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65-478: The first version debuted in 1974 and was originally based on the engineering concept of the Volkswagen Golf Mk1 , and is applicable to either front- or four-wheel drive vehicles, using only front-mounted transverse engines . Volkswagens based on this platform have been colloquially referred to by generation number, e.g. the first Golf version (A1) is referred to as a Mark 1 Golf." Often each generation

130-680: A rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout with a water-cooled inline four cylinder engine laid over on its side and mounted longitudinally under the floor of the rear of the passenger compartment. In 1969, one year after the start of work at Volkswagen on the EA266, another project named EA337 was commissioned. This project would draw on engines and front-wheel drive technology from the Audi division of Auto Union. In 1966 Volkswagen built almost 1.5 million automobiles and reported net profits of DM 300,000,000. By 1967 domestic sales had fallen to 370,000 units from

195-409: A DM 200,000,000 loss. Rudolf Leiding replaced Lotz as Director General of Volkswagen from 1971 to 1975. Commenting on the situation at Volkswagen as he found it, Leiding said: "The global situation for VW was more critical than we had once thought – to put it simply, we were dealing with the survival of a giant group, which employed more than 220,000 people worldwide ..." Two weeks after assuming

260-453: A design that reflected his signature "origami" or "folded-paper" style, emphasizing sharp corners and flat planes. Giugiaro would come to consider the Mk1 Golf the most important design of his career. Early prototypes included rectangular headlamps and wide tail-lamp assemblies. At least one pre-production car was modified with a sliding side door. During development, candidates for the name of

325-536: A faster Golf. VW Press Department head Anton Konrad and VW engineer Alfons Löwenberg began development of a high-performance "Sport Golf" as a skunkworks project rather than as an official factory program. The two were joined by Gunter Kühl from the Press department, suspension expert Herbert Schuster, Hermann Hablitzel, who smuggled parts from the project into regular tests, Jürgen Adler, whose chassis analysis led to additional reinforcements, Horst-Dieter Schwittlinsky from

390-554: A few models only sold in certain markets. The A1 platform debuted on the Mk1 Golf on its launch in 1974, and continued into the early 1990s, when the last remaining models using the platform - the Scirocco, Cabriolet, and Caddy - were discontinued. A1 platform cars ( Typ numbers in brackets): The A2 platform debuted in 1983 on the Mk2 Golf, and lasted until 1998, when the original SEAT Toledo (the first Volkswagen-developed SEAT following

455-643: A high of 600,000 units in 1965. A government-backed economic stimulus package was able to produce a rebound in sales. Beetle exports to the United States went from 232,550 in 1963 to 423,008 in 1968. Local competitors Ford-Werke and Opel launched new small car models (the Escort and Kadett , respectively) targeted directly at Volkswagen's traditional market. Volkswagen's share of the German domestic car market dropped from 45% in 1960 to 26% in 1972. Profits fell from

520-548: A high of DM 330,000,000 in 1969 to DM 12,000,000 in 1971, mainly due to slumping Beetle sales and high R&D costs. In 1971 the United States' government ended international convertibility of the US dollar to gold in what is termed the Nixon shock . One outcome of this was that the Deutsche Mark rose 40% against the US dollar in 1971. This, combined with a 10% import duty on cars entering

585-582: A new alphanumeric nomenclature for vehicle platforms for the fourth generation. Under Volkswagen's revised platform naming system, the "A4" platform became the PQ34 platform, and what would have been called the A5 platform was called the PQ35 platform. The platform code is composed as follows: The A platform has been superseded by the MQB platform for new models, with the exception of

650-564: A rebodied Beetle, it never went into production. The first EA47 prototype appeared in 1953; at least 11 more EA47 variations were built over the next three years. By the mid- to late-1950s, questions about the future of the Beetle began to be asked from outside the company. In 1957, an article with the title "Is the Volkswagen dated?" appeared in the West German magazine Stern . Two years later,

715-596: A similar headline was used in an article in Der Spiegel weekly news. In 1958 Porsche began a project numbered 728 for a revised Beetle. A few years later this became the Volkswagen EA53. This project continued for a number of years and produced several prototypes, with early ones having bodywork designed by Porsche and later ones styled by Ghia . The EA53 eventually led to the Type 3 model. In 1957 another design study,

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780-599: A similar powertrain arrangement found in the Renault 21 and 25 – later becoming the basis for the Chrysler LH sedans produced until the 2004 model year. Today, Audi is the most prominent user of this mechanical layout, having used it since the 1950s in its predecessor companies DKW and Auto Union , and it can be found in its larger models from the A4 upward. The latest evolution of the format in Audi's MLB platform attempts to address

845-520: A single-overhead camshaft driven by a timing belt. The early engines used 2 barrel Zenith carburetors. The 1.1-litre and 1.3-litre engines were from the original EA111 line. In this engine the valves were operated by rocker arms . The EA111 was mounted with a 20° forward tilt. The 1.5-litre, 1.6-litre and 1.8-litre engines were from the EA827 family. In this engine the valves were operated by bucket tappets. The EA827s were mounted tilted 15° rearwards. The car

910-416: A wide steering angle to be achieved. A flexible rubber boot fitted to each joint retains grease and keeps out dirt and moisture. Where the differential is not located in the center line of the vehicle, an intermediate shaft can be fitted to maintain equal length drive shafts on each side. This keeps drive shaft angles equal on both sides and helps prevent steering irregularities and vibration. The outer end of

975-443: Is caused by differing drive shaft lengths which in turn results in different incident angles at the joints of the driveshaft. The farther these joints are articulate, the less effective they are at delivering torque to the wheels. In front wheel drive vehicles, the drive shafts transfer the drive directly from the differential to the front wheels. A short inner stub shaft is splined to the differential side gear and an outer stub shaft

1040-675: Is designated by substituting " Mark " for "A," but this can be misleading. For example, the Mk1 and Mk2 Scirocco are both based on the A1 platform. Furthermore, confusion was possible with the Volkswagen Passat , which has been produced on both the B platform alongside the Audi A4 , as well as the A platform depending on the generation. Volkswagen has never used the Mark or Mk designations. Volkswagen Group introduced

1105-508: Is generally better, because the engine is placed over the steered wheels. However, as the driven wheels have the additional demands of steering, if a vehicle accelerates quickly, less grip is available for cornering, which can result in understeer . High-performance vehicles rarely use the FWD layout because weight is transferred to the rear wheels under acceleration, while unloading the front wheels and sharply reducing their grip, effectively capping

1170-401: Is not ideal, but usually predictable. In contrast with the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RWD), the FWD layout eliminates the need for a central tunnel or a higher chassis clearance to accommodate a driveshaft providing power to the rear wheels. Like the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RR) and rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RMR) layouts, it places the engine over

1235-430: Is splined to the front wheel hub. Each stub shaft has a yoke, or housing, to accommodate a universal joint , at each end of a connecting intermediate shaft. Universal joints let the shaft keep rotating while allowing for changes due to suspension movement, such as shaft length and horizontal angle, and shaft angle as the steering turns. Constant-velocity universal joints are normally used to transfer power smoothly between

1300-599: Is that the PQ46 based sixth and seventh generations of the Passat, are based on the PL46 (B6) and B7 platforms. However, this transverse engine Passat has little in common with the longitudinal engine "B6" and "B7" Audi A4 . ( Type numbers in brackets): ( Type numbers in brackets): Volkswagen Golf Mk1 The Volkswagen Golf Mk1 is the first generation of a small family car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen . It

1365-507: The Center for Auto Safety published "Small—on safety: the designed-in dangers of the Volkswagen", which examined the safety deficiencies of the Beetle just as Ralph Nader 's earlier book Unsafe at Any Speed had done for the Chevrolet Corvair . All of the foregoing combined to result in Volkswagen posting a DM 807,000,000 loss in 1974. In the same year Volkswagen of America alone posted

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1430-399: The internal combustion engine and driven roadwheels at the front of the vehicle . Historically, this designation was used regardless of whether the entire engine was behind the front axle line. In recent times, the manufacturers of some cars have added to the designation with the term front-mid which describes a car in which the engine is in front of the passenger compartment but behind

1495-695: The "transmission-in-sump" layout included the Datsun 100A (Cherry) and various applications of the PSA-Renault X-Type engine such as the Peugeot 104 and Renault 14 . The 1955 Suzuki Suzulight also introduced a front engine with a transversely installed two-stroke twin-cylinder engine (using DKW technology) in a city car / kei car application, based on the German Lloyd LP400 . Dante Giacosa 's Autobianchi Primula of 1964, Fiat 128 and Fiat 127 , put

1560-410: The 1960s and 1970s, the last to change being VW, Ford of Europe, and General Motors (Vauxhall - UK and Opel - Germany). Toyota was the last Japanese company to switch in the early 1980s. BMW , focused on luxury vehicles, however retained the rear-wheel-drive layout in even their smaller cars, though their MINI marque are FWD. There are four different arrangements for this basic layout, depending on

1625-599: The 1975 sales year it was the 14th best selling car in Britain with more than 19,000 units sold. In 1981 the facelifted Golf GTI was voted Car of the Year by What Car? magazine, ahead of all-new models like the Austin Metro and MK3 Ford Escort . In its final sales year of 1983 it sold more than 25,000 units and was Britain's 14th best selling car despite being almost 10 years old. Air conditioning became available as an option on

1690-680: The Beetle accelerated. Under Lotz Volkswagen acquired control of NSU in 1969. NSU was subsequently merged into the Auto Union group, which was now undergoing a renaissance under the relaunched Audi brand. One outcome of this acquisition was that the mid-sized front-wheel drive car that had been under development at NSU would reach the market, not as an NSU, but as the Volkswagen K70 . In 1968 another development project started named EA266. This project originated with Porsche, where it began as an internal project as early as 1966. This unusual design used

1755-457: The Cord L-29 was not ideal; the driven wheels did not carry a large enough proportion of weight for good traction and handling. The 1934 Citroën Traction Avant solved the weight distribution issue by placing the transmission at the front of the car with the differential between it and the engine. Combined with the car's low slung unibody design, this resulted in handling which was remarkable for

1820-557: The EA97, was started. This exercise was larger than the Beetle, but kept the usual rear-mounted powertrain. Two hundred instances of this design were built. Styling varied, depending on whether a particular car's bodywork was done by VW or by Ghia. Some cars’ looks echo the later Type 3 cars, although the EA97 was smaller. The last EA97 was built in 1960. The EA97 would provide the basis for the Brasília model from Volkswagen do Brasil . The EA158

1885-401: The FWD layout include the 1925 Alvis, 1929 Cord L-29 , 1931 DKW F1 , the 1948 Citroën 2CV , 1949 Saab 92 , the 1957 Trabant P50 , and the 1959 Mini . In the 1980s, the traction and packaging advantages of this layout caused many compact and mid-sized vehicle makers to adopt it in the US. Most European and Japanese manufacturers switched to front wheel drive for the majority of their cars in

1950-599: The Spanish company's takeover by Volkswagen) was replaced. The Volkswagen Passat B3 was based on a stretched A2 platform. The Volkswagen Corrado, while being an A2 platform car, uses some components from the A3 platform, notably the rear suspension assembly and some front suspension parts. A2 platform cars ( Typ numbers in brackets): The A3 platform was only used for two models - the Mk3 Golf, launched in 1991, and its saloon equivalent,

2015-519: The US, caused Beetle sales to plummet in what had become a critical market for Volkswagen. In 1973 the OPEC oil crisis hit, triggering a global recession. The German government responded with emergency measures banning private car use on certain days of the week and comprehensive speed limits. In 1972 Opel's share of the German market rose to 20.4%, making them Germany's largest automobile manufacturer and overtaking Volkswagen in their domestic market. In 1972

Volkswagen Group A platform - Misplaced Pages Continue

2080-571: The Vento, launched in early 1992. A3 platform cars ( Typ numbers in brackets): The smaller A03 platform , used in the Polo (6N) is based on the A3 platform as well, and shares many components. SEAT Ibiza (6K) and derived models, uses components of both A3 and A03 platforms. The A4 platform (PQ34 under the revised scheme) debuted on the Audi A3 in 1996 and went on to be used for many different models over

2145-399: The amount of power which could realistically be utilized; in addition, the high power of high-performance cars can result in torque steer . Electronic traction control can avoid wheel-spin but largely negates the benefit of extra power. This was a reason for the adoption of the all-wheel-drive quattro system in the high performance Jensen FF and Audi Quattro road cars. Early cars using

2210-400: The components. The inner universal can be a plunge or tripod type joint. The tripod is splined to the intermediate shaft and held by a circlip. A ball, supported on needle roller bearings, is fitted to each post of the tripod, and these slide in a trunion inside the yoke. This caters for changes in shaft length and horizontal angle. The drive is transferred through the trunion and balls to rotate

2275-540: The directorship, Leiding stopped work on the Porsche-designed EA266 and ordered all but two of the 50 prototypes built to that point to be disassembled. In 1969 Lotz and Italian Volkswagen importer Gerhard R. Gumpert visited the Turin Auto Show . After selecting their six favourite cars of the show, they discovered that four of the six were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and his Italdesign studio. Giugiaro

2340-509: The domestic market in August 1975. The ability to retrofit the system, together with installing a larger battery, was offered to owners of existing cars. In December 1975 a minor styling revision deleted the Swallowtail line on the rear hatch, replacing it with a simple straight horizontal body-line. The bonnet also received a transverse line connecting the two raised sides across the front edge of

2405-458: The drive wheels, improving traction in many applications. As the steered wheels are also the driven wheels, FWD cars are generally considered superior to RWD cars in conditions in which there is low traction such as snow, mud, gravel or wet tarmac. When hill climbing in low-traction conditions RR is considered the best two-wheel-drive layout, primarily due to the shift of weight to the rear wheels when climbing. The cornering ability of an FWD vehicle

2470-463: The early 1950s, and may have received design proposals from Porsche earlier than that. All of the internal projects' names started with "EA", standing for "Entwicklungsauftrag" and meaning "Development assignment". This work began during the tenure of Heinz Nordhoff , who was Director General of Volkswagen from 1948 to 1968. In 1952 the company built the EA41 in collaboration with Pininfarina . Essentially

2535-423: The engine and transmission in a 'side-by-side' arrangement with power being transmitted between the two via a heavy-duty chain, and a specially designed intermediate driveshaft that passed under the engine sump. This family has the distinction of being the highest engine capacity (8.2 L) front-wheel-drive vehicles ever built. The Saab 99 and “classic” Saab 900 also used a similar arrangement. The Eagle Premier used

2600-452: The era. Renault is the most recent user of this format - having used it on the Renault 4 , and the first generation Renault 5 , but it has since fallen out of favor since it encroaches into the interior space. The 1946 Panhard Dyna X , designed by Jean-Albert Grégoire , had the engine longitudinally in front of the front wheels, with the transmission behind the engine and the differential at

2665-538: The first generation Passat was released in 1973, and the first generation Scirocco , a Giugiaro design prepared concurrently with the Golf, was released months ahead of the Golf. From October 2, 1974 to January 14, 1975 two Golf Mk1s were driven over 30,500 km (19,000 mi) from Fairbanks, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego as a test of their durability. The right-hand drive Golf went on sale in Britain in October 1974. For

Volkswagen Group A platform - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-425: The front axle. The engine positions of most pre– World-War-II cars are front-mid or on the front axle . This layout is the most traditional form and remains a popular, practical design. The engine, which takes up a great deal of space, is packaged in a location passengers and luggage typically would not use. The main deficit is weight distribution —the heaviest component is at one end of the vehicle. Car handling

2795-514: The intake system and declared the car "undriveable". The ad hoc development team arranged to use the fuel-injected version of the EA827 engine that had been developed for the new Audi 80 GTE. That engine's Bosch K-Jetronic system reduced intake noise and raised power output. Front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout#Front-engine transversely mounted In automotive design , a front-engine, front-wheel-drive (FWD) layout , or FF layout , places both

2860-479: The last internal prototype for a Beetle replacement built under Nordhoff's direction appeared. This car, designated EA276, was a small three-door hatchback with front-wheel drive using a front-mounted Volkswagen air-cooled engine . The EA276 program was cancelled after the death of Nordhoff, but did find new life as the inspiration for the Brazilian Gol . During Nordhoff's time VW did broaden its product line with

2925-520: The launch of the Volkswagen Type 3 in 1961 and the Volkswagen Type 4 in 1968. In 1964 the company acquired control of the Auto Union group from Daimler-Benz and with it the technologies of the constituent companies of DKW , Horch , Audi and Wanderer . Kurt Lotz succeeded Nordhoff as Director General of Volkswagen from 1968 to 1971. Work to broaden the product line and find a replacement for

2990-412: The location of the engine, which is the heaviest component of the drivetrain. The earliest front wheel drive cars were mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout (MF). The engine was mounted longitudinally (fore-and-aft, or north–south) behind the wheels, with the transmission ahead of the engine and differential at the very front of the car. With the engine so far back, the weight distribution of such cars as

3055-483: The long-standing drawback of uneven weight distribution. This is done by packaging the differential in front of the clutch, allowing the axle line to be further forward in relation to the rear face of the engine block. The first popular transverse engined FWD cars were the DKW 'Front' made from 1931, which had a twin cylinder two-stroke engine. Saab copied this design on their first car, the 1949 Saab 92 . The Trabant in 1957

3120-418: The lower horizontal bodyline running under the tail-lamps on the rear hatch dropped down in the location of the rear license plate. This feature has been dubbed "Swallowtail" by some Golf enthusiasts. The surface between the raised sides on the bonnet on early cars also blended smoothly into the leading edge. The Golf was not the first example of Giugiaro's work for Volkswagen to reach production. His design for

3185-477: The market at that time. This arrangement continued also on the second-generation Tercel, until 1987, the third generation received a new, transversely mounted engine. Other front-wheel-drive Toyota models, such as Camry , and Corolla , had transversely mounted engines from the beginning on. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado (along with its sister model the Cadillac Eldorado ) used a novel arrangement which had

3250-413: The marketing department who coined the "GTI" acronym, and Franz Hauk, developer of the EA827 engine. A prototype was built based on a Scirocco, rather than a Golf. This proof-of-concept had an EA827 engine with dual carburetors and a lowered and stiffened suspension. When this prototype was driven by Volkswagen's Chief of Research Ernst Fiala , he objected to the harsh suspension and excessive noise from

3315-667: The new car included "Blizzard" and "Caribe", but these lost out to the final choice of "Golf". The origin of the name is variously attributed to the game of golf , the Gulf Stream current (German "Golfstrom") or the name of a horse. The Golf Mk1 received VW model designation Type 17 . Production started in March 1974, and sales officially began in May 1974. By this time Giugiaro's rectangular headlamps and wide tail-lamps had given way to round headlamps and much narrower rear lamps. On these earliest cars

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3380-419: The next two decades. PQ34 platform cars ( Typ numbers in brackets): The PQ35 platform was designed to be more modular than previous A platforms. For the first time, a fully independent suspension was used in the rear of all A platform vehicles. The PQ46 platform is a variant derived from this platform primarily intended for larger vehicles, such as mid-size cars and crossovers . A common misconception

3445-603: The panel. The Golf was introduced to Japan in 1975, where it was imported by the Yanase dealership chain. Its exterior dimensions and engine displacement were in compliance with Japanese Government dimension regulations . The Golf Mk1 was runner-up for European Car of the Year in 1975, losing to the Citroën CX . A minor exterior revision in December 1978 replaced the narrow front and rear bumpers with moulded units that wrapped around

3510-570: The rear of the assembly. This arrangement, used by Panhard until 1967, potentially had a weight distribution problem analogous to that of the Cord L29 mentioned above. However, the Panhard's air-cooled flat twin engine was very light, and mounted low down with a low centre of gravity reducing the effect. The air-cooled flat twin engine of the Citroën 2CV was also mounted very low, in front of the front wheels, with

3575-399: The shaft. The outer universal joint allows greater angular changes but not changes in shaft length. It is normally a ball and cage type with an inner race splined to the intermediate shaft. An outer race is formed in the yoke. The cage retains the balls in location in grooves in both races. The balls transfer the drive from the shaft to the hub and allow for changes in horizontal angle and for

3640-506: The sides of the car. Another minor facelift in 1980 saw the adoption of wider rear lamp clusters and a new dashboard with a more modern-looking instrument display featuring LED warning lights. US versions also received rectangular headlights. This was the last major update before the Mk1 was replaced by the Mk2 Golf in most markets in September 1983 and in the British market in March 1984. The Golf

3705-628: The transmission behind the axle line and the differential between the two. This became quite popular; cars using this layout included the German Ford Taunus 12M and the Lancia Flavia and Fulvia . This is the standard configuration of Audi and Subaru front-wheel-drive vehicles. In 1979, Toyota introduced and launched their first front-wheel-drive car, the Tercel , and it had its engine longitudinally mounted, unlike most other front-wheel-drive cars on

3770-465: The transmission on one side of the transversely mounted engine, and doubled back the drivetrain to put the differential just behind the transmission, but offset to one side. Hence the driveshafts to the wheels are longer on one side than the other. This located the weight just a bit in front of the wheels. It is this system which dominates worldwide at present. Front-wheel-drive vehicles tend to suffer from torque steer under heavy acceleration. This

3835-561: Was West Germany's best selling new car for much of its production life, and was among the most successful cars in the whole of Europe during its nine-year production run. The Golf adopted an efficient " two-box " layout with a steep hatchback rather than a formal trunk. The chassis was a steel unibody. The car's engine was mounted transversely in the front, and drove the front wheels. Engines from two Audi engine families were offered. Both were water cooled inline four cylinder four-stroke engines. Both also had two valves per cylinder operated by

3900-449: Was a Beetle-successor project that started in 1962 with a unibody study by Pininfarina. As the project progressed the car grew in size and weight. Eventually it was rejected as a Beetle replacement, but served as the foundation of the subsequent Volkswagen Type 4 model. In 1967 another set of prototypes for possible Beetle replacements appeared in the form of the EA235 and EA235a. In 1968

3965-521: Was also one of the only cars to have a transverse mounted engine, being a sort of DKW successor. This was a novelty, especially for a car being made in a communist country. Issigonis 's Mini of 1959 and related cars such as the Maxi , Austin 1100/1300 and Allegro had the four-cylinder inline water-cooled engine transversely mounted. The transmission was located in the sump below the crankshaft, with power transmitted by transfer gears. Other models that used

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4030-545: Was by rack-and-pinion . Front brakes were 239 mm (9.4 in) disks with solid rotors. In the rear were 178 mm (7.0 in) drums. The car's tires varied with the power-train, with 145SR13 on the 1.1, and 155SR13s on the 1.3 and 1.5. Tires on the GTIs were larger, using 175/70 profile 13-inch tires. Due to the negative political reaction to the 1973 release of the Beetle "Gelb-Schwarzer Renner" ("GSR", or "Yellow-Black Racer"), Volkswagen had little inclination to develop

4095-480: Was invited to Wolfsburg in January 1970 to work on development project EA337. The first thing he saw when he arrived at VW's research centre was a Fiat 128 , completely disassembled and labelled. The design brief provided by Volkswagen specified a C-segment car with a two-box body in three- and five-door versions. The client also provided Giugiaro with the basic dimensions and the power-train options. Giugiaro produced

4160-521: Was noteworthy for signalling Volkswagen's shift of its major car lines from rear-wheel drive and rear-mounted air-cooled engines to front-wheel drive with front-mounted , water-cooled engines that were often transversely-mounted . Successor to Volkswagen's Beetle , the first generation Golf debuted in Europe in May 1974 with styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro 's Italdesign . Volkswagen began producing prototypes of possible Beetle replacements as far back as

4225-441: Was originally available with two transmission options; a four-speed manual and a three-speed automatic. A five-speed manual became available in 1979. The front suspension was made up of MacPherson struts and helical coil springs with lower wishbones and an anti-roll bar . The rear was semi-independent with dual trailing arms connected by a twist-beam rear suspension and coil springs over telescopic shock absorbers . Steering

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