Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! A recent story at Jalopnik tells us the story of a Subaru driver who got in trouble for going on the wrong trail. Why? Because the National Park Service only allows four-wheel-drive vehicles on ... [continued]
Generally if there is a question of AWD vs 4WD, the only thing you need to look for as an ability to shift to 4 low. It changes the final drive ratio so all of your gearing is dramatically lower. It’s a capability that requires having a transfer case. Though I’m sure there are some weird exceptions out there of 4WD vehicles that don’t have 4 low, it’s a pretty simple rule of thumb to decide which side a vehicle falls on.
It’s possible to have an AWD vehicle that has a clutch or some other way to disengage two of the drive wheels. So you can have a selectable RWD or AWD. This is different than how a transfer case works though, and does not allow a change in final drive ratio.
Thank you for this, I was part way through and questioning my sanity.
Though now I’m thoroughly confused as to where my Audi Q7 Quattro stands in the grand scheme of things…
Apparently AWD:
https://www.audinorthlake.com/blog/2017/february/2/is-the-audi-q7-an-all-wheel-drive-or-four-wheel-drive-suv.htm
https://youtu.be/7QbJZ6HYTfc
Generally if there is a question of AWD vs 4WD, the only thing you need to look for as an ability to shift to 4 low. It changes the final drive ratio so all of your gearing is dramatically lower. It’s a capability that requires having a transfer case. Though I’m sure there are some weird exceptions out there of 4WD vehicles that don’t have 4 low, it’s a pretty simple rule of thumb to decide which side a vehicle falls on.
It’s possible to have an AWD vehicle that has a clutch or some other way to disengage two of the drive wheels. So you can have a selectable RWD or AWD. This is different than how a transfer case works though, and does not allow a change in final drive ratio.