All Wheel Drive, Rear Wheel Drive and Front Wheel Drive

FWD stand for Front Wheel Drive. The two front wheels of a FWD car receive power from the engine to move forward. Most hatchbacks, sedans and Mulit Utlity Vehicles (MUV) are front wheel drive. Front Wheel Drive is the most affordable drive system on a car as it is easy to link the engine under the bonnet to the wheels directly below it. Front wheel drive cars are usually not very powerful. FWD compromises on ride handling of the car at high speeds.

RWD stands for Rear Wheel Drive. In RWD cars the rear wheels receive power from the engine. RWD cars have better high speed handling than front wheel drive cars. A RWD system is usually more expensive and complicated than a FWD system as the power from the engine at the front has to be sent to the back wheels. Most sports cars, and luxury performance cars are RWD to better the handling traits of a car under high speeds. Motoring enthusiasts are a big fan of rear wheel drive systems as RWD cars are a huge amount of fun to drive. 

4X4 SUVs are also rear wheel drive when the 4X4 is not in use.

AWD stands for All wheel Drive. As the term suggests all four wheels of an all wheel drive car receive power from the engine. AWD is used in supercars and hypercars that very powerful. The fact that all four wheels receive power from the engine means that the car has superior grip around corners and under different road conditions. This is crucial for high performance cars as they can achieve very highroad speeds.