More specifically, what are the pros/cons of each? Why do some cars use one system over the others and which is “better”?
EDIT: Thanks everyone for the explanations. It’s been very useful.
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RWD, this is the OG way that we made cars. The rear wheels push the vehicle, the front wheels steer. Iw a modern context RWD is actually fairly rare, used mostly in very specific kinds of vehicles. These days some sports cars are RWD (it’s considered more fun, and more techinicall to drive). Vehicles that are designed to tow are often RWD as well because of traction related reasons.
FWD, Front wheel drive. Most modern cars are FWD. This is where the front wheels “pull” the car behind them. It’s MUCH easier for a novis to control a FWD car, much harder to get into a bad situation and so on.
It’s worth pointing out. A very skilled driver will have more control in a RWD car, but it’s easier for a less skilled driver to get themselves into trouble. A FWD car is less good for the skilled driver, but much better for the unskilled (read, average) driver.
A FWD car is more technically complicated to build, but also tends to leave more space in the passenger area for passengers.
4WD. Four Wheel Drive. This is a car that can “sometimes” use all 4 wheels to drive the car at the same time. Normally these are RWD vehicles and there’s a switch of button that changes it into 4WD. It’s commonly seen in trucks of off road vehicles. Generally a 4WD vehicle should not be driven at highway speed in 4WD mode, the special 4WD mode is normally engaged after the truck gets stuck. 90% of the time these vehicles operate in normal, 2 wheel drive mode.
AWD. All Wheel Drive. This is a kind of evaluation of 4WD that’s intended to be “on” all of the time. Different manufacturers have different AWD systems and they all act a little differently. Sometimes they are FWD systems that only sometimes can send power to the back wheels, sometimes it’s the opposite, sometimes it’s power to all the wheels all of the time. The important distinction between an AWD car and a 4WD car is that in an AWD vehicle it’s the car that chooses when to engage or disengage it. And the system might sometimes just be turned on all of the time without harming the vehicle or the drivetrain.
AWD is less good for things like offroading, but much better dubious traction situations that the average driver might encounter (such as a little snow in the driveway). AWD is getting more and more common in modern cars and in the past 15 years basically every manufacturer offers some kind of AWD vehicle.
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