Bozo
Storage? I am Storage!
Big difference between AWD and 4WD.
AWD makes power available to all four tires but the one that is easyest to turn gets the most. Most systems monitor the tire speed and transfer the power away from the slipping tire. If you could get 3 tires on dry pavement, and one on ice, the one on the ice would spin, without some controller. Mercedes applys the brake to the slipping tire forcing the power to one of the other tires. This system shuts off above 20 MPH. Toyota has a fluid clutch between the front and rear axles. The front is driven at ~80% power. When a front tire starts to slip, the fluid thickens and applies power to the rear tires. Each manufacturer has their own method.
4WD usually has a lever or switch that the driver uses to put the vehicle in 4WD. This locks the front and rear axles together so at least two tires have power applied to them all the time. My Ranger pickup has a limited slip rear axle. Both rear tires have power applied to them all the time. This can be a real handful on wet and/or slippery roads. The truck can get sideways real fast. But, when I engage 4WD, it amazing what it will go through. (on the flip side..you have never been stuck until you get a 4WD stuck. It gives a whole new meaning to 'stuck')
There is a lot of marketing spin about AWD. Have you ever noticed that all the TV commercials about a vehicle with AWD only show them on hard packed snow? Never plowing through it.
Tires on AWD vehicles are not the best for snow either. Most tend to be some type of wide tire. Thses tires push the snow up in front of them, instead of cutting through the snow. Think of a farm tractor, tall and narrow tires. (where I live, they use farm tractors to plow the snow when it gets deep. Plow trucks get stuck.)
Some vehicles have a combination system. Jeep for one. Power is available to all four tires during normal conditions (like AWD). But, they have a lever that allows the driver lock the front and rear axles together for real 4WD.
Bozo :joker:
AWD makes power available to all four tires but the one that is easyest to turn gets the most. Most systems monitor the tire speed and transfer the power away from the slipping tire. If you could get 3 tires on dry pavement, and one on ice, the one on the ice would spin, without some controller. Mercedes applys the brake to the slipping tire forcing the power to one of the other tires. This system shuts off above 20 MPH. Toyota has a fluid clutch between the front and rear axles. The front is driven at ~80% power. When a front tire starts to slip, the fluid thickens and applies power to the rear tires. Each manufacturer has their own method.
4WD usually has a lever or switch that the driver uses to put the vehicle in 4WD. This locks the front and rear axles together so at least two tires have power applied to them all the time. My Ranger pickup has a limited slip rear axle. Both rear tires have power applied to them all the time. This can be a real handful on wet and/or slippery roads. The truck can get sideways real fast. But, when I engage 4WD, it amazing what it will go through. (on the flip side..you have never been stuck until you get a 4WD stuck. It gives a whole new meaning to 'stuck')
There is a lot of marketing spin about AWD. Have you ever noticed that all the TV commercials about a vehicle with AWD only show them on hard packed snow? Never plowing through it.
Tires on AWD vehicles are not the best for snow either. Most tend to be some type of wide tire. Thses tires push the snow up in front of them, instead of cutting through the snow. Think of a farm tractor, tall and narrow tires. (where I live, they use farm tractors to plow the snow when it gets deep. Plow trucks get stuck.)
Some vehicles have a combination system. Jeep for one. Power is available to all four tires during normal conditions (like AWD). But, they have a lever that allows the driver lock the front and rear axles together for real 4WD.
Bozo :joker: