All-wheel drive is constantly becoming more and more common. Once reserved for off-roaders and pickup trucks, you can now buy even the most basic hatchback with four drive wheels. This fact has ...

Front-Wheel Drive (FWD) The first front-wheel drive cars were built before World War II, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the design became mainstream.

A front-drive car doesn’t need a longitudinal transmission, driveshaft, or rear differential, all of which are necessary for rear-wheel drive as well as some all-wheel drive cars.

All-wheel drive is typically used to describe lighter-duty vehicles — cars, car-based SUVs or crossovers, minivans and the like.

Those engines are also heavier, which itself takes more power to move. As a result, four-wheel or all-wheel drive cars usually use significantly more fuel than your typical two-wheel drive model.