A Summary of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Front-Wheel Drive, Rear-Wheel Drive, and Four-Wheel Drive

Front wheel drive

advantage:

Increased interior space: Front-wheel drive vehicles do not have a drive shaft, so there is more room for space utilization;

Low cost and high efficiency: There are few and concentrated components, and due to direct power transmission, losses are reduced and operation efficiency is high;

Weight reduction: Front-wheel drive vehicles have fewer and simpler mechanical components, so they can save a lot of weight.

shortcoming:

Poor handling: Since the main components such as the engine and drive system are concentrated at the front of the vehicle, the weight at the rear of the vehicle is lighter, and the rear wheels can easily lose grip, especially on slippery roads;

Understeer: Since the front wheels assume the functions of steering and driving at the same time, they are inherently prone to understeer. Understeer is particularly obvious when cornering at high speeds;

Excessive load on the front axle affects comfort: Because the front wheels of front-wheel drive vehicles are responsible for both driving and steering, and due to the large front weight of the vehicle, the wear of the front wheels is more serious, and the front axle is damaged when accelerating or braking. If the load is too heavy, the phenomenon of raising the head and nodding will be more obvious, affecting the riding comfort.

Rear wheel drive

advantage:

Good handling: the rear wheels are responsible for driving, allowing the front wheels to focus on steering, so the vehicle responds more quickly when turning;

Good acceleration performance and high comfort: Because the center of gravity of the vehicle moves rearward when starting, accelerating or climbing a hill, the rear wheels serve as driving wheels and have enhanced grip, which is beneficial to the vehicle starting, accelerating or climbing, providing better driving stability and comfort Spend;

Simple maintenance: The layout of the control mechanism and the structure of the steering mechanism are simplified to facilitate vehicle maintenance and repair.

shortcoming:

High cost and inconvenient space utilization: rear-wheel drive vehicles have many parts and complex assembly, and the production cost is relatively high;

Insufficient traction and oversteer: When a rear-wheel drive vehicle is cornering, due to the forward center of gravity of deceleration, the rear wheel grip is reduced, which can easily lead to oversteer, which is commonly known as "drifting";

Large power loss and fuel consumption: Since the power generated by the engine needs to pass through the transmission shaft one more step before it can be transmitted to the drive wheels, the power loss must be greater than that of front-wheel drive vehicles. The general performance is that rear-wheel drive vehicles use more fuel than front-wheel drive vehicles. .

Full-time four-wheel drive

advantage:

Full-time four-wheel drive is the transmission mode with the highest cornering limit on the road. It can distribute the best driving force to each wheel when the vehicle corners at high speed. Therefore, this technology is adopted by a large number of large-displacement cars that emphasize handling performance, and the main purpose of assembling them is to improve the effective driving force and cornering limit.

shortcoming:

The structure of full-time four-wheel drive is relatively complex, the cost is high, and it takes up a large space, so it is not suitable for assembly on lower-positioned or smaller models. At the same time, full-time four-wheel drive consumes power, and its transmission efficiency is lower than that of two-wheel drive. For models that value economy and have small engine power, full-time four-wheel drive is not suitable for assembly.

Part-time four-wheel drive

advantage:

The part-time four-wheel drive technology is very mature, the structure is relatively simple, and the reliability is good. In addition, it does not need to be equipped with a central differential lock, and the cost is much lower than that of the full-time four-wheel drive. Using two-wheel drive mode during normal driving is more economical and more flexible. In poor road conditions, choosing four-wheel drive can improve the vehicle's passability.

shortcoming:

Part-time four-wheel drive is of little significance on the road and requires high driving skills. Because the part-time four-wheel drive is equivalent to a hard shaft connection after it is turned on, you must be very cautious when using the four-wheel drive mode. Never use four-wheel drive mode when cornering on the road. The four-wheel drive mode cannot be used when turning on gravel, rain, snow, or ice.

Timely four-wheel drive

advantage:

The structure of real-time four-wheel drive is much simpler than that of full-time four-wheel drive, which can not only effectively reduce costs, but also help reduce the weight of the entire vehicle. It is suitable for models with front transverse engine and front drive platforms, which makes it possible for many SUVs or four-wheel drive cars based on this platform to be equipped with four-wheel drive systems.

shortcoming:

At present, most of the timely four-wheel drive is subject to structural defects when transmitting power to the front and rear axles, and cannot transmit more than 50% of the power to the rear axle. This makes it incapable of full-time four-wheel drive in terms of active safety control. The adjustment range is so wide.