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Old 29-03-2017
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I had one of the first full time 4wd cars here. (As far as I know. The only other 4wd cars were the Subarus, and they were FWD/4WD.) At that time, in the late '80s, it was the Toyota Corolla wagon!

Engine drives center diff, this drives front & rear diffs & they drive the wheels. You have an electric center diff lock. Current versions of cars with AWD may or may not have front & rear limited slip or diff locks.

4WD, on the gripping hand, is engine drives through transfer case to rear diff & then wheels. When you co to 4WD, the transfer case also drives the front diff directly. This is the same as AWD with center diff locked. Again, you may or may not have front & rear LSD or diff locks.

Front & rear LSD or diff locks are only really usefull if you are in very loose terrain or are on a diagonal pivot. (One front & the opposite rear wheel off the ground.)

The JK Sport comes with "Electronic Brake Lock Differential", which is a fancy way of saying it uses the brakes for traction control via the ABS if one wheel start spinning significantly faster then the others. The JK Rubicon has, I believe, electronic front & rear diff locks, as well as EBLD.

The AWD is good for onroad & slightly slippery conditions, dirt roads, wet weather, snow etc, as the power is split 4 ways, not 2, so less chance of losing traction.
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