Patent ID: 8162096

Claim:
A vehicle comprising: a frame; two front wheels suspended from the frame, each of the two front wheels including a tire; at least one rear wheel suspended from the frame, the at least one rear wheel including a tire; at least one seat mounted on the frame; a steering assembly disposed forwardly of the at least one seat and being operatively connected to the two front wheels; an engine mounted to the frame, the engine being operatively connected to the at least one rear wheel, and the engine being selectively operatively connectable to the two front wheels, the vehicle operating in an all-wheel drive (AWD) mode when the engine is operatively connected to the two front wheels and the at least one rear wheel, and the vehicle operating in a rear-wheel drive (RWD) mode when the engine is operatively connected to the at least one rear wheel and is disconnected from the two front wheels; an electric motor operatively connected to the steering assembly for assisting the steering of the vehicle; 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; a steering control unit electrically connected to the electric motor and 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, the steering control unit selecting one of a first steering map, a second steering map, a third steering map, and a fourth steering map based on the drive mode (AWD or RWD) of the vehicle and the one of the first and second steering modes selected by the steering mode control switch, the first steering map being selected when the vehicle is operating in the AWD mode and the first steering mode is selected, the second steering map being selected when the vehicle is operating in the AWD mode and the second steering mode is selected, the third steering map being selected when the vehicle is operating in the RWD mode and the first steering mode is selected, the fourth steering map being selected when the vehicle is operating in the RWD mode and the second steering mode is selected, the steering control unit determining an output torque corresponding to the torque sensed by the input torque sensor using the selected one of the first, second, third, and fourth steering maps, and the steering control unit controlling the electric motor to apply the corresponding output torque to the steering assembly.