AWD vs 4WD: What's the Difference & Which to Choose? | Edmunds

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AWD vs 4WD: What's the Difference & Which to Choose? | Edmunds

What is the difference between all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive? Which is right for you in snow, ice or sand? Edmunds sorts out the confusing terminology, explains how AWD and 4WD work, and lays out the pros and cons. Here's handy information for buying your next car, truck or SUV.

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S60AWD

This has to be the best, and, most thorough explanation I've read regarding these two systems. Thank you Peter!

GMadden33

wow - I finally understand this. Thanks so much for the detailed and easy to understand explanation for a non car guy

KeryeaS

Great. Now, I find AWD more suitable to my needs, not 10 minutes ago before reading this.
Thanks.

FarmerBull

This still does not answer my question. I want to know how the power gets to the back wheels on a AWD system. Is it mechanical or otherwise.

texases

FarmerBull said:

This still does not answer my question. I want to know how the power gets to the back wheels on a AWD system. Is it mechanical or otherwise.

In all systems except a few hybrids there is a driveshaft from the engine to the differential feeding the axles connected to the rear wheels. Does that answer your question?

jasonkimberson

great read! Very useful article

SoTexSooner

Great article, however, which system works best in the sand as in South Padre Island, Texas? Answer: 4WD with low gearing can get you out of a 4 wheel sand trap than an AWD. Also, if you go rock climbing in the Rockies, the answer is the same. So, for example, compare a 2019 Toyota 4Runner TRD versus a 2019 Honda AWD Passport (any version, LX, EX, EX-L, Touring, or Elite), and the Toyota is far superior in every way to the two scenarios laid out above. And, the gas mileage isn't all that different.

jlfliberty

AWD systems do not lock the deferential as 4WD systems do. Hence the jumping encountered when turning tightly in a 4WD vehicle with 4WD enabled. This locked deferential gives absolute traction to both sides eliminating the deferential slippage that allows tight turns without the tires jumping due to spinning at the same locked speed. This seems rather important to be left out of this lengthy description above.

Nateshift

Most discussions on AWD and 4WD omit the combination of AWD with 4WD such as the Toyota Sequoia, and I am sure others, which have Full-time AWD with the ability to also select 4WD. I work in a ski resort and live at a lower elevation that gets less snow. There is a definite difference between AWD and 4WD in severe conditions. AWD is sufficient for most snow conditions but when the roads are steep, icy or snow packed near 32F where the weight of the vehicle causes snow/ice to melt under the tires, 4WD is critical. I understand sponsored car company writers working for companies that only have AWD, but why must they so often omit the existence of vehicles with both? How convenient.

mlhghdvr1

Great article. Systems and needs well describe Simple basic would be on road in dicey conditions AWD. Off road or deep snow 4wd. Have used both in Colorado and Hawaii. 4wd only needed in Hawaii off road in tough terrain.

travelwarrior

I live full time in my travel trailer and travel around the US. I am buying a new truck. I hate the cold and am never anywhere where I would need 4WD for snow or ice. I don’t do beaches either. I’m planning on buying a RAM 2500, my question is, why should I get a 4WD if it decreases gas mileage, stiffens the ride and increases the cost?

CarQuestions4Me970

In regards to AWD- If there is an issue with one tire (traction, trading, etc) and it needs replacing, do all four tires need replaced because they all work together? This is what I have been told but I'm not so sure...

texases

All four tires need to be very close to the same circumference, so the AWD system isn't constantly trying to adjust to the different sizes.

wlay

I have a 2 wheel drive Nissan Pathfinder and have trouble pulling a pontoon out of the lake on a wet ramp. I am now faced with the decision of buying a 4 wheel drive pathfinder OR a all wheel drive infinity QX60. I would like the infinity but not sure all wheel drive will pull up a wet boat ramp as a four wheel drive pathfinder. Any advice ?

kyfdx

wlay said:

I have a 2 wheel drive Nissan Pathfinder and have trouble pulling a pontoon out of the lake on a wet ramp. I am now faced with the decision of buying a 4 wheel drive pathfinder OR a all wheel drive infinity QX60. I would like the infinity but not sure all wheel drive will pull up a wet boat ramp as a four wheel drive pathfinder. Any advice ?

The QX60 may be able to do it.. What year is your Pathfinder? Is it FWD or RWD?

wlay

Current is pathfinder SL FWD does fine except on a wet boat ramp

kyfdx

The front wheels are on wet pavement? Not under the water line?
AWD will certainly help, but most FWD-based systems won’t kick in the rear wheels, until the front wheels start spinning. Makes for a jerky pull, and not easy on the transfer case.

You really need a RWD-based vehicle for towing/pulling duty. Something like a Durango or Grand Cherokee.

But, is that something you want to drive the rest of the time?

ted939ted

Not once in the article was mentioned HOW or WHY 4wd is better than awd. It mentions some situations where 4wd might be better (i.e. getting out of snow, off road adventuring), but without any reasoning as to how or why.

If both systems provide proper traction to each wheel, why would 4wd be better than awd?

Tswear

If experience for me is correct, awd is for light hazardous conditions, and 4wd works in any condition that any traction is available. My Forresters tires cut power when slipping, I think that is why in snow (less than a 1/4 inch on the rim) and mud even less , is safe for awd, but for hazardous conditions beyond that, 4wd does not cut power, its equal Power to the wheels so if it slips, too bad, meaning the vehicle will either move or slide backwards. My awd got stuck in a snowbank a 4wd could easily have got out of, as my traction control would not let all 4 wheels spin, it would only let the ones that could grip spin which was zero of them, effectively rendering the SUV stuck. In that situation a 4WD would make quick work of it.

Disclaimer: I am an IT guy, I know very little about vehicles, I would like to , but I dont

JSimple

I haven't seen this mentioned, although I didn't read all the comments (so forgive me if I missed it searching for keywords). I was hoping the AWD Sports Car version would have been mentioned. I came to this article hoping to figure out which system to use in swapping/retrofitting a sports car. A guy was selling an LS2 system out of a wrecked Trailblazer SS. He has a 2wd or a 4x4 transmission. So, before contacting the guy, I wanted to wrap my brain around the 4x4 versus AWD concept. I would be putting the LS2 in a sports car and was wondering about the conversion.

JimS001

Very confusing. So what make 4 wheel drive different from all wheel drive? Body on frame vs unibody?

PH_down

Awd is usually controlled by a limited slip (geared or viscous) differential transferring power back and forth to all four wheels to limit slip.
4wd, in most trucks are really not true 4wd. They have a open differential that does not lock up. When slipping happens the power follows the path of least resistance, usually the back right tire and front left. Because of weight distribution this is usually enough. If the car has lockers, either electronic or manual then it will actually turn all four wheels. Usually even with a locking diff it will only lock the back wheels and still leave the front open.

Kraig_AWD_H8TR

I have a Saturn Vue AWD, and I'll be the 1st to tell you, if you're gonna keep it on the highway, not go through extreme winter weather events, and camp in maintained access campgrounds, AWD is for you! If you live somewhere that getting stuck in a snowdrift could potentially kill you, like where I live in Alaska, or drive on icy, curvy, steep roads, or adventure to the backcountry, put your AWD on a trailer and let your 4WD pull it where you want to take it! Never again! My trucks system, gives power to a wheel only when it has traction. I have to chunk rocks, sticks, little kids, whatever I can find, under whichever tire it is just watching the others work. I actually got stuck in my front yard on hard packed snow because I guess it was too slippery for enough tires to have power. My wife pulled me out with her 2WD Malibu while mocking me! Avoid the shame, get a 4WD, or maybe a Malibu.

Vbp1

Tswear said:

If experience for me is correct, awd is for light hazardous conditions, and 4wd works in any condition that any traction is available. My Forresters tires cut power when slipping, I think that is why in snow (less than a 1/4 inch on the rim) and mud even less , is safe for awd, but for hazardous conditions beyond that, 4wd does not cut power, its equal Power to the wheels so if it slips, too bad, meaning the vehicle will either move or slide backwards. My awd got stuck in a snowbank a 4wd could easily have got out of, as my traction control would not let all 4 wheels spin, it would only let the ones that could grip spin which was zero of them, effectively rendering the SUV stuck. In that situation a 4WD would make quick work of it.

Disclaimer: I am an IT guy, I know very little about vehicles, I would like to , but I dont

I am not sure what condition you mean, but I did doughnuts in 3ft snow on my 2010 Forester on OEM allseason tires.

21BlackjackLarry

This is basically a useless article and offers elementary info. anyone knows. I'm trying, for example, to ascertain the difference between Honda's mark of 4WD on the previous Ridgeline version and AWD on the newest generation. Or, why Ford advertises 4WD on the Escape when its largely an AWD (seemingly) system. This article gives zero information to answer these questions. I can get the same level of detail from an 11th grader.

slbisme

Good article! I have a Toyota Tacoma 4x4 and now a Subaru Outback AWD. I was wondering which I should rely on in the snow. It sounds like 4WD trumps AWD although I know an Outback with snow tires on it will go anywhere. My mom has proven as much. I just don't want to buy them if I already have a truck that meets my needs.

kyfdx

slbisme said:

Good article! I have a Toyota Tacoma 4x4 and now a Subaru Outback AWD. I was wondering which I should rely on in the snow. It sounds like 4WD trumps AWD although I know an Outback with snow tires on it will go anywhere. My mom has proven as much. I just don't want to buy them if I already have a truck that meets my needs.

Depends on where you live. The part-time 4WD in the Tacoma isn't that useful, unless you regularly get snow covered roads. Plus, it's a bear to steer, even in HI 4WD. The Outback is a lot easier to live with. Just put it in gear, and go.

georgehoppper11

Peter,

First thanks for taking time to write this article. There is good general info in it which people new to the AWD/4WD discussion can benefit from.

Second, and this comment is really directed to Edmunds more generally than you specifically, this article is not very good for car buyers who simply want to know what AWD or 4WD systems work best. If Edmunds wishes to be a go to source for car buyers for AWD or 4WD buying choices, then they need to do better. How could they do better? By providing real traction comparison tests of different systems under a variety of slippery (simulated and / or live) conditions. For example, look at this test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRniF4JQN2U .

There are others like it. They are useful for potential buyers because they provide valuable information about which systems actually work better in practice rather than general theory or even specific AWD system theory.

The problem I find w/ tests like the one referenced above is that they are 1 - not comprehensive, 2- not current and 3 - don't cover enough different test conditions.

There are more options than ever now and manufactures are making claims about the improved and/or superior performance of their systems (e.g. Audi Quatro AWD or Honda iTVM AWD). But these are just claims. Potential buyers want to know which ones work best under different circumstances more than they want to know some theory about who different systems work.

Edumds seems to be a generally good car buyers resource but is terribly lacking in detailed real world comparisons for various AWD & 4WD systems. I believe that almost 50% of new cars sold are AWD or 4WD models. In areas where there is regular snow, I think it is almost 90%. This means there is a huge group of buyers wanting better info. Edmunds should address this.

Now some comments on specific AWD / 4WD systems because there is a lot of bad info in the comments below.

I have lived for 10 years in an area that gets regular snow of between a few inches and 2feet and occasionally 4feet. I travel 3 miles of dirt roads which include up and down grades of up to 15%. I have owned 4 subarus (2 foresters, 1 outback and 1 impreza) and a variety of Dodge Ram trucks, Toyota Tacomas and a few other including a Mercedes Unimog. My neighbors have all manner of AWD & 4WD vehicles. I am therefore fairly experienced in the practical performance of various AWD and 4WD systems. Here is a short summary of my experience.

1 - Mercedes 2 or 4 wheel locking system like on the G-series wagon is the best I have seen outside of ATV vehicles like the Mercedes Unimog. This is not surprising but also info only useful to those who wish to spend 100-200k on a vehicle.

2 - IMO the best overall traction for a reasonable purchase and ongoing total maintenance cost is Subaru. With good snow tires and the standard 8-9inches of ground clearance, the Forester and Outback and shockingly good with their symmetrical AWD. You probably wouldn't believe it if I told you how many times myself or my wife have driven by other stuck vehicles of all kinds in our subarus. This claim is backed up by the 2011 roller test which I referenced in the beginning of my post. Note that Subaru is one of the few AWD cars which can climb a roller ramp w/ 3 / 4 wheels slipping.

3 - The older Tacomas are really not great unless you chain the wheels. Dodge 2500 is similar. Even though both have locked front differentials, if either both front wheels or either back wheel slips, you aren't going anywhere.

4 - Audi is also very good but expensive to maintain. Few people in the area own them so the sample size is small. I have not owned a Honda AWD/4WD so don't have personal experience w/ them.

5 - Hondas in general are not great but I do not know much about the newer iTVM AWD. Honda claims significant improvements in AWD in the last 10 years. Honda would be IMO a good choice of performance and price if the AWD system worked decent now.

6 - Toyota in general are similar to Honda in that they have claimed improvements and I do not have experience w/ the newer systems. Toyota would also be a good performance / price choice IMO if the AWD worked reasonably well now.

6 - I have very little experience w/ modern Ford, Chrysler/Dodge or GM AWD models. I would assume that if their systems worked reasonably well, they would also be a good price performance choice.

In conclusion, there are a lot of AWD models made by Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chrysler and GM which may be good performance vs price choices if a buyer could be assured that the AWD systems work reasonably well. Toyota and Honda are legendary for reliability and the American manufactures have been steadily improving in reliability for the last 30 years. There are also many models in these lines which are quite comfortable. Subaru, in spite of it's outstanding AWD, is not the most comfortable line. Improving but still IMO not keeping up w/ the others.

Please, use your influence at Edmunds to encourage Edmunds to provide actual real world and lab simulated testing results for potential AWD buyers. Thanks,

-George.

South_Jersey

i was excited when AWD first came out as i conceived of it was 4WD on demand. now i know better and think that AWD a conspiracy by the tire industry and tire retailers 'cause Side Wall Flats have happened more times than i have gone in to AWD. i will NEVER buy an AWD vehicle again