What is the difference between AWD and 4WD in cars?
AWD uses a center differential to distribute the power between the front and rear wheels, much in the same way a standard differential distributes power between the left and right wheels on a 2 wheel drive vehicle. This allows the front wheels to turn at slightly different speeds (something like up to 2-3% with a limited slip center differential) than the rear wheels. 4×4 uses a gear or chain driven transfer case. This means the front and rear axles are locked together and turning the same speed all the time. On dry pavement, this isn’t a good thing, as it would cause the vehicle to be hard to turn and would wear out the transfer case prematurely. On low traction situations (dirt, ice, mud, snow, etc.), this is better, because the front tires are always spinning exactly the same speed as the rears no biasing. Also, 4×4 has, as someone else pointed out, a low range. This means it reduces the speed of the tires for the rpm of the engine, almost like adding a second set of gears. This is
