Poclain Véhicules presents a Peugeot boxer fitted with the AddiDrive™ system

AddiDriveTM 4x4 hydraulic drive system:

Originally developed by Poclain Hydraulics, the AddiDrive™ system is an additional hydrostatic transmission that enables trucks/lorries to have better mobility under difficult driving conditions such as mud, snow and sand.

Poclain Véhicules has succeeded in adapting this hydraulic system, enabling it to offer an allwheel-drive system function, on-demand, for light commercial vehicles.

The principle of hydraulic assistance consists of installing hydraulic motors onto the rear axles of a vehicle. A real alternative to the traditional all-wheel drive, this innovation does not add any weight, or result in any mechanical loss at the same time as increasing, on-demand, the mobility of a vehicle and reducing fuel consumption.

• On-demand transition from 4x2 to 4x4

• Payload maintained

• Optimized consumption

• Integration without modifying the chassis

• Centre of gravity maintained

The company, Poclain Véhicules, is a subsidiary of the Poclain Hydraulics group, an international industrial group specialised in the design, manufacturing and sale of hydrostatic transmissions.

Previously known under the name FAM Automobiles, Poclain Véhicules acts as a partner and sub-contractor in vehicle conversion, the sale of integration kits, and the manufacturing of specialist vehicles.

Vehicle conversion:

The activity of vehicle conversion represents the core business of Poclain Véhicules, particularly its Mechanical Traction Control™, a system developed and sold under the FAM Automobiles brand to meet the specific requirements of all-road vehicles.

Mechanical Traction Control™:

This is a simple conversion solution that can be made to 4x2 production vehicles that provides exceptional handling abilities to all-road and even light off-road vehicles, thus positioning itself as a real alternative to 4x4 vehicles. This conversion, not requiring re-registration, has been validated by original manufacturers.

What exactly does this conversion involve?

The vehicle remains a 2-wheel drive and benefits from:

• A limited slip differential:

The gearbox is modified by replacing its original differential. The vehicle is fitted with a limited slip differential comprising a torque transfer device based on the friction of the discs in an alternating arrangement. When a wheel loses traction, the new differential allows 25% of the power and torque to be transferred to another wheel.

• A specific lower under engine and under body protection:

When moving over particularly rough terrain where handling limits are reached, the under-chassis shielding ensures the necessary protection. This latter is composed of a steel “ski” underneath for the engine and two lateral protections for the brake and fuel systems.

• “M+S” - mixed mud/snow-type tyres that provide the vehicle with better traction whatever the type of terrain, from standard to off-road handling.

• Increased ground clearance:

The vehicle is raised and so can access difficult terrains and cross obstacles. Since the year 2000 over 50,000 vehicles have been fitted with MTCTM System (Mechanical Traction Control). Less onerous than the 4x4 technology and above all adaptable to the smaller vehicles used by the authorities, MTCTM System (Mechanical Traction Control) enables a new and reliable solution with proven effectiveness to be offered to its customers. Indeed it is used just as much by individuals as by corporations like the Gendarmerie, EDF-GDF, La Poste, the French Water a nd Forest departments, the French fire service, NGOs such as Médecins sans Frontičres or even private company fleets.

Manufacturing specialist vehicles:

Poclain Véhicules, with its wealth of experience in the automotive sector gained through FAM Automobiles and TORK Engineering, is well-placed to design all types of automotive parts, from a specific element to the whole car. Such services can be useful in the construction of prototypes, chassis-modification, improving or installing engines, transmissions and even electronic management systems.

Poclain Véhicules is also present in the exciting field of sport and racing, offering services from simple conversion (technical or design) to entire cars.