Not all vehicles are built the same. You already knew that. And not all vehicles perform the same. You already knew that too. But do you know why some vehicles are rear-wheel drive, some are front-wheel drive and some are all-wheel drive? And do you know which is better than which?

Ok, well that’s a bit of a trick question as technically, neither is better than either of the others. They all serve a purpose.

What’s the difference?

Put simply, in a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the rear wheels are powered by the engine. In a front-wheel drive the front wheels are powered by the engine and in an all-wheel-drive vehicle all four wheels get power from the engine.

Interestingly, the world’s first car, the 1769 Cugnot Le Fardier was front-wheel driven!

In a perfect world, the most efficient configuration for powering a vehicle is to have the power source (the engine) as close to the axle as possible. So rear-engine, RWD vehicles or front-engine, FWD vehicles on paper are the most efficient drive types.

With that said there are many reasons for why some vehicles are front-wheel, rear-wheel or all-wheel-drive.

Pros and Cons

For cabin space, front wheel drive vehicles eliminate a lot of the space taken up by drive shafts and transmissions of RWD’s. That means more space inside for drivers and passengers.

For traction, especially on acceleration, AWD provides an advantage as AWD’s maximize the vehicle’s weight across all four wheels. The downside of this is that braking is often worse in an AWD due to added mass and inertia. With that said, braking traction in FWD often leads to understeer while the opposite is true for RWD.

There are many pros and cons for each of these drive types.

FWD – Front wheel drive

PROS

a Cost efficient, decent fuel consumption, better traction

CONS

r Front tires can wear out quicker, front weight bias means weaker handling responsiveness

RWD – Rear wheel drive

PROS

a Allowing front tires to specialize in steering while rear tires focus on driving, steering, especially cornering is improved. Accelerative traction is better.

CONS

r Reduced poor weather traction vs AWD and FWD. More tendency for oversteer.

AWD – All wheel drive

PROS

a Better traction in all conditions, especially accelerating through turns.

CONS

r Reduced efficiency due to added weight, inertia, etc.

At the end of the day, the type of drive you choose will depend largely on the type of driving you do. The good news is, whatever type of vehicle you drive, AWD, FWD or RWD, we service and repair them all at Big O Tires in North Vancouver! We look forward to servicing your vehicle.