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Global supply issues affecting the automotive manufacturing industry...

Global supply issues affecting the automotive manufacturing industry are causing new vehicle delivery delays and inventory of some vehicles may be limited. Please contact your local Lexus Dealership for information about availability of your preferred Lexus vehicle.

Four Wheel Drive and All Wheel Drive Powertrains

Driveshaft

Performs three functions:

  • Change the direction of the driving power.
  • Final gear reduction.
  • Allow drive wheels to rotate at different speeds when cornering.

Transmission

Uses gears to transmit power from the engine to the drive wheels. Selecting different gears changes the amount of power and torque transmitted.

Propeller shaft

On front engine rear-wheel or all-wheel-drive/four-wheel-drive vehicles, the propeller shaft transmits power from the transmission to the rear differential.

* Driven wheels will vary by model.

Transfer case

Receives power from the transmission and sends it to both the front and rear axles. Some models have driver selectable 2WD/4WD modes, some are full time 4WD and others are controlled automatically (AWD).

Transaxle

A transaxle is a transmission and differential combined into one unit, used in front-wheel drive and some all-wheel-drive vehicles.

Differential

Transmits power from the differential to the wheel.

Explore the Lexus AWD Lineup Back to Lexus Precision Service