In an earlier New Car Technology column, we covered the Four Wheel Steering system offered on Honda’s Prelude. As we noted, the all-mechanical planetary gear system utilized by Honda runs contrary to the high tech trend. Mazda has developed a completely different solution to the Four Wheel Steering (4WS) question. Mazda describes their system as electronically controlled with hydraulic assist, and it relies heavily on microprocessors for its operation. We’ll take you through the basic operation of this “steer by wire” system.