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Home » FWD vs RWD vs AWD vs 4WD

FWD vs RWD vs AWD vs 4WD

December 9, 2015 By Alexandra Sydor

jeep off road

Wonder what the difference is between Front-Wheel Drive, Rear-Wheel Drive, All-Wheel Drive and Four-Wheel Drive? Learn here!

Kia Sorento

Front-Wheel Drive (FWD)

Front wheel drive — which is mostly seen on cars — directs the power from the engine to the front wheels. FWD provides better traction for a car when ascending
hills. Plus, FWD systems are space efficient.

Some vehicles with FWD are Chevy Malibu, Volkswagen Jetta, Chevy Cruze, Buick LaCrosse and Kia Sorento.

Dodge Challenger

Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD)

Rear Wheel drive allows better traction for a vehicle that is carrying a lot of weight. RWD is used on performance vehicles to distribute the weight more evenly.

Some vehicles with RWD are Chevy Camaro, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Challenger.

Dodge Journey

All-Wheel Drive (AWD)

Chevy Silverado

All Wheel Drive delivers power from the engine to all four wheels. Most systems deliver a majority of the power to one set of wheels. When the vehicle encounters poor whether conditions, the power is switched to the other axle to provide traction to that area. Because of this, AWD is good when driving through changing road conditions.

Some vehicles with AWD are Kia Sportage, Dodge Journey, GMC Acadia and Buick Encore.

Four-Wheel Drive (4WD)

Four Wheel Drive delivers power to all wheels like AWD. The difference between AWD and 4WD, though, is that 4WD is designed to go off-roading and climb boulders and cross deep water.

Some vehicles with FWD are the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Chevy Silverado, Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Renegade and GMC Sierra 1500.


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