Front Wheel Drive vs. Rear Wheel Drive vs. All Wheel Drive

When buying a vehicle you probably wonder which kind of car you want to get. Before choosing the make and model you might wonder which wheels this car drives on. There are various reasons on why people will choose how there car drives so here will be the pros and cons between front wheel drive, rear wheel drive and all wheel drive.

Front Wheel Drive:

With front wheel drive the advantages will be that you generally have a cheaper car because it is cheaper to design and build a front wheel drive car. This is due to the fact that the drivetrain is cheaper and easier to install as the car rolls down the assembly line. There is less weight on the front wheel drive cars because there is no need to have a separate transmission and axis assemble like they have in the rear wheel drive. Due to the less weight of the cars it will help with the vehicle economy. Front wheel drives have better traction in snow and rain compared to rear wheel drives. The front wheels pull the car rather than the rear wheels push the car, and on top of that the engine and axle is at the front of the vehicle which also results in a better grip.

The cons to front wheel drive is that they are nose-heavy which can make them harder to handle than rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive cars have to do two thing at once which is put power to the ground and steer the car. This is not optimal for high performance car because as the car accelerates the front wheel may jerk left or right. Front wheel drive vehicle are more fragile. The half shaft and constant velocity joints are more susceptible to damage compared to a rugged lump of cast iron found in a rear wheel drive's solid axle. The rear wheel drive axle may outlast the car and may require the occasional service, however the chances that the front wheel drive will need new constant velocity joint or something else during the years is far more likely. 

Rear Wheel Drive:

The pros to rear wheel drive will be that rear wheel drives usually have a solid axle design, so by accidentally hitting a curb or a deep pothole the chances are that you will not break anything compared to the front wheel drives. Hitting a curb or pothole with a front wheel drive will have a lot higher chance of something expensive being damaged. The rear wheel drive vehicles offer better balance this will result in better handling. With front wheel drives the weight of the engine and transaxle is at the front of the car over the front wheels. With rear wheel drive the weight of the drivetrain spreads more even from the front to rear.

The cons of rear wheel drive is that they are the worst performers in bad weather. Even with modern traction control the rear wheel drive will likely have the worst traction in rain or snow.

All Wheel Drive:

All wheel drive vehicles offer the advantages of the rear wheel drive and front wheel drive vehicles while at the same time minimizing their weaknesses. Another big advantage to all wheel drive is that they give better traction in both on dry pavement and bad weather. This is the reason why all wheel drive attract both the performance mind enthusiasts and the people who do not want to get stuck in the snow. All wheel drive vehicles do a good job of balancing and handling driving dynamics. Some all wheel drive systems are based off the rear wheel drive, while others are based of the front wheel drive. The ones based on rear wheel drive have slightly better performance.

The disadvantages of all wheel drive are the fact that there is extra weight that needs to be added to the vehicle. With the same make and model that all wheel drive the vehicle will be several hundred pounds heavier than a vehicle that is not all wheel drive. This will result in high fuel consumption, especially if there is added power to the engine to compensate for the extra weight. Also the vehicle will be more expensive if it is all wheel drive, this is of course the same make and model brand new. The are more components so more things will need to be serviced. As the vehicle gets older it might be more expensive to fix due to the components.