The Best All-Wheel-Drive Cars Ever, According To You

All-wheel drive is becoming more and more common in the automotive landscape. At one point, drive distributed to all four wheels was reserved mostly for off-roaders and pickup trucks, but today, it's in just about everything, and that thought is what led me to asking you folks what you considered to be the best all-wheel-drive vehicle of all time.

I'll be honest, even my wildest expectations did not expect some of the answers you provided and that's a good thing. We've got everything from rally heroes and huge trucks to early AWD adopters and normal cars that just have to have four drive wheels.

Anyway, why don't we stop the chatter and take a look at what you, our readers, think are the best all-wheel-drive cars ever made?

So many greats, but I'm going to have to side with the Mitsubishi Evolution. It was a David vs Goliath story of sorts, only it was Goliath while being David at the same time in the mid – late 90s. I say this because I believe when the 2000 came around, it was still competing with the old rules of homologation to create road going versions while everyone else was on a dedicated platform, and it was still dominating with Tommi Makinen behind the wheel, thus prompting the ban of Electronic diffs. The FQ 400 show down on top gear vs the lamborghini was fun and there have been many different version of the same car over the years in different countries. Not many people know about the Zero, the carbon fiber editions, the RS's in Australia, The 6.5 Tommi edition, all Evos. Even the 10 was a great car, I still have mine (even though the 4G63 loyalists will say it's not. AMS did a full breakdown on the 4B11T and it was in many ways superior). Overall probably one of the best AWD systems ever made.

The Lancer Evo has been a dream car of mine since I was a little kid. I remember watching grainy YouTube videos of Evos blasting around dirt rally stages. The good ol' days.

Submitted by: darthspartan117

For best AWD car ever made im going to go with the attainable one i wish i could buy. One thats relatively light, practical, and affordable. The Golf R wagon. And since we cant get them here in the US im having to settle for a Golf Alltrack, which has many of the same features but a smaller engine. But its not the best AWD system. The new MK8 Golf R and RS3 have the newest AWD system thats significantly better

Way to rub in the fact that we don't get the Gold R Wagon in the states. That's bad form, man.

Submitted by: boneheadotto

Pontiac 6000 STE AWD – GMs first AWD vehicle. What's not to love about the last year A-body Pontiac with a 3.1V6 and a 3spd auto??

Sure, I mean, okay. Why not? Bit weird, no?

Submitted by: Sucker for a '23 300C (formerly Magnum_SRT8)

Obviously the Skylines of the 90s were fantastic, and it's a shame we never got them here in the States at the time.

It sure is, dude. It sure is

Submitted by: Raymond Price

There are too many, I can't choose!

Sounds like you just did, buddy. Congrats.

Submitted by: Honesty

Personally for me its the 87 xlt eddie bauer bronco, only because as a kid my dad had one and it never managed to stay stuck when we'd take it off road or down sloppy soaked muddy back dirt roads.

Besides that Ken Blocks HOONICORN gets my vote

Damn, an Eddie Bauer edition? Look at this high fuckin' roller over here. Save some cash for the rest of us.

Submitted by: cargone!cargone!

I was thinking about it and I realized that I think there is a secret 4wd that people don't realize. The Power wagon

The others have made off-road HD trucks, but in my estimation the PW is still the best.

1. You can get a cheap tradesman powerwagon. Thats excellent.

2. Articulink front suspension. Radius arm front solid axle suspension is good for towing but bad for flex. Articulink is a very clever solution to this problem.

3. Front and Rear locking differentials. Not only does it have lockers, the rear is a torsen style LSD WITH a locker. I've never seen that elsewhere. This is the ideal situation as you usually have to compromise between good everyday traction with an LSD or get a locker which is almost exclusively open when not locked...and obviously you can't drive around locked. This is a very good feature.

The 2500 is one of the more reliable things stellantis makes too. Honestly in terms of Payload, capability, affordability...its a good truck.

This is not the TRX, but it is a Ram. Because of this, you are the official Question of the Day winner. Congrats!

Submitted by HammerheadFistpunch

Solidified Audi as a leading car brand and AWD ubiquitous. My father bought one and man, it was sweet. Driving on the turnpike I got it up to 120 mph before I lost my nerve.

Yeah, I suppose why not?

Submitted by: romans6_23

70 Series just on longevity and reliability alone. It's literally everything Jalops want. Diesel, manual, available in brown. They're just as at home in a suburb as they are in a middle eastern conflict zone.

This may be the most unkillable vehicle ever made. I'd say I wish they were still sold in America, but I'm smart enough to know that literally no one would buy one.

Submitted by: Half Man Half Bear Half Pig

The best commonly-available system (between $30k – $50k) would be Honda/Acura's iVTM4 / SH-AWD system. They are essentially the same unit, but with different programming (Acura adds a bit more RWD bias and greater torque-vectoring range).

The system was so good back when Acura debuted it in the early 2000s, that BMW modeled their X-Drive system after it. There have been several iterations since then.

Subaru has done a bang-up job on their best AWD system (found in the WRX), but they still use passive torque-vectoring whereas the Honda system uses active torque-vectoring.

The Focus RS uses an AWD system very similar to Honda's system, but that is meant for a totally different use case (like track/rally racing).

Good AWD beats 4wd in every on-road scenario. Note that most AWD systems built into the fancier 4wd trucks are still a bit rudimentary, as are most cheaper AWD systems found on $35k CUVs (including Honda's CRV).

The unsung heroes!

Submitted by: Grasscatcher2

The Lancia Delta S4, as the ultimate most extreme expression of Group B. You had a rally car that could purportedly qualify in the top 10 of the F1 grid of the time, by trading off F1 aerodynamics for sheer vicious road grip. And you could buy a Stradale version that might not actually kill you when you drive it.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 is furiously writing notes.

Submitted by: GTO62

Fiat Panda is the greatest: Mostly because it absolutely is but also partially because they are forbidden fruit in America.

I suppose they are forbidden fruit, but also who cares?

Submitted by: Monty

NASA has always made the best vehicles.

No amount lift kit is going to get your ground clearance to the moon. EV before it was cool.

The Mars rovers might also be worth mentioning.

There's just no way the new Lunar Rover will be even half as cool as the original. I mean, just look at it. It has the rizz.

Submitted by: FutureDoc

I certainly won't call it the best ever, but my '97 Caravan was great while it lasted. The quintessential family hauler without the compromises of an SUV, and surprisingly durable. I parted with it at 170K based on the question that often seals the fate of my older vehicles: How much am I willing to spend to get it through another inspection?

My mom had a '98 Plymouth Grand Voyager when I was growing up, and because of this, I absolutely love these vans. I just wish my mom had the super rare AWD variant. A damn shame, if you ask me.

Submitted by: flyingstich

the Audi Quattro was the first rally car ever in WRC with a permanent four-wheel-drive.

At the end of 1985, the Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 was introduced as an upgrade of the Audi Sport Quattro. The car featured an inline 5-cylinder engine that displaced 2,110 cc and produced an officially quoted figure of 350 kW (476 hp). The actual power figure of that monster was in excess of 500 bhp.

In addition to the improved power output, an aggressive aerodynamic kit was added which featured very distinctive wings and spoilers to the front and rear of the car to increase downforce. The weight was reduced to 1,090 kg and the S1 could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.1 seconds. Some of the cars were supplied with a "power-shift gearbox", a forerunner of the DSG technology.

Quattros are so goddamn cool. More cars deserve to have five-cylinder engines, as well.

Submitted by: the_AUGHT

It's a 650 hp shooting brake with a bespoke all wheel drive system that's completely unlike any other AWD system ever built and was only put into 4,000 cars ever (although that number will go up once Purosangue production starts moving). This is what everybody should want for their winter beater.

A lot of people don't like the way the FF looks. I am not one of those people. To me, it's gorgeous.

Submitted by: neverspeakawordagain

Bring on the haters, but what other mass produced vehicle has 4WD via 4 independent motors?

Fair point, but I'm unmoved.

Submitted by: jbssfelix

I just wanted to give an answer no one else was giving.

Fair enough. You get points for originality.

Submitted by: Fartificial Intelligence