it worked like a champ, creating that feeling of extra stability. It also did on the Honda, except for a strange defect on the one car I drove, which Honda refused to explain to me when queried about it. I had taken the car on a 130 mile highway trip, with no problems. On the return journey, I was changing lanes on the freeway when a loud "clunk" came from the rear, and the car seemed to be travelling diagonally down the road, similarly to an old body-on-frame car which has been in an accident and the frame was improperly straightened. As I slowed, the steering came back to normal. There was a switch to turn the AWS off, and I did so. The car seemed perfectly normal, so after a few miles I turned it back on again. And again, shortly, came that clunk, and the car was travelling diagonally. I turned the AWS off, and drove home in a less responsive, but more trustworthy, Prelude. A couple of days later, when I returned the car to Honda, I told them about the problem, and asked to know what they found. I never heard, and when I queried them a week or so later, all they would tell me was, "there was a problem." I knew that.

I drove the Galant model with no problems, but both systems were discontinued the following model year.
Paul