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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Like the old VW Bug, the old Chevrolet Corvair and the Pontiac Fiero have rear engines. There's a few others out there, too.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Like the old VW Bug, the old Chevrolet Corvair and the Pontiac Fiero have rear engines. There's a few others out there, too.