Can a Vehicle get better (or equal) MPG on 4 wheel drive?

Question

My operators video says the 4 will drive will not compromise any gas miles whatsoever. If that is true, why is there even a 2 wheel drive on my 4 wheel drive vehicle?

Answer 1

Nitebear is right.  I also want to add that using 4wd on pavement in a truck or Jeep that's geared for off road use will often ruin your drivetrain.  It's best used sparingly.

Answer 2

Usually not due to the extra drive line demands and the increase in power required to drive it.  So normally 2wd will use less fuel.  

Now there have been improvements in technology and Subaru did reach a point where their awd was very close in mpg in 2 or 4wd.  They also have an automatic getting better mileage than the standard trans.  So assuming all mfrs are making improvements it stands to reason that the differences in mpg for 2wd or 4wd are not as great as they used to be.

The amount of difference will usually be determined by the type of usage of the vehicle.  Therefore city driving should show worse 4wd mpg than cruising.

Answer 3

>>  If that is true, why is there even a 2 wheel drive on my 4 wheel drive vehicle?

On Audi cars, the 2 wheel drive version gets about 2 mpg more.  That not much more considering my Audi A4 can get 33 mpg (4wd).

Good Luck...