this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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Saw a used car with AWD for sale with the ad saying that AWD is better for acceleration, cornering AND stopping in slippery conditions.
I honestly wanted to ring the dude up and ask how it would help with the stopping, given that it's heavier than the RWD version of the same car and they both have exactly 4 wheels worth of braking power.
Manual drives are more common here, when you brake on the engine 4 wheels are decelerating instead of 2 so that could help.
No car only brakes with only two wheels. All four wheels are used when the brake pedal is pressed.
And in any case, using brakes with ABS is still better than engine braking without ABS when stopping in any condition, but especially on snow or ice
I'm not an expert or anything, but wouldn't engine breaking have the same breaking force (just spread across all wheels) for 4 wheel drive as 2 wheel drive? Unlike break pads, where it's one per wheel, engine breaking will all be running through the same engine.
Still, having it one 4 instead of 2 has advantages, but I don't think it'd be more force.
pretty rare to engine brake hard enough for grip to become an issue
But engine braking doesn't stop your car fast enough to even worry about traction much. And if you do lose traction with engine braking, I don't think ABS can help you like with actual braking.
It was also xDrive so the front axle is only powered when rear wheels start slipping AFAIK.
Theoretically, IF it's permanent 4wd.