What is the difference between four wheel drive and rear wheel drive

And since this mode is optional, you can just as easily drive around using the usual 2WD system instead. Many 4WD systems also have low and high ranges that can be selected by the driver by an electronic switch or a floor-mounted lever.

The low setting provides maximum traction on off-road environments, while the high setting is the default configuration, allowing you to take on conditions like snow, ice and gravel with ease.

Their other advantages include:. The extra parts and technology needed to make 4WDs work make them pricier to purchase and maintain. The increased power and traction might lead to overconfidence in some drivers. Combined with the increased braking distance, this may lead to accidents and collisions as a result. For everyone else, 4WD is a bit of a luxury. AWDs, as their name suggests, power both the front and rear wheels at the same time, all the time.

AWD systems differ from 4WDs in that they require no driver selection to drive all four wheels. In what are known as part-time AWD systems, sensors are placed on each wheel of the car to accurately monitor traction, wheel speed and other conditions. Using this data, the AWD system decides where the power is sent, and the vehicle can safely navigate the conditions of the road by itself.

In full-time AWDs, on the other hand, their front and rear axles are driven all the time. On dry roads, this allows the vehicle to handle better and drive at full power, while in slippery conditions, it provides greater traction and safer, more confident performance.

What makes AWDs stand out from other drivetrains? No decisions are needed to engage the system. With AWDs, either all the wheels are being driven all the time, or sensors within the system decide to activate them for you. Should one or two wheels lose traction in slippery conditions, AWD systems can distribute traction quickly to the necessary wheels, keeping things steady and stable on wet or icy roads.

AWD allows for sportier handling and traction in a range of different car types thanks to intelligent torque vectoring. Costly to produce and manufacture, which makes them more expensive than their two-wheel-drive counterparts. Because power is being sent to all four wheels, AWDs tend to see large drop-offs in terms of their fuel efficiency. For true-off roaders, AWDs are considered the lesser choice. For those who prefer to take on rockier terrains and want to engage four-wheel drive for themselves, 4WDs are still the go-to.

With that said, modern AWD systems are becoming more and more capable, which has gone a long way to changing this purist perception. And because it can be found in cars of all sizes, AWDs provide a greater range of vehicles to choose from. For those looking for greater traction in normal winter conditions as well as light off-roading with fewer compromises in ride and fuel economy on dry roads, an AWD could well be the right choice.

Front-wheel drive versus rear-wheel drive, and all-wheel drive versus four-wheel drive. Your browser does not support the video tag. Front Wheel Drive versus Rear Wheel Drive Since the Ford Model T and actually before most vehicles manufactured and sold in the United States were rear wheel drive RWD , that is the engine was typically in the front, the transmission right behind it, with a drive shaft running back to rear axle to drive the rear wheels.

Front wheel drive FWD , on the other hand, features the engine under the hood in combination with the transmission sometimes referred to as the transaxle that directly delivers power to the front wheels. Despite the impression many people have that the wave of front wheel drive started in earnest with the invasion of the Japanese brands, even those models sold in the US until the mids were predominantly rear-wheel drive.

Each system has its unique advantages. Front wheel drive makes for a very compact engine compartment, with minimal intrusion into the interior cabin of the vehicle no large hump for the driveshaft, now just a smaller hump to route exhaust, fuel lines, etc. Front wheel drive also has certain advantages when the roads get slippery or icy. First, the bulk of the weight is over the front driving wheels which assists with traction.

With a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the front tires might be initiating a turn but the rear wheels are still pointed straight ahead. Excessive application of power at this point could cause a spin. Rear wheel drive is most commonly found on sports cars and performance sedans. A rear wheel drive car of the same weight, power, gearing, and tire size and type will accelerate faster than an FWD car, as the weight of the vehicle is transferred off the front wheels and onto the rear wheels to improve traction.

FWD cars typically lose traction in these situations. All Wheel Drive versus Four Wheel Drive Clearly, the biggest difference between these two systems is that all four wheels are delivering power at one time or another, versus FWD and RWD driving just a single axle each.

In a 4WD set-up, each axle front and rear is connected to the middle of the vehicle to a transfer case. The transfer case is situated typically at the back end of the transmission. There are typically two settings to a transfer case, but there are some variations. The basic ones are where the front and rear axle can turn independently from one another.

This setting is used in dry weather conditions as rounding corners in fully-locked 4WD causes excessive wear in the drive train. Once out of the slippery conditions, the driver would select the unlocked setting on the transfer case and drive on. Rear-wheel drive used to be the most common drive system until the advent of front-wheel drive in the early 80s.

However, RWD vehicles can handle more horsepower and higher vehicle weights, which is why it is often found in sports cars, performance sedans, big trucks, race cars, and law enforcement pursuit vehicles.

But unlike AWD, most systems are driver activated, meaning the driver must engage the AWD function via a secondary gear shift or through a button or setting. However, many feature a setting that automatically engages the high range.