All-wheel drive has many advantages. Experienced drivers who have already had a chance to drive an all-wheel drive car are likely to say that they will never change neither to rear nor front wheel drive again. However, these same motorists with a high degree of probability will be the first to cry out that AWD and 4WD is not a drive for everyone, and the beginner should start with something simpler.
It’s hard to imagine that back in the early 1980s, all-wheel drive in mechanical engineering was associated exclusively with all-terrain vehicles and trucks. Audi was the first company to install 4WD on civilian models. It turned out that all-wheel drive allows the most effective use of engine power in any mode of motion. Moreover, the all-wheel drive managed to provide the cars with greater stability when passing curves.
All-wheel drive has a set of serious advantages. Even just the high cross-country ability of such a car completely pays off the need to install AWD or 4WD in certain conditions. A car with all-wheel drive starts without wheelspin, such cars have increased dynamics relative to cars with other types of drive. It would be a mistake to take the 4×4 as a panacea from any problem. Much in driving a car with an all-wheel drive depends on the condition of the tires, as well as the professional abilities of the motorist in the sphere of driving the vehicle.
At the same time, all-wheel drive also has a number of serious disadvantages that may discourage it for first-time motorists. While the 4×4 absorbs the merits of the other two drives, it is not easy to drive such a car in difficult conditions. Cars with all-wheel drive can easily lose stability under certain conditions. Getting out of a skid on all-wheel drive can be extremely difficult, especially for the inexperienced motorist who is not able to react quickly to the rapidly changing extreme situation.
In addition to general complaints about the difficulty of using and operating in extreme conditions, there are also purely “domestic” disadvantages of four-wheel drive. This type of drive is much heavier, the transmission in it is very noisy, the fuel consumption relative to other types of drive is higher. Many 4x4s are not very reliable, but can “boast” of very expensive repair even in case of a minor breakdown.