Four-wheel Drive - Terminology

Terminology

Even though in the general context, the term "four-wheel drive" usually refers to an ability that a vehicle may have, it is also used to designate the entire vehicle itself. In Australia, vehicles without significant off-road abilities are often referred to as All-Wheel Drives (AWD) or SUVs, while those with off-road abilities are referred to as "four-wheel drives". This term is sometimes also used in North America, somewhat interchangeably for SUVs and pickup trucks and is sometimes mistakenly applied to two-wheel-drive variants of these vehicles.

The term 4×4 (read: four by four) was in use to describe North American military four-wheel-drive vehicles as early as the 1940s, with the first number indicating the total number of wheels on a vehicle and the second indicating the number of driven wheels. Today, the term 4×4 is common in North America, and is generally used when marketing a new or used vehicle, and is sometimes applied as badging on a vehicle equipped with four-wheel drive. Similarly, a 4×2 would be appropriate for most two-wheel-drive vehicles, and is often used to describe them as a two-wheel drive. In Australia the term is often used to describe a ute that sits very high on its suspension. This is to avoid the confusion that the vehicle might be a 4×4 because it appears otherwise suited to off-road applications.

Large American trucks with dual tires on the rear axles and two driven axles are officially designated as 4×4s, despite having six driven wheels, because the "dual" wheels behave as a single wheel for traction and classification purposes, and are not individually powered. True six-wheel-drive vehicles with three powered axles such as the famous M35 2½ ton cargo truck used by the U.S. Army has three axles (two rear, one front), all of them driven. This vehicle is a true 6×6, as is the Pinzgauer, which is popular with defense forces around the globe.

Another related term is 4-wheeler (or four-wheeler). This generally refers to all-terrain vehicles with four wheels, and does not indicate the number of driven wheels; a "four-wheeler" may have two- or four-wheel drive. (In CB slang, truckers refer to any two-axled vehicle as a "four-wheeler", sometimes in a derogatory context, as distinguished from an "eighteen-wheeler" or tractor/trailer.)