4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
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4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
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Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#2Great! Finally somebody explained this to me, I thought it was just a marketing term related to different patents of similar ideas.
I was puzzled by this as I was stopped by a ranger coming out of Waipio Valley on Hawai'i, where there was a sign "4WD only" and my rental car had AWD. I thought they were the same, just different names, so I argued with the ranger that I do in fact have 4WD, which is in my case just called AWD and in other cases 4x4 as well. Well, he was still pretty upset but the "I am a European and we have different cars" finally disarmed him...
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#3Here are the key takeaways for me:
"Thanks to that differential between your axles, an AWD car will send your engine’s power down the path of least resistance—the wheel with the least grip. Where a two-wheel drive car can only choose between two wheels, an AWD system looks for that least resistance across all four wheels."
"4WD works by locking the front and rear axles together, splitting torque 50:50 between them. This provides great traction, but a vehicle locked in 4WD cannot safely be operated on dry pavement because its front and rear axles are forced to rotate at the same speeds."
I remember being scared when I bought my first 4wd vehicle, a '91 Toyota pickup. I knew I shouldn't have the wheels locked in 4wd on dry pavement, and I was worried about going from snowy roads to dry pavement. When I moved on to an Outback (AWD, not 4wd) I wondered why I didn't have to worry about transitioning between slippery roads and dry pavement. Now I understand.
There's also a great video from 1937(!) that shows why we need differentials, and how they work. Here's a direct link to the video if you're going to skip the article:
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#4Great! Finally somebody explained this to me, I thought it was just a marketing term related to different patents of similar ideas. I was puzzled by this as I was stopped by a ranger coming out of Waipio Valley on Hawai'i, where there was a sign "4WD only" and my rental car had AWD. I thought they were the same, just different names, so I argued with the ranger that I do in fact have 4WD, which is in my case just cal…
Did they make you turn around? Did your car do fine, or did it get a bit hairy?
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#5Great! Finally somebody explained this to me, I thought it was just a marketing term related to different patents of similar ideas. I was puzzled by this as I was stopped by a ranger coming out of Waipio Valley on Hawai'i, where there was a sign "4WD only" and my rental car had AWD. I thought they were the same, just different names, so I argued with the ranger that I do in fact have 4WD, which is in my case just cal…
Generally a sign saying you need 4wd in the US really means you need a lot of ground clearance. Your car probably would have high-centered, that is stuck resting on the middle of the car with the tires in the air.
The annoyed ranger was probably just tired of pulling stuck tourists out.
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#6>Torque goes to whichever of the four wheels has the least grip.
That should be the tire with the most grip. If torque goes to the wheel where the tire on it has the least grip the tire still has no traction torque doesn't make grip appear out of nowhere.
In four-wheel or all-wheel drive one wheel where a tire has no grip the other three wheel with tire that have grip move the vehicle isn't that the entire point of 4WD and AWD?
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#7[deleted]
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#8>Torque goes to whichever of the four wheels has the least grip. That should be the tire with the most grip. If torque goes to the wheel where the tire on it has the least grip the tire still has no traction torque doesn't make grip appear out of nowhere. In four-wheel or all-wheel drive one wheel where a tire has no grip the other three wheel with tire that have grip move the vehicle isn't that the entire point of 4…
He is talking about what happens when there is no lock. He goes on the clarify what happens when there are locks or viscous couplings.
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#9[deleted]
[deleted]
Re: 4WD vs. AWD. What's the Difference?
#10Here are the key takeaways for me: "Thanks to that differential between your axles, an AWD car will send your engine’s power down the path of least resistance—the wheel with the least grip. Where a two-wheel drive car can only choose between two wheels, an AWD system looks for that least resistance across all four wheels." "4WD works by locking the front and rear axles together, splitting torque 50:50 between them. T…
woooow! Re: youtube video - Go to market in 1930s was actually how to go to market. When you think that Chevrolet really got going in 1920, 17 years later their marketing was super on point (here we are still watching it today, content marketing at it's best).