Autoline Reviews

While technology take us ahead in our life, sometimes it confuses us as well. It’s simply nothing but a double-edged sword. Automobile Technology has the potential to greatly benefit what and how we drive, it also has the capacity to confuse us as to which features most benefit our particular driving needs and style.

We will talk about the what is similar and what is different in All-wheel drive and Four-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is often confused with four-wheel drive because they are somewhat similar in design. A second reason for our misunderstanding is that four-wheel drive has been available in the market for much longer, so we naturally associate the two when discussing this technology.

All-wheel drive vehicles are designed to operate using all four wheels to propel the vehicle in the desired direction under all driving conditions. But there are also many part-time all-wheel drive vehicles available in the market. Two current examples of this are the 2008 Honda CR-V and Volvo S80. All-wheel drive allows the front and rear wheels to rotate at different speeds. In this way, traction can be maintained while vehicle handling is improved.

The all-wheel drive systems found on these vehicles work seamlessly when activated, but require slippage in order to engage. Because of this, part-time all-wheel drive can leave the driver feeling somewhat powerless. Just when you need grip the most, your request may take a few seconds to register with the system. This lag time can be a serious determent to getting unstuck or gaining control as quickly as possible.

Four-wheel drive, on the other hand, is best suited for poor traction surfaces such as off-road driving. That said, four-wheel drive is limited in ways many drivers simply don’t anticipate. Surprisingly, should one axle lose traction on hard road surfaces such as ice or packed snow, it is easy to suddenly find your vehicle pointed in the wrong direction.

The Suzuki SX4 Crossover is a great example of superb all-wheel drive technology at an affordable price. Suzuki’s 3-mode Intelligent All-Wheel-Drive, (i-AWD) provides excellent control over the traction characteristics of the vehicle. On dry paved roads, two-wheel drive operation is the standard setup. Switching to i-AWD on snow and ice allows power to be delivered to the wheels in need of traction. An additional feature allows for locking the i-AWD system on extra slick road conditions.

All-wheel drive is a technology well suited for the vehicles of today. Consider it the next time you purchase a new or used vehicle. Chances are excellent you’ll be pleasantly surprised and wonder why you waited so long.