4WD or AWD ?

barend

Member
:
probably goona be 192 hp cx5
Hi there!
Please bear with me, I'm a real Mazda newbie: bought one yesterday (192 hp model) to be delivered in May. Can't wait!

As I understood from various infosheets (there aren't any official booklets, only a pricelist, that's Holland for you LOL), this model has 4WD instead of AWD.
I wonder- which is better for normal driving?
Or are these just "different" ?
But why is only the 192hp 4WD?

Made a second tour yesterday in a last years' 160hp model (gas) AWD and I loved it.
But what I felt (again) was a bit of lateral jiggle, I mean when going over an intentional threshold (bump-bump) it jerked a littlebit sideways.
Is that normal for an AWD, or just normal for an SUV?

Thanks for your opinions!
 
The jiggle you refer to is probably due to the tyre profile. 65 is quite a high profile so a low speed you can feel the side wall wobble, but for me that's only a low speed.

Regarding 4WD and AWD you are best googling it. As far as i know CX5 is AWD and can distribute 50% of the torque to the rear wheels when the fronts detect slip. AWD is generally more modern and higher complexity.

4WD terms are more used for something more hardcore where you can select permanent 4WD and do some real offroading.
 
AWD vs 4WD is next to meaningless terminology; driving all 4 wheels can be achieved in a lot of different ways. In any case, this year's CX-5 is not going to be any different to previous models.
 
AWD vs 4WD is next to meaningless terminology; driving all 4 wheels can be achieved in a lot of different ways. In any case, this year's CX-5 is not going to be any different to previous models.

Agreed, it's mostly semantics, but, I'll give you my definition/differences, for what it's worth.

AWD=Power varies to all 4 wheels depending on slippage of the different wheels on a given surface, this can be done many ways, multiple differentials, or electric motors on each wheel, and probably many other ways.

4WD=Drive Shaft goes into a transfer case, that can be shifted from inside the driver's cabin, from 2WD to 4WD, and power is delivered to all 4 wheels whether there's slippage or not.

I'm sure many people won't agree with my definition, and that's fine. That's just how I've chosen to think of it.
 
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