Costa Tsimiklis wrote on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 09:50 am:Damien,
I don't think you have driven a R32-R33-R34 GTR to make those claims about how the ATESSA AWD works in the real world on street and track. What you say about the front wheels not doing anything until the car is 90 degrees is "Internet Expert" talk. The ATESSA system is built to be progressive, with a rear bias and not an on/off switch in the event of lost rear traction.
From my own driving experience, The GTR does under steer, not as much as a full time AWD, but it does under steer when at full noise with a higher performance engine from standard. Even the Non Turbo GTS4 under steers. As soon as the torque is split to the front, you get a noticeable under steer - and it is not only when there is an event of no traction or slip in the rear - it progressively transfers torque to the front wheels. You can see this on the torque split gauge as you accelerate hard - with no wheel slip. The whole system is based on a hydraulic pressure line on the gearbox, feeding a transfer case to a front diff to provide torque to the front. The more hydraulic load on the pump - the more pressure. I think there may be some PWM control on the solenoid for the demanding times under peak loads
Yes you can provoke it to over steer and carry a power slide if you wish, however if you have a sweeper and accelerate through it whilst turning sharply, the car will want to under steer in most cases, which is a good thing. Under Steer is a lot more tolerable to handle than over steer in most situations. This is why the Porsche 4wd system is designed to under steer or be neutral as much as possible.
The ATESSA system has been improved in each generation, but all 4WD systems will under steer at their optimum torque split due to the driving force on the front wheels causing the front to go wide. GTR not as much, but certainly has this characteristic under power and grip.
Previous
I've been inspired by the Radical Sports Cars! 
