Standard all-wheel drive: 25 new models in the network

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In brief: the 25 models, brand by brand

A model appears below only if every one of its Canadian trims is all-wheel drive. A single front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive trim, and it drops off the list.

About prices. These are the starting prices gathered on September 23, 2026 from the dealership websites. Set by the manufacturers, they change without notice, and each model’s page carries the current price. When a model shows no price online, the cell stays empty rather than being filled with an estimate.

The price shown includes freight and pre-delivery inspection (PDI). Taxes and registration are extra. These amounts, gathered on September 23, 2026, are those of the model’s least expensive trim, which here is necessarily all-wheel drive. Fourteen of these models have no starting price that can be published online: “see the model page” points to the price actually in effect.

“Standard” versus “available”: why the gap matters

Two phrasings look alike and do not say the same thing at all. Standard means there is no two-wheel-drive trim. Available, offered or depending on the trim means a cheaper one exists, and all-wheel drive costs extra.

The most telling example in the network is the Kia Sportage. The gas model comes in six trims: the first, the LX, is front-wheel drive, and the other five are all-wheel drive. The hybrid has only three trims, all of them all-wheel drive. Same name, two opposite answers.

The question to ask at the dealership is therefore not “does this model have all-wheel drive,” but “does this trim have it.”

Six brands, six systems, and not one name to mix up

The six brands in the table use neither the same technology nor the same vocabulary. Confusing them is the most common mistake in online comparisons.

• Mazda: i-Activ AWD. The brand spells it out for the CX-90: “i-Activ AWD standard on all trims.” On its lineup page, it shows the “Standard AWD” badge under the CX-5 and the CX-30.
• Mitsubishi: Super All-Wheel Control, or S-AWC. Every trim of the Outlander, the Outlander PHEV and the Eclipse Cross carries this acronym in its very name. Careful: the RVR uses All-Wheel Control (AWC), a different system. S-AWC is not the system of the whole lineup.
• Hyundai: HTRAC. The Tucson page says: “All current Hyundai TUCSON trims have All-Wheel Drive as standard.” The Palisade’s says the same. The IONIQ 9 is all-wheel drive on all four of its trims, but Hyundai does not give it the HTRAC name: it runs on two electric motors, one per axle.
• Nissan: three names, not one. The Rogue and the Murano have Intelligent all-wheel drive. The Pathfinder has the Intelligent 4x4 system, which is neither the same word nor the same mechanics. The Armada is a 4x4 to which Nissan Canada gives no brand name.
• Kia: no brand name. Kia Canada simply writes “all-wheel drive.” A comparison that invents a name for it gets it wrong.
• INFINITI: two systems depending on the model. The QX60 and the QX65 have Intelligent All-Wheel Drive. The QX80, built on a rear-drive architecture, has the INFINITI All-Mode 4WD.

Those where all-wheel drive costs extra

These models have all-wheel drive, but not on their entry trim: the advertised price is therefore that of a two-wheel-drive version.

Those that have none at all

Some models offer no all-wheel-drive trim, and saying so spares a disappointment at the dealership. That is the case of the Kia CarnivalFR minivan and its hybrid version, of the Kia NiroFR and the Niro EV, of the Kia K4FR, of the Hyundai VenueFR (Hyundai says the Venue is front-wheel drive), of the Kona Electric, of the Elantra, of the Nissan Sentra and of the Nissan LEAF. As for the Mazda MX-5, it is rear-wheel drive, and that is what you ask of it.

What all-wheel drive does not do

All-wheel drive improves traction: moving off without spinning, from a traffic light, up a snowy hill, on a sloped driveway. It changes next to nothing for the two moves that decide an accident, braking and turning, which depend on the tires.

In Quebec, winter tires are mandatory on every passenger vehicle registered in the province, from December 1 to March 15. An all-wheel-drive vehicle on all-season tires brakes worse than a two-wheel-drive one on real winter tires. The order does not reverse: tires first.

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Frequently asked questions

Are these prices still current?

They were gathered on September 23, 2026 from the network’s dealership websites, and they are starting prices set by the manufacturers, subject to change without notice. If you are reading this later, the model’s page carries the current price: it is the one that counts, not this page.

Why do some models have no price in the table?

Because their dealership websites do not show one. Rather than publish an estimate or copy a price found elsewhere, we leave the cell empty and point to the model page. An invented price would do more harm than an empty cell.

Does all-wheel drive cost more to maintain and to run?

It adds parts (a rear differential, a driveshaft, sometimes a transfer case) that need their own fluid changes, at the intervals in the maintenance schedule. Its fuel consumption rating is also generally higher, since the vehicle is heavier. Both gaps depend on the model: the dealership’s service department has the schedule, and Natural Resources Canada publishes the rating of each trim.

Does the list cover the network’s whole catalogue?

It covers the models whose drivetrain was stated trim by trim on the manufacturer’s Canadian site on September 23, 2026. The Genesis, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo lineups were not checked this way and therefore appear nowhere on this page. A missing model is not a front-wheel drive: it is an unverified model.

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