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Do I Need AWD or 4WD for the Winter?

Feb 5, 2016

Now that we are finally getting some snow this winter, I’m sure a lot of you noticed how bad the roads were in New Hampshire today. There is nothing like a fresh pile of wet, heavy snow to make to think twice about the vehicle you are driving and how safe your tires are.

So what exactly does drivetrain have to do with how a vehicle handles in the snow and ice? It helps to know a little bit about drivetrains; they transfer the power from the motor to the wheels to make a vehicle move. There are 3 different types of drivetrain to consider. The oldest is rear-wheel drive (RWD). RWD vehicles transfer the power from the motor to the rear wheels, which “push” the car forward. The front wheels do not deliver power, they are just used for balance and steering. The advantage of RWD cars is that they have excellent “balance” and control. They excel at hugging curves, and deliver a driving experience that tends to be more “fun” than some of their counterparts. It is for this reason that most sports cars are rear-wheel drive.

About 30 or 40 years ago, there was a sudden interest in a bold new design: the front-wheel drive vehicle. As the name implies, front-wheel drive (FWD) vehicles transfer power to the front wheels which “pull” the car forward. There are a few advantages that the FWD vehicles have over RWD vehicles. The first advantage is that by eliminating the need for a driveshaft running from the engine block to the rear axle, the car becomes simultaneously lighter and more spacious. And a lighter car is a more fuel-efficient car, so the FWD vehicles are more practical from a fuel economy perspective. The improvement in fuel economy was a primary driver in widespread adoption of the FWD platform, especially after the OPEC embargo of 1973-74 and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards enacted by Congress in 1975. Finally, FWD vehicles handle much better in wet, slippery road conditions. The reason for the improved handling is that the engine block’s weight on the front axle helps push down on the tires to achieve better traction on the road.

The third and final category of drivetrains is the 4-wheel drive (4WD) and all-wheel drive segment (AWD). There is a slight distinction between 4WD, which is manually selected by the driver, and AWD, which is controlled by a computer that distributes power where it is needed. But in both cases, all four wheels help propel the vehicle forward. As you can imagine, the 4WD/AWD category combines the traits of both the RWD and FWD cars. It is even better in slippery road conditions than FWD cars, although fuel economy does suffer a bit. For the very best traction and vehicle control in inclement driving conditions, AWD/4WD is the way to go. That being said, you can improve the traction of your FWD or RWD vehicle considerably with the addition of snow tires.