FEATURE - VW syncro 40th Anniversary
Words: Mike Ryan and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
Photos: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
To borrow a line from Back to the Future - “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” – sums up how Volkswagen’s ‘syncro’ all-wheel drive system has expanded the horizons for their commercial vehicles. It’s a neat coincidence that Back to the Future and syncro both turn 40 in 2025.
In celebrating 40 years of their in-house all-wheel drive system, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is not only looking back to the past four decades and four generations of all-wheel drive vehicles, but also to the future, as the seventh generation Transporter – in Multivan, California, Caravelle and ID. Buzz form – is also available with all-wheel drive.
There is no doubt that the T3 and T4 syncro, as well as the later T5 and T6 4MOTION, have made the VW van an icon for globetrotters, tradespeople and campers who want to take their vehicles beyond the tarmac.
In the Sahara in a T2
VW’s first iteration of syncro, on the third-generation ‘T3’ of their Type 2 model (the ‘Transporter’ name wouldn’t come into use until the fourth-generation), went into series production in 1985. However, the story of syncro began in the 1970s.
Back then, Gustav Mayer, VW’s head of development for the Type 2 product line, loved travelling and challenging himself. That passion kept drawing him back to the Sahara Desert in a second-generation Type 2. However, the T2 was only available with rear-wheel drive.
At some point, Mayer decided he’d had enough of shovelling his van out of the sand in the deserts of North Africa, so he and his team built an all-wheel drive T2 as a one-off. Tests of this prototype, including time spent in the dunes of the Sahara, reportedly went well.
In 1978, construction of five further test vehicles with a selectable front-wheel drive system began. However, the T2 ‘Bay Window’ was at the end of its life cycle by this stage, with the T3 due for release in 1979.
It made no sense to bring all-wheel drive to market for the final months of the old generation, so that’s why the T3 became the first Type 2 van to be equipped with all-wheel drive. Even so, it took a few years after the T3’s debut for the system to finally be available.
The T3 syncro makes its debut
From the very beginning, the Type 2 T3 was not only intended as a commercial vehicle, but also a vehicle for travelling the world, hence the Kombi and Camper variants. At the time, there was simply no other vehicle that offered the same level of spaciousness and AWD capability.
The floor structure of the rear-engined, rear-wheel drive T3 allowed space for a propshaft and driven front axle differential to be incorporated relatively easily. However, it took time to develop the all-wheel drive system to VW’s desired level of perfection and durability.
The wait for an AWD Volkswagen finally came to an end in 1985, when the first T3 commercials and the first Caravelle syncro camper were released to the market.
Despite producing some Kubelwagens and Beetles with four-wheel drive during World War II, VW didn’t have experience in building AWD vehicles. That’s why they entered into a co-operation with Steyr-Daimler-Puch for series development and construction of the syncro variants.
Steyr-Daimler-Puch had built a reputation within the German automotive industry as a highly competent specialist in the development and production of all-wheel drive vehicles. That’s why final assembly of the T3 syncro took place at Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Graz, Austria, instead of VW’s Type 2 plant in Hanover, Germany.
A VW van as an off-roader
In contrast to the T2 AWD test vehicles, the T3 syncro did not have selectable all-wheel drive, but – more conveniently – a front axle permanently driven via a propshaft, with a viscous clutch for integration. This proved to be very robust, delivering perfect performance under almost all conditions. Another advantage of the ‘Visco’ clutch was the fact that the otherwise standard centre differential, which usually compensated for the speed difference between front and rear axles, could be omitted. This task was now also performed by the silicone oil-filled clutch.
Multi-part underbody shielding protected the all-wheel-drive technology from damage, with different springs and harder shock absorbers also used. As a result, the body of syncro models sat 60mm higher than a 2WD T3.
When it came to choosing a transmission, VW engineers opted for a ‘4+G’ gearbox. This had four conventional forward gears, plus a very short ‘crawl’ gear for ultra-slow driving on rough ground. Available options included differential locks on the front and rear axles, plus a rough terrain package. The latter included features such as reinforced driveshafts, a vibration damper in the drivetrain and various body reinforcements. With this equipment, the T3 syncro models impressed with a ground clearance of 215mm at the front, a ramp angle of 22 degrees and breakover angle of 24 degrees.
In terms of drive technology, the VW van with this equipment now reached a level of off-road capability comparable to a Jeep or Land Rover, but with much more space and comfort for occupants.
T3 as a flatbed ute
From 1987, the T3 syncro was available with 16-inch wheels and extensive modifications to the chassis and body, as well as larger brakes and a rear-diff lock as standard. Catering to more extreme off-road use, the reinforcements increased the payload to one tonne, with ground clearance increased to 246mm.
In total, 2,138 units of these heavy-duty, all-wheel drive vehicles – out of 45,478 T3 syncros built – left the Graz production line up until 1992. But of that total, only around 60 were built with a flatbed body. Why so? The addition of syncro drive and the 16-inch wheel conversion added around 50 percent to the price of a T3 ute; a significant cost at the time.
Today, it is almost impossible to track down one of these early, heavy-duty all-wheel-drive utes, but Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has one in their ‘Oldtimer’ heritage fleet. They presented this unit at the Bremen Classic Motorshow earlier this year, where ‘40 Years of Syncro’ was celebrated.
The T4 syncro arrives
When it was introduced in 1990, the fourth-generation ‘T4’ saw a name change from Type 2 to Transporter. A much bigger change saw the engine and drive moved to the front of the vehicle. A water-cooled, 1.9-litre four-cylinder petrol engine had been introduced during the T3 lifespan, replacing the air-cooled boxer four, but in the T4, capacity was increased to 2.0 litres, with 2.5-litre inline five-cylinder and 2.8-litre V6 petrol engines added later. There were also 1.9lt four and 2.4lt five-cylinder diesels available in the T4’s production run that extended through to 2003.
Integrating syncro to the new engine placement was relatively seamless; simply reversing what had been developed for the rear-engined vehicles. Syncro was first offered on the T4 platform in 1993, with the Visco clutch now transmitting power from the front axle to the rear.
While the T4’s shift to a front-mounted engine and front-wheel drive didn’t benefit the syncro system, it did allow the load compartment in the vans and utes to be lower and more accessible. More importantly, the driver and front passenger seats were now located behind the front axle, which improved passive safety.
A record-breaking drive
In 1999, a team from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles drove the legendary Pan-American Highway to prove the capability and durability of syncro AWD. Two teams set off from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska on 25 September with the aim of reaching Ushuaia in Argentina via the Pan-American Highway - the longest north-south connection on the American continent. Challenges faced by man and machine at the time included the fact that the highway was in far from ideal condition, due to an earthquake in Mexico, along with a great deal of political unrest in South America.
Despite this, the T4 Multivan syncros completed the 22,880km journey faster than any four-wheel drive vehicle. And according to VW, they did it more easily, too.
Apart from a larger fuel tank, additional headlights on the roof and plexiglass lenses in front of the factory headlights, the technology of the two vehicles was the same as a production T4 Multivan syncro.
The first vehicle, with professional globetrotters Andreas Renz and Matthias Göttenauer on board, reached its destination after 15 days, 14 hours and 6 minutes; a time that secured its place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The second T4 Multivan syncro arrived a few days later after getting caught in severe storms.
One of the actual T4 Multivan syncros that did the Pan-America trek was also presented at this year’s Bremen Classic Motorshow, alongside other important syncro models.
The record-setting drive undertaken by the T4 syncros was the final impetus for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to design even more powerful all-wheel drive vehicles. The T4 syncro thus became the trigger for the development of the ‘PanAmericana’ models – first seen as a special edition on the T4 Transporter, then as a special series on the T5. Following the arrival of the T6 in 2015, PanAmericana has been available as an ‘all-terrain equipment’ version.
T5 - and 4MOTION - arrives
The shift to the fifth-generation Transporter came in 2003, when Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles presented the T5 at a world premiere. Introducing more powerful engines and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) called for a new all-wheel drive system. This was available from 2004, under the new label of ‘4MOTION’.
The central element of 4MOTION was an axially compressed multi-plate clutch running in an oil bath. Pressure was generated by two pumps - the more pressure that was applied to the plates, the greater the power transmission and thus integration of the rear axle. Thanks to the multiplate clutch’s quick reaction time, it was now possible to integrate the rear axle steplessly if one of the front wheels started to lose traction.
In normal operation, the 4MOTION models - available as a Transporter, Caravelle, Multivan and California - ran front-wheel drive only, which helped save fuel.
4MOTION gets electronic control
In 2010, an enhanced version of 4MOTION made its debut with a new multiplate clutch and an electronically controlled high-pressure pump, which provided constant oil pressure of 30 bar in a reservoir. Thus, slip on the front axle was no longer needed to persuade the rear wheels to engage. ESC sensors provided the high-pressure pump with information when the wheels were just starting to show a loss of traction. Within a hundredth of a second, power was delivered to the wheels that needed it.
The new 4MOTION system was able to cover virtually all driving conditions with confidence. Furthermore, it was able to move forward, even when a wheel was hanging in the air. The option of a locking rear differential came in helpful in such situations, increasing capability.
In 2015, the introduction of the T6 Transporter (which was arguably an upgrade of the T5, rather than a new generation) saw the 4MOTION system with an electronically controlled multiplate clutch adapted again, before being released in 2019.
Three AWD options for the modern age
Due to completely new requirements relating to the variety of drive systems and usage scenarios in the new millennium, the seventh-generation Transporter is now divided into three product lines: the Multivan that includes the new California; the all-electric ID. Buzz, including the ID. Buzz Cargo commercial variant; and the new Transporter, including the Caravelle as a shuttle bus.
For most European markets, as well as selected markets overseas, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles offer 4MOTION all-wheel drive on all three of these product lines.
The Multivan and California have been available with a new plug-in hybrid all-wheel drive (eHybrid 4MOTION) since 2024. In this, VW Commercial Vehicles’ innovation sees the rear axle powered solely by an electric motor. On the newly-developed Transporter TDI 4MOTION and Caravelle TDI 4MOTION, the rear axle is integrated via an electronically-controlled differential. Finally, in the all-wheel drive ID. Buzz Cargo Pro 4MOTION and ID. Buzz GTX models, all four wheels are driven exclusively by electric power.
Continuing a tradition that was developed in the 1970s and came to market in 1985, these new AWD systems ensure nothing will stand in the way of a VW van in 2025... including a trip to the Sahara.
