Basics Of Wheel Alignment And Lamborghini’s New Active Alignment System

One of the most underrated terms while talking about cars is wheel alignment. A proper wheel alignment. Proper wheel alignment in cars ensures that the car runs smoothly and provides maximum grip and minimum friction. However, not all cars have the same sort of wheel alignment. In fact, wheel alignment differs from car to car based on the purpose of the car.

The wheels of a sports car are aligned quite differently from regular road-going cars because the needs of the former are very different from the latter. So what is wheel alignment and how do they help a car’s performance?

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Understanding Wheel Alignment

Wheel alignment is the adjustment of wheels in a car to ensure the best possible performance. Most regular road-going cars have their wheels aligned in a straight line to ensure that the maximum area of the wheel is in contact with the road while the front wheels and the rear wheels are lined up perfectly. This results in a smooth drive from the car and maximum stability.

Performance cars, on the other hand, are built a little differently. In a performance car like a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, the wheels are aligned in a manner to ensure maximum performance. As a result, the wheels are not exactly straight and are tilted in either of two manners

• Toe- A toe refers to the level at which the wheel is turned inwards or outwards from the car. It is basically how much the wheels angle towards or away from the center line. In most cases, regular road cars like your 2019 Ford Fiesta or 2023 Kia Sportage have 0 Toe. However, performance cars come with a slight toe out that helps the car turn faster around the corners. However, while it helps the car turn faster, it also causes more friction and results in the tire degrading faster. However, in performance cars, especially racing cars, the ultimate aim is lap time and not tire life. Moreover, in Formula 1 cars the friction from the toe helps in heating up the tires as well
• Camber- Camber is the angle of the wheel in relation to the ground. 0 Camber means that the wheel is absolutely straight on the ground, negative camber means that the wheel is leaning in towards the car, while positive camber means the wheel is leaning out of the car. Most road cars come with a slight negative camber while performance cars come with quite a bit of negative camber. The latter comes with a large negative camber because these cars focus on very tight turns. So when the car turns at high speed toward one direction, it leans quite heavily in the opposite direction. At this point, a negative camber on the opposite side comes to 0 camber allowing maximum grip and stability for the car in tight turnings

It is to be noted that neither the camber nor the toe should be adjusted without proper calculation and measurement. If done incorrectly it will affect not only the tire health and longevity of your tire but also the performance you can get out of your car.

Lamborghini’s Active Alignment System

It’s pretty clear that your car’s performance does depend quite heavily on how you set up and align your wheels. However, have you ever thought how cool it would be if you could change your wheel alignment to suit the purpose? You could have one sort of alignment when on the road driving normally and then change it when you are on track trying to belt out a fast lap time. Lamborghini has done exactly that with its new tech called the Active Wheel Carrier (AWC).

So what does the AWC do? The AWC allows the Lamborghini to actively adjust the camber and the toe of the wheels during a shot around a racetrack. According to the Italian marque, this new system can shave off nearly 5 seconds of your lap time. However, the question arises as to whether this technology is absolutely new. Well, not exactly. If you’re a fan of Formula 1, you will remember that in 2020 they brought about something called the Dual Axis Steering (DAS) system wherein there would be a slight change in wheel alignment on pulling or pushing the steering wheel. So why is Lamborghini’s AWC more revolutionary? Firstly, this is the first time a wheel alignment system has been fitted to a road car. Secondly, the DAS allowed only two adjustments that were good for when the car was taking high-speed turns or under a safety car and needed to warm the tires. The AWC system on the Lambo allows multiple adjustments that let you go faster along the straights, and faster around the corners. Moreover, while the DAS only works on the toe angle, the AWC also adjusts the camber.

The AWC is basically an electronic system that allows the car to change the toe or camber based on the manner in which it is driving. In fact, this system allows the wheel to change its toe angle by 6.6 degrees positive and negative while also allowing the wheels to adjust between 5.5 degrees of negative camber to 2.5 degrees of positive camber. To ensure maximum grip, the AWC can also adjust the camber on wheels on both sides to ensure maximum grip on the road during turns. Moreover, the AWC mounted in the rear wheels that allow the toe angles also provide rear-wheel steering.

Final Thoughts

Lamborghini’s new AWC system is quite revolutionary in regular cars. While the DAS has already been seen on a Formula 1 car, a similar system was not really expected so fast in the regular road-going cars. However, that’s just not it. The AWC also seems to be more advanced than the DAS as it not only comes with more settings for different driving styles, but it also allows the adjustment of wheels both in terms of Camber and Toe. However, it must be kept in mind that the AWC system does not help in torque vectoring.

The important point to note is that Lamborghini has put this system only on the rear wheel of their cars like the 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto. The front wheels do not have this system as it would be a little complicated. So the effect this system would have if applied on all four wheels is so far only in theory. If and when this system is applied to the front wheels it will be quite exciting to see what the Lambos will be capable of.

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