How to Determine if Your Car Is Front- or Rear-Wheel Drive

Generally, trucks, vans and large cars with big engines will have rear-wheel drive. Smaller, economy and compact cars are most often front-wheel drive. But you don't have to guess which one you have - find out for yourself.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Understand that front-wheel drive means the power from the engine and the transmission goes to the front wheels; rear-wheel drive means the power goes to the rear wheels. Four-wheel, or all-wheel, drive means all four wheels are powered.

2. Open the hood.

3. Find the front of the engine. The front of the engine is always where the belts are located.

4. Look to see if the front of the engine is by the fender (side of the car). If so, then you have front-wheel drive.

5. Check to see if the front of the engine is by the radiator and the grill (front of the car). If so, then you have rear-wheel drive.

6. Look under the car near each front wheel. If you see an axle with a rubber boot (called the CV boot) on either end going into the wheel, then you have front- wheel drive.

7. Look under the car between the rear wheels. If you see a large, metal, pumpkin- shaped thing (it's called the differential) with two axles coming out either side, then you have rear-wheel drive.

8. Check both under the hood for the position of the engine and under the car for the axles to be sure, because not every car follows the rules for engine position and front- or rear-wheel drive (see Tips below for examples of cars with variations on this rule).

Tips & Warnings

• There are a few cars out there that are atypical. Some Toyota Tercels have the belts at the front of the engine but are still front-wheel drive. Check for the axles underneath to be sure. Saab puts the engine in backward, so the belts are at the back of the engine compartment. Old, air-cooled Volkswagen Beetles have the engine in the back and the power goes right to the rear wheels, although the overall design is more like a front-wheel-driven car.

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on 11/22/2005 If I floor the 3.5 liter Mitsubishi that I'm driving, blue smoke pours out of the front wheel wells. This indicates to me that it's front wheel drive. If I did the same on a Z28 Camaro, blue smoke would pour out of the rear wheel wells, indicating that it is rear wheel drive..
If I floor the Mitsubishi in a bend it under steers straight off the road. If I do the same in a Camaro it spins backward off the road. These characteristics also tell me whether it's front or rear wheel drive.

on 11/22/2005 Look underneath the car and if you see a long, tubular object going from the back of the transmission to the rear axle, then the car is rear wheel drive.

on 11/22/2005 What happens when you see that the car has axles to both the front and rear wheels? Is it an all wheel drive? You are absolutely right? This is normally highlighted by a 'AWD' or '4WD' badge somewhere on the body work. An example of such cars is the Subaru. Audi has its A4, A6 and A8 performance cars equipped with AWD and calls them 'Quattro', meaning 'Four'. Even Porsche has a model and calls it the 'Carrera 4'. Whenever in doubt always check the bottom of the chassis to ensure what kind of drive line the car has.

on 11/22/2005 Just sit in your car, like usual, and put the car into drive. Then, put the gas pedal to the floor. If your front tires spin, it is a front wheel drive car. If your back tires spin, it is a rear wheel drive car.

on 11/22/2005 Acura Legends and Chrysler LH
cars also have belts up front
and are front-wheel drive. And
don't forget about Buick Riviera
and Olds Toronado up until 1985.