About This Quiz
What the heck is a drivetrain? Take this quiz, if you know!
A drivetrain is a set of parts in a vehicle that deliver power to the wheels. Without a drivetrain, your car would go nowhere. It just couldn't move. In most definitions of a drivetrain, the engine is not included in the components that make up this important system. However, when you're speaking about a powertrain, the engine is included - a powertrain includes both the engine and the drivetrain.
In general, the engine provides the power to the drivetrain, which, in turn, moves the parts that connect to and move the axle, typically via a drive shaft or propeller shaft. The shaft is necessary because the engine and the axle are, most often, at opposite ends of the vehicle. Of course, while the specific components present in a drivetrain vary according to the type of vehicle, i.e., manual transmission, automatic transmission, front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles, the overall function of the system is the same - to get power to the wheels.
If you think you are knowledgeable of your vehicle's drivetrain, you might want to take us up on our invitation to give this quiz a test drive.
The drivetrain is what moves the torque (that's what powers the car) from the car's engine to its wheels.
It splits the driveline power between the axles, and allows them to rotate at different speeds, which they need to do during cornering.
The "non-driven wheels" on a front-wheel drive car are the rear wheels. It's the opposite for a rear-wheel drive car.
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Front-wheel drive cars have better wet-weather traction than rear-wheel.
The components of the transaxle are the transmission, differential and axles.
When the rear wheels lose control in a turn, it's called oversteer.
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The torque converter in an automatic transmission stands in for the clutch used with a manual transmission.
Pressing the clutch in a car with a manual transmission will separate the engine and the transmission.
You might think the lowest gear is your best option, as it often is, but starting out in second gear has less torque -- and that's good because it lowers the odds of spinning your car's wheels.
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Difficult shifting, noisy shifting and no acceleration when you step on the gas (although your engine speeds up) are all signs of a problem with a component in your car's drivetrain.
If you notice a red liquid leaking on the ground under your car's transmission, it could mean there's a problem with the drivetrain.
The gear ratio is the fixed relationship between the initial and the final gears.
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Because of the layout of the drivetrain, front-wheel drive vehicles have more legroom and more trunk space than other layouts.
Cities, or anywhere else without long, open stretches of high-speed driving.
Turning a corner is a common reason why your left and right rear (or front) wheels would move at different speeds: the inside wheel, as you corner, rotates faster than the outside wheel.
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The driveshaft is the spinning tube that connects the transmission to the differential.
A driveshaft comes in two types, torque tube or Hotchkiss.
The battery and electric motor of a hybrid car are considered components of the powertrain.
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Rear-wheel drive has been around the longest.
All of these statements about your car's differential are true statements.
In a four-wheel drive vehicle, the transfer case doesn't allow for the speed between the front and rear axles to be different -- a helpful feature if you drive off road.
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The gear ratios in a continuously variable transmission (CVT) continuously change based on how fast or slow the car is going.
If your car didn't have a differential, the wheels would be locked in the same rotation, and it would be difficult for the car to turn.
All-wheel drive is known to have worse fuel economy than four-wheel drive and other drive systems.
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No, a drivetrain and a powertrain are not the same thing.
Your car's torque converter uses transmission fluid.
It's called understeer when a front-wheel car's front wheels lose traction while turning.
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The benefits of rear-wheel drive include better steering and handling, better braking and better acceleration.
You'd find a half-shaft on a front-wheel drive car.
A continuously variable transmission (CVT) uses a belt between two pulleys to determine gear ratios.
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Benefits of sending power to just the rear wheels includes better fuel economy than all-wheel drive.
Three. AWD vehicles have a differential for each set of wheels, a front differential and a rear differential, and, unlike 4-wheel drive vehicles, a center differential between the front and back wheels, as well.
A symptom of a drivetrain problem is a clunking sound that speeds up or slows down depending on how fast or slow you're driving.
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The first verifiable account of a differential gear used in a vehicle goes all the way back to chariots used in the Kingdom of Wei in China, 227-239 B.C.