Patent ID: 8701820

Claim:
A recreational utility vehicle comprising: a frame; two front wheels suspended from the frame, each of the two front wheels including a tire; two rear wheels suspended from the frame, each of the two rear wheels including a tire; a pair of seats mounted on the frame, each seat having a seat base and a backrest, the seats being mounted laterally beside each other to accommodate a driver and a passenger of the recreational utility vehicle; a cage connected to the frame and disposed around an area where the pair of seats is located; a steering assembly disposed at least in part forwardly of at least one of the seats and being operatively connected to the two front wheels, the steering assembly including a steering wheel; an engine mounted to the frame; a front differential selectively operatively connected to the engine and operatively connected to the two front wheels through a plurality of half shafts; a rear differential operatively connected to the engine through a longitudinally extending rear propeller shaft and operatively connected to the two rear wheels; a front shaft operatively connected to the engine; a front propeller shaft operatively connected to the front differential and to the front shaft; an actuator selectively operatively connecting the front shaft and the front propeller shaft to the engine to selectively transmit power to the front differential; a vehicle drive mode switch for selecting between a first drive mode and a second drive mode, the vehicle drive mode switch being electrically connected to the actuator such that: when the first drive mode is selected by the vehicle drive mode switch the actuator operatively connects the engine to the front propeller shaft and the front shaft to transmit power from the engine to the front differential, and when the second drive mode is selected by the vehicle drive mode switch the actuator operatively disconnects the engine from the front propeller shaft and the front shaft; an electric motor operatively connected to the steering assembly for assisting in steering of the vehicle; a steering control unit electrically connected to the electric motor, the steering control unit determining an output torque to be applied by the electric motor based at least in part on a speed of the vehicle, the steering control unit controlling the electric motor to apply the output torque to the steering assembly; an input torque sensor operatively connected to the steering assembly for sensing a torque applied to the steering assembly by a user of the vehicle, the steering control unit being electrically connected to the input torque sensor; and a steering mode control switch for selecting between a first steering mode and a second steering mode, the steering mode control switch being electrically connected to the steering control unit; wherein for a given speed within a range of vehicle speeds and for an identical torque sensed by the input torque sensor the output torque in the first steering map is greater than the output torque in the second steering map.