With AWD you permanently have 4 spinning wheels. With most conventional 4WD systems you can choose between 2WD (two wheels), 4 HI (High speed 4 Wheel Drive), and 4 LO (Low Speed, High Torque 4 Wheel Drive). However Realtime 4WD and AWD are virtually the same.

Awd and 4Wd are not the same Awd is all the wheels spinning at once if slipping and 4WD is opposite cornors not all 4 will spin jus 1 front and 1 rear depends on how the weight is shifted upon the truck

you gys are talking a bout spider gears and possy track but 4well dr and all well drive are diferant because all whell drv is all time 4 well dr and 4w dr should only be on when you need it if you drive a 4well drive around like a alwhell drive it will wher out faster and it will wher your cvc joints out faster and it sucks gass any ways a allwhel drive is maid to be like 4 whell dr but in all the time

4wd and awd is the same thing, its just a differnet way of saying it. and what about a truck, they have 6wd and 8wd trucks, and theyre called awd too, and u dont have to run them that way. So the answer is there is no difference, it just depends on what the car manufacturer wants to call it

the difference is differentials...a differential is the device in the axle that allows one tire on that axle to spin faster then the other tire on that axle (like going around a corner, the tire towards the outside of the turn needs to spin faster then the tire on the inside) an AWD vehicle does NOT turn all four tires at one time, but rather CAN apply power to any of the 4 tires, or any combination...besides having a differential in both axles (as would a 4wd) they also have a diff in the transfercase, so it can apply torque to either axle, and each axle can then apply it to either tire...the problem with a diff is that it applies torque to the tire with the least amount of traction (path of least resistance) a 4wd vehicle can "lock" the transfer case in 2wd (rear only) 4wd hi (both axles, equal split, high range) or 4 low (same as 4 hi, but lower gear ratio in the transfer case) an AWD vehicle generally does not have a low range...thats is usally the deciding factor...a 4wd splits the torque roughly 50/50 to both axles, and then the differentials in the axles can split it to either tire on that axle, so it will always have at least 2 tires turning. you can actually have 4wd and AWD in the same vehicle, such as with the New Process 242 transfer case (used in Jeep Grand Cherokee's, among some others) which has 4 positions, 2wd, 4wd hi part time, 4wd hi full time, and 4wd low...the differnce between the part time and the full time in hi range is the differential in the transfer case...in part time, that diff is locked so it applies equal torque to both axles (4wd) but in full time, the differential in the transfer case is functioning to split the torque as needed to either axle, so it can be run that way full time, which would be AWD... want a good example of why vehicles use a differential? go out to your car and put a small paint mark at the very bottom of each of the 4 tires as it sits, then drive around the block....now look at the paint marks, and see if they are all in the same position...that will show you that not all 4 tires turn at the same speed.

AWD uses a viscous coupler in the transfer case. This unit allows slippage of power going to the front tires. It good for about 65% of engine power to the front wheels and allows for the tires to rotate at different speeds around corners. 4WD uses a chain or gear driven transfer case and 100% of engine power goes the the front tires. This does not allow the tires to rotate at different speeds around corners. That's why you shouldn't operate it in 4WD on dry pavement Both these systems also sent 100% of engine power the the rear wheels wether in 2WD or 4WD