The handy Automotive Acronym Guide (AAG)
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The automobile has been around for well over 100 years and in that time the myriad technologies that have been introduced have spawned hundreds of confusing abbreviations.
Nothing separates the nerdy car guys from normal folk than when a string of these automotive acronyms get thrown into a conversation. If you aspire to be one of these nerdy lads or just want to catch out that irritating know-it-all at the office, then this slideshow is for you.
Here we cover the most common acronyms you will hear and once you have memorised our handy Automotive Acronym Guide (AAG), you will be armed with the knowledge to nod sagely and knowingly in the middle of car related conversations, or if you prefer, shout out corrections at the top of your voice to embarrass the acknowledged car experts in the group.
How you use your newfound wisdom is entirely up to you so let’s get going ASAP.
Traction issues
ABS
While you may think it is a non-too subtle hint that the driver is sporting a six-pack, ABS actually stands for the suitable serious sounding Antiblockiersystem.
Or Anti-lock braking system if you are English. It stops you from skidding in adverse conditions such as when you are texting on your phone while trying to sip on your latte and the traffic lights turn red.
Introduced by Mercedes-Benz on the S-Class way back in 1978, many early cars had little braggy stickers stuck to their sides when it was still a novelty. Since 2004 every car in the EU has by law had to be so equipped.
DSC/ESC/ESP
ESP or extrasensory perception is when one can sense things with the mind. In the automotive world ESP stands for Electronic stability program and it does a similar thing.
Although with an electronic brain and it can only detect potential skids and loss of traction and not the presence of another Highlander or a death of a Jedi.
DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) are variations on the same theme.
Slippery Situation
AWD, 4WD, QUATTRO
The world of four-wheel drive used to be reserved for off-road vehicles and farm equipment.
Now with a surfeit of overpowered road cars and marketers wanting to cash in on rallying successes we have four-wheel drive everything.
AWD, 4WD and Quattro all refer to the fact that all four wheels receive power, great when the road turns slippery but you will just use more fuel and have a less engaging vehicle for the other 300 days of the year.
Getting in Gear
CVT
Now for a quick test to see whether you have the hang of this Automotive acronym thing. Below are three possible answers for the tricky sounding CVT.
Creative Viscous Troll
Creepy Vehicle Tyres
Cruel Vintage Tiger
Incorrect.
CVT actually stands for Continuously Variable Transmission. It is an automatic gearbox that tries to forego physical gears in favour of a continuously variable ratio, in practice most CVTs just drone along and feel like the clutch is constantly slipping. Rather stick to a DCT or DSG. Don’t worry we will cover these next.
DCT/DSG
Plain old automatics work just fine but young thundercats want everything to be quicker and better and a manual gearbox is just too much hard work.
So for the millennials we have the DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) and DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox).
They use two clutches and other electronic trickery to change gears in an instant, aiding acceleration and reducing fuel consumption.
All about the timing
VTEC/VVT/ VANOS
Small capacity petrol engines tended to require a lot of revving and hard work to extract any meaningful performance out of them. Then some clever engineers invented VVT (Variable Valve Timing) which improved the engine’s breathing and increased responses across the rev-range.
With the virtual wholesale adoption of turbochargers Variable Valve timing is not quite as important as it once was for increasing low-end power. Below are some of the variations on this technology:
VANOS – Variable Nockenwellen Steuerung – BMW System
VTEC – Variable Valve Timing and Lift Control – Honda System
VarioCam – No real acronym here, it just refers to the Variable Valve Lift System – Porsche System
Injecting some fuel
MPI/MPFI/DI/FI
No this is not a string of random letters typed by the office cat, they are actually nerdy little acronyms for the process of squirting fuel into an engine.
If your car still has a carburettor doing the job, then you are either driving an old ‘70s wreck or some priceless classic.
MPI – Multipoint Injection
MPFI – Multipoint fuel injection
DI – Direct Injection
FI – Fuel injection
Power Play
BHP/HP/KW/US version
The best way to silence your drunken car-bore friends down the pub other than with an empty pint glass to the head is to shout out outrageous facts and figures about the latest hypercar.
Best know the difference between HP, BHP and KW then. In the UK we quote BHP (Brake Horsepower) which is always slightly less than the ostentatious US HP (horsepower) numbers and has is based on how much work an actual horse can do over a certain amount of time.
KW (kilowatts) are used by our ex-European friends and these numbers are even more stingy. Below is a handy comparison of each one:
100 BHP = 101.4 HP = 74.6 KW
Top Pub tip: When your buddy says the latest Bugatti Chiron has 1500 horsepower tell him in a loud and authoritative voice that it actually only makes 1479.5 BHP and that he should be more patriotic when spouting off his American tinged ‘facts’.
(Have your pint glass at the ready just in case).
White Wall Wisdom
TPMS
‘Jo-Jo knows tyres’, you may need to watch Bad Boys to get that ‘90s movie reference but even the ever-knowledgeable Jo-Jo would not have known much about Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) as it really wasn’t that prevalent in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
The Porsche 959 was in 1986 the first production car fitted with the system and now thanks to run-flat tyres and enhanced safety rules every passenger car in the EU has had to be fitted with the system since 2014.
Baby Steps
ISOFIX
Up until 1997 our children were strapped into a car with a seatbelt crudely wrapped around their baby seat. Then Britax-Roemer (Baby seat manufacturer) and VW decided that enough was enough and invented the ISOFIX baby seat attachment.
Now the precious little pooper could be plugged into the car seat with super safe latches. What does it stand for? Nothing, it just refers to the international standard for these attachment points.
US versions are called LATCH – Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. (Typically literal)
Canadian ones are UAS – Universal Anchorage Systems.
MPV
To the uninformed the MPV or Multi-Purpose Vehicle sounds like an exciting Swiss Army Knife of a thing, ready to tackle any automotive eventuality.
In reality they are not much more than raised cars with space for extra seats or prams and luggage. They tend to tackle nothing more arduous than the shopping mall parking lot.
An MPV driver can generally be found driving around in a dejected state, listening to the latest kiddie pop songs while their spawn tears the interior to pieces in a sugar-fuelled craze.
SUV
Wealthier parents get to drive around in the more ostentatious SUV.
This is a bigger, more imposing sort of MPV and its name is as much of a misnomer. It stands for Sports Utility Vehicle is as sporty as a high-riding 2-ton vehicle on off-road tyres can be, don’t let the overpowered German versions fool you into thinking otherwise.
It is great for mounting kerbs at the organic farmer’s market on the weekends though.
Crossover or PHREC
If you can’t quite stretch to an SUV but still want that raised off-roader look then you can get the equally pointless Crossover.
These cars have little to no off-road ability and have stylish swoopy bodies that compromise on interior space.
We realise this one is not an acronym but just to fit in we have called it the PHREC (Pointless High-riding Estate Car).
Used car buyers’ handy acronym decipherer
When scouring the used car sites many dealers revert to a range of acronyms to describe their wares.
Print out our handy list below and you can swagger into any forecourt knowing that a mere glance at your laminated page will enlighten you to the salesman’s ramblings.
Tricky Dealer Guide page 1
A/C – Air-conditioning, generally fitted to everything nowadays and great for those 3 warm days a year when simply lowering a window just won’t do.
P/S – Power Steering is pretty standard these days and essential with the massively wide tyres that they seem to insist on fitting on everything.
FSH/PSH/NSH – Either Full, Part or No Service History. Unless you like to live dangerously make sure there is a full, verifiable service history for your potential purchase.
EW,EM – Electric Windows and Electric Mirrors. Very few cars come without them, if you are buying an older banger make sure that they actually work.
NAV – Navigation system. Some are good but your phone does it better and in 5-years the car system will be so out of date it will be as useful as those old maps you used to keep in the door pockets.
Tricky Dealer Guide Page 2
16V – This means that there are 4 valves for each cylinder in a 4-cylinder car. 6-cylinder cars would have 24 valves etc. No one really cares about this sort of thing anymore as only your mum’s old Datsun from the ’80s doesn’t have a multivalve head.
DOHC – Double overhead camshafts, these two are generally standard across the industry, except for a handful of diesel engines. No big deal and unlikely to be mentioned in the sales blurb.
MPG – Miles Per Gallon. This number is generally a manufacturers quoted figure and you will only ever get close to this magical number if you enjoy coasting downhill with the car turned off.
Cat C/D – Cars that have been involved in some sort of accident and have been deemed uneconomical to repair by the insurance company. Someone thought otherwise and fixed it anyway. Some are good and some are not so good, if you know your stuff there are bargains to be had here.
P/X – Part Exchange, this means a dealer has a ratty car they don’t want to keep and are willing to take almost anything for it.