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What is a Four-Wheel Drive?

As what the term suggests, four-wheel drive (4WD) or 4x4 ("four by four") is a vehicle powered by 4 wheels. The most notable feature of most four-wheel drive vehicles these days is their capacity to traverse in rough and off-road environments. So how does 4WD work?

Most car manufacturers market 4WD cars as driving machines that have the ability to transfer the engine's power to all four wheels. This power is really useful in some situations such as driving in snowy roads and climbing slippery hills. A four-wheel-drive car can utilize the traction of all tires. The other set of tires still has traction, so they can pull you out in many situations. However, it adds to the car's weight and increases fuel consumption compared to an equivalent two-wheel-drive car.

There are many different four-wheel drive systems offered on the market today and buying the right one can be confusing at times to the average consumer. Even though 4WD and 4x4 are commonly used to indicate the same thing, a 4WD is not necessarily a 4x4. Since a 3 axle truck with six wheels can be a 4WD as well (both rear axles are powered), you would have refer to it as a 6x4 (six by for - six wheel vehicle powered by four wheels). Actually, most 4WD vehicles today used that configuration quite often.

Four wheel drive system can be divided into two categories: the "part-time four wheel drive" and the "all-wheel drive" or AWD.

The term four-wheel drive describes truck-like vehicles that require the driver to manually switch between two-wheel drive mode for streets and four-wheel drive mode for low traction conditions. It means that the vehicle is usually rear-wheel drive. The system needs transfer case because it transfers additional rotational force "torque" to the front axle.

On the other hand, all-wheel-drive systems are designed to function on all types of surfaces, both on- and off-road, and most of them cannot be switched off.

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