Most car buyers usually consider elements such as size, color, make, model, and overall capability. Fewer think about the car's drivetrain unless they specifically need an all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD). Front-wheel drive (FWD) and rear-wheel drive (RWD) vehicles are the most common on the road today, and even if a vehicle has all-wheel drive, it may either front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive most of the time. 

Why does it matter if a vehicle is FWD or RWD, and what does that mean anyway? A front-wheel drive vehicle is one in which the two front wheels are powered by the engine, while the two rear wheels are free spinning. A rear-wheel drive vehicle is the exact opposite – the two rear wheels propel the vehicle, freeing up the front wheels to spin freely and handle only the steering.

### How Does Front-Wheel Drive Work?

In a typical FWD setup, the transmission, driveshafts, and differential combine to form a transaxle which essentially combines each of those parts of the driveshaft into a cohesive unit.

Most FWD vehicles utilize a transversely mounted engine, making the transaxle setup possible and desirable for space savings and weight reduction. Some FWD vehicles with larger engines use a longitudinally mounted setup, which makes the drivetrain setup less compact. 

### How Does Rear-Wheel Drive Work?

RWD cars typically utilize a transmission, driveshaft, and differential just like FWD cars do, but these components are less compact, and cannot be as easily integrated into a transaxle. 

Rear-wheel-drive vehicles with a front-engine layout use a long driveshaft that reaches from the transmission, mounted behind the engine, to the rear differential. You can often see this driveshaft spinning in tall vehicles like pickup trucks. 

RWD vehicles with a rear or mid-engine setup are more likely to have a rear transaxle, because the engine is mounted behind the driver and closer to the rear wheels. 

{ad type="m-box-1"}

### Advantages and Disadvantages of Both

Both FWD and RWD drivetrain configurations offer advantages and disadvantages to buyers.

#### Practicality: Advantage - Front-Wheel Drive

Front-wheel drive cars have an advantage over rear-wheel drive cars in overall practicality. This does not mean every rear-wheel drive car is impractical, as many of the most practical vehicles, such as pickup trucks and large SUVs, are rear-wheel drive. When it comes to overall packaging, though, FWD is hard to beat. 

Cars' engines have generally beocme smaller as manufacturers have sought to increase fuel efficiency, and three- and four-cylinder engines are more popular than ever. It is easy to package a small engine and a transaxle under the hood of some of the smallest sedans, crossovers, and minivans, which makes front-wheel drive simplest drivetrain for manufacturers to install. 

Front-wheel drive vehicles also tend to provide better traction in poor weather conditions than rear-wheel drive vehicles. Because the weight of the engine is over the front wheels, the front tires can utilize that weight to gain a better footing. A pickup truck or a large SUV may even have four-wheel drive, but if there is no weight over the rear axle, traction will be limited. 

Because of the size advantages, relative simplicity of a front-wheel drive layout, lower overall cost than AWD vehicles, and increased traction in poor weather, many of the most popular cars on the road feature a front-wheel drive layout. 

#### Performance: Advantage - Rear-Wheel Drive

The biggest advantage rear-wheel drive cars have over front-wheel drive equivalents is performance. As a vehicle accelerates, weight is shifted toward its rear. This weight shifting results in greater force on the rear tires, thus providing better acceleration potential. You can easily see this phenomenon in drag racing, where some vehicles even do wheel stands with the amount of power and torque sent to the rear wheels. 

Rear-wheel drive vehicles are also more likely to oversteer. This occurs when the rear of a vehicle outpaces the driver's steering inputs, and causes a sliding effect – known as a drift or a powerslide. Oversteer is dangerous when it is unexpected, but it can also provide a good driver with superior control of a vehicle.

Understeer is when the front of a vehicle 'pushes' forward despite the steering inputs made by a driver around a corner. The result is that the car continues on its trajectory, even when the steering wheel is turned to the right or the left. This is much more common in front-wheel drive cars, because of their nose-heavy engine and drivetrain arrangement, and is generally an undesirable characteristic in sports cars and performance cars.

Another characteristic of front-wheel drive cars from which rear-wheel-drive cars do not tend to suffer is torque steer. Torque steer typically occurs while accelerating in an FWD car with high horsepower or torque. The more power is sent to the front tires, the higher the chance there will be of the car pulling hard to one side. 

Many modern high-horsepower FWD cars have advanced traction control systems, limited slip differentials, and other components to mitigate torque steer. Rear-wheel-drive vehicles do not have to contend with torque steer, because the front wheels are solely responsible for steering. 

There are some notable front-wheel drive enthusiast cars on the market, but generally speaking, rear-wheel drive vehicles eliminate the problems that front-wheel drive vehicles have with weight transfer, high-speed cornering, and horsepower potential. 

#### Efficiency: Advantage - Front-Wheel Drive

Rear-wheel drive vehicles have a general disadvantage in fuel efficiency when compared to front-wheel drive vehicles. There are two main contributing factors here, the first of which is the size and packaging advantages of FWD drivetrains, which are typically smaller and lighter than RWD equivalents.

The second factor flows from the first. The majority of RWD layouts are found in sports cars, performance cars, pickup trucks, and large SUVs. Performance cars are built more for enjoyment than practicality and fuel efficiency. Many modern sports cars are relatively fuel efficient, but typically less so than small sedans and hatchbacks. 

Pickup trucks and large SUVs also tend to have RWD layouts because they are designed to be durable. As a result, they often have larger, less fuel-efficient engines, and heavier drivetrain components. Though there always exceptions, this tends to reduce fuel efficiency. 

{ad type="m-box-2"}
{ad type="dt-wide-breaker"}

#### Capability: Advantage - Rear-Wheel Drive

Rear-wheel drive vehicles, and trucks in particular, tend to have a broader scope of capability than front-wheel drive vehicles. Just as rear-wheel drive sports cars, race cars, and performance cars are coveted for their handling capabilities, pickup trucks and SUVs are usually able to tow more and go farther off-road than front-wheel drive equivalents. 

Not only do trucks and large SUVs often have some of the largest engines on the market, but many with the greatest towing capacities rear-wheel drive, not four-wheel drive. This is because the weight of a trailer is focused on the rear of the vehicle, which shifts the weight distribution bias to the back, where the driven wheels are, improving traction.  

Most of the dedicated off-road vehicles such as the Jeep Wrangler, the Toyota Tacoma, and the Ford Bronco are four-wheel drive, but they operate in rear-wheel drive until the driver specifically engages the 4WD system. Some off-road trucks do not even have 4WD or AWD as an option, including several trophy truck models and off-road buggies. 

### Notable Vehicle Examples

The majority of family vehicles on the market today are front-wheel drive. Family sedans, minivans, crossovers, and even some small pickup trucks are among them. The Toyota Camry, Kia Forte, Hyundai Sonata, Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Pacifica, Mitsubishi Outlander, Hyundai Venue, Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Volkswagen Atlas, and the Nissan Pathfinder are all front-wheel drive by default.

The Ford Maverick is one example of a modern front-wheel drive pickup truck. 

Even though front-wheel drive cars do not always make the best performance vehicles, the Honda Civic Type-R and the Volkswagen GTI are two exceptions. Both are front-wheel drive and both handle better than most other vehicles in their segments and price points. 

The Honda Civic Type-R is particularly fun to drive as it comes exclusively with a manual transmission. Honda has fitted it with an advanced traction control system and differential to decrease torque steer, prevent understeer, and corner exceptionally well to get the most out of its front-wheel drive layout. Honda has a long history of making excellent front-wheel drive cars with great driving dynamics.

Rear-wheel drive vehicles are typically divided into three types: luxury cars, sports cars, and SUVs and pickup trucks. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Genesis, and Lexus offer small and midsize luxury sedans with RWD. 

Sports cars, performance cars, and supercars are typically RWD. Front-engine RWD cars, such as the Mazda Miata, Subaru BRZ, BMW M2, and Ford Mustang are known for their responsive handling. Mid-engine RWD cars, such as the Porsche Cayman and Chevrolet Corvette, are known for superb balance and handling. 

The Porsche 911 is a rear-wheel drive performance car with a rear-mounted engine.

Finally, trucks and SUVs, such the Chevrolet Suburban, Jeep Wagoneer, GMC Yukon, Ford F-150, Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, Toyota 4Runner, RAM 1500, and Chevy Silverado, are all rear-wheel drive by default. These types of vehicles are known for their ruggedness and towing capabilities.

In a FWD vs RWD showdown, can a winner be declared? Discover the advantages and drawbacks of these popular drivetrains.

FWD vs RWD - What's Best

Related

AWD vs FWD – What’s the Difference and Do I Need AWD?

AWD vs 4WD: Which is Best?

How Does AWD Work?