All-Wheel Drive Vs. Standard 4-Wheel Drive

The difference between all-wheel-drive (AWD) and four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles involves a few simple factors. Although with variations in all-wheel-drive vehicles, it is getting harder to distinguish between the two.

Four-Wheel Drive

Standard 4WD, also called permanent four-wheel drive, is a system that powers all four wheels at the same time, all of the time. Each wheel creates 25 percent of the available torque, and you do not have the option of two-wheel drive.

Four-High

Standard 4WD gives you the option of using "four-high" or "four-low." Four-high is normal 4WD. It is what you would use to drive on normal pavement.

Four-Low

Four-low uses substantially more torque but doesn't add traction. The four-low setting is used primarily for towing a trailer or for difficult off-road terrain.

All-Wheel Drive

AWD is a system that powers all four wheel all of the time, too. However, without the four-low option, AWD vehicles do much better on roads than off. One benefit of AWD is better gas mileage, as the vehicles that have it tend to be smaller than ones with 4WD.

Automatic AWD

Some automatic all-wheel-drive vehicles, using names such as "Real Time 4WD" or "Active AWD," are essentially smart two-wheel-drive systems. These systems give you more traction when you need it, but they generally don't kick in until your vehicle loses control.