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Despite the increasing number of online resources and shifting dealer strategies, car shopping is still a headache. Add in all the new car segments, vehicle features, and technology acronyms, and the process becomes truly daunting — especially if you aren’t a gearhead.
AWD today are really front wheel drive cars. The rear wheels engage when conditions require it. So if you are driving a RAV4, 95% of the time you are driving a FWD car.
AWD today are really front wheel drive cars. The rear wheels engage when conditions require it. So if you are driving a RAV4, 95% of the time you are driving a FWD car.
Except when they're not. Dodge's AWD offerings (Charger/Challenger/Durango) are RWD when not in AWD mode.
That's not entirely true. Haldex based systems are FWD biased but the more traditional AWD systems are not FWD biased like torsen based AWD systems like most Audi quattro cars or Subaru's Symmetrical AWD systems in non-CVT vehicles. Good article on various types - http://www.caranddriver.com/features...system-feature
AWD today are really front wheel drive cars. The rear wheels engage when conditions require it. So if you are driving a RAV4, 95% of the time you are driving a FWD car.
Which isn't a bad thing, for sedate driving anyhow. Most drivers wouldn't know, couldn't feel the difference. Those who do, probably shouldn't drive that way on the street.
It certainly can be a pain to get the details of each system. For example, I like the RAV4 system, where one can hit a button and "lock" in the rear axle proactively. That it "kicks out" above 35mph wouldn't bother me.
There is also AWD that NEVER engages both axles, merely dithers between the two very quickly. I call that simulated AWD, not AWD. The marketeers invent all sorts of obfuscatory terms instead.
But a big difference between 4WD and AWD is that the latter does not have a low-range transfer case. This is NOT a single low gear; it is somewhat analogous to the granny chainring on a mountain bike.
One must stop the vehicle and put the transmission in neutral before shifting into the low range, or out of it. I have known at least three people who had owned 4WD vehicles and didn't even know what the low range was for. Owner's manual, anyone? It ain't rocket science.
AWD today are really front wheel drive cars. The rear wheels engage when conditions require it. So if you are driving a RAV4, 95% of the time you are driving a FWD car.
Generally on a unibody crossover made by the big three or Japanese or Korean imports, yes.
BUT, there are exceptions. Audi and Subaru are full time AWD systems, and will shift power as needed back and forth.
The main difference between AWD and 4WD, is that 4WD usually means all four wheels spin at the same speed, and that is better in really deep snow or in bad mud or whatever, but most people wouldn't notice a meaningful differnece between it and AWD in your average snot-weathered commute in wintertime.
There is also AWD that NEVER engages both axles, merely dithers between the two very quickly. I call that simulated AWD, not AWD. The marketeers invent all sorts of obfuscatory terms instead.
But a big difference between 4WD and AWD is that the latter does not have a low-range transfer case. This is NOT a single low gear; it is somewhat analogous to the granny chainring on a mountain bike.
One must stop the vehicle and put the transmission in neutral before shifting into the low range, or out of it. I have known at least three people who had owned 4WD vehicles and didn't even know what the low range was for. Owner's manual, anyone? It ain't rocket science.
No "low range" transfer case? Well, yes, in many AWD vehicles, but not all.
Some Jeeps, for instance, had a transfer case that was in AWD all the time, except when 4WD was selected, or Low Range selected. I know this for a fact, because my Jeep Liberty had such a transfer case, as did my 2005 Grand Cherokee.
The major difference between 4WD and AWD, IMO, is the simple fact that AWD has some kind of differential in the transfer case. This "center differential" may or may not be lockable for true 4WD.
A 4WD vehicle has no such differential. When in 4WD, whether high or low range, the front and rear axles are locked together. In order to have true four wheel drive, the differentials in the front and rear axles must be lockable (the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has this feature) or some kind of "limited slip". If only the rear differential is lockable, the vehicle has three wheel drive (2 rear wheels and one front wheel). If no differential is lockable, the vehicle actually has 2 wheel drive (one front and one rear).
With both front and rear differentials locked, steering is nearly impossible. Been there, did that, learned fast!
No "low range" transfer case? Well, yes, in many AWD vehicles, but not all.
Some Jeeps, for instance, had a transfer case that was in AWD all the time, except when 4WD was selected, or Low Range selected. I know this for a fact, because my Jeep Liberty had such a transfer case, as did my 2005 Grand Cherokee.
The major difference between 4WD and AWD, IMO, is the simple fact that AWD has some kind of differential in the transfer case. This "center differential" may or may not be lockable for true 4WD.
A 4WD vehicle has no such differential. When in 4WD, whether high or low range, the front and rear axles are locked together. In order to have true four wheel drive, the differentials in the front and rear axles must be lockable (the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has this feature) or some kind of "limited slip". If only the rear differential is lockable, the vehicle has three wheel drive (2 rear wheels and one front wheel). If no differential is lockable, the vehicle actually has 2 wheel drive (one front and one rear).
With both front and rear differentials locked, steering is nearly impossible. Been there, did that, learned fast!
You don't have a AWD. You have a 4WD with a optional AWD setting. My wife's Infiniti is a 4WD with a AWD setting
AWD is simply a automatic feature on a car to send power to all four wheels. AWD vehicles do not have a option for low range.
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Owner's manual, anyone? It ain't rocket science.
