Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Common car terms to know explained simply. Ever wondered what those technical car terms 'car people' say are? Learn some interesting car terminology here.

By Abhinand

Do you know all those technical car terms that people commonly use? Have you ever thought of learning some automotive terminology?

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You don't necessarily have to go through every nook and corner in an Automotive encyclopedia, to survive a steaming car conversation. But, you just have to know these commonly-used technical car terms, put together in no particular order.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Torque and Power
As per your textbooks, Torque is the measure of force acting on a body at a displacement, causing that body to rotate about an axis. In engines, torque is the force given by the movement of the pistons, to rotate the crank. This process, when repeated ‘n' number of times, gives power.

In general, Torque is the capacity to do work (rotating the crank) and Power is the rate at which this work (how many times the crank could be rotated by repetitive forces acting on it) is done.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Still confused? You must have seen some children playing with a bicycle tyre using a stick. One hit on the tyre moves the tyre forward (Torque). Repeated hits move the tyre even further and faster (Power).

Even more simply, Torque gives acceleration and Power gives Top Speed.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

NA or Naturally-Aspirated Engines
Air is inducted into the engine (air and fuel are needed for combustion to happen), only via the suction-force of the piston, during the intake stroke. Or, NA cars do not have a turbo or a supercharger.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Turbocharged engines
Before we start, please change this wrong notion - Only diesel cars employ a turbo. Some petrol cars also use turbos (Volkswagen Polo 1.2 TSi, Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS etc).

A Turbocharger system uses the pressure of the exhaust gases to rotate a turbine, in turn supplying more air (oxygen is needed for combustion) into the cylinder. In general, turbos are used to maximise output from smaller engines. Turbocharging also contributes to lesser emissions.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Turbo Lag
Time taken for the exhaust gases to be compressed to a higher pressure, just enough to rotate the turbine.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Supercharger
While a turbocharger takes power from the exhaust gases to rotate a turbine, a supercharger utilises power from the engine itself, via a belt or a gear. In short, a supercharger acts as a parasite.

Suppose, a 100bhp engine is fitted with a 20bhp supercharger, the total output will not be 120bhp, but lesser. This is because, to run the 20bhp charger some power will be absorbed from the engine (say 5bhp). Hence, the total output will be 100+120-5= 115bhp.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Knock/Detonation
In petrol cars, a spark plug is used to initiate combustion. But when an engine becomes really warm, other hot spots could form inside the cylinder. These points could initiate combustion, in addition to the normal sparking. The result will be some abnormal vibrations or in the worst-case scenario, engine failure.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Character line
An embossed line on the side body panels of a car, either to add to the aesthetics or to improve the aerodynamics in some fast cars.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Beltline
The imaginary line joining the window-section and the lower body panels of a car, when viewed from the side.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Blipping the Throttle
Also termed ‘Rev-matching', it is the process of matching the engine speed with the wheel speed with inputs to the throttle pedal, while shifting to a lower gear.

When you are driving fast and have to suddenly slow down the car, you would shift to a lower gear. But, if the car is too fast (wheel speed greater than the speed at which the lower gear, to which you have shifted, is running), and you release the clutch without blipping the throttle, the wheels could lock up.

Some motorcycles employ a 'slipper-clutch' to avoidthis.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

Torque Steer
Usually observed in a Front Wheel Drive car (Engine placed transversely), if the engine has too much torque, the steering tends to turn in either one direction when the car is floored hard.

Technical Car Terms To Know— Survive A Car Conversation

DriveSpark Thinks!
A car is made of many components, and it takes quite some time to learn about them. Learning about things associated with driving is even more challenging, if you are not particularly into automobiles. Now that you know these important car terms, you can easily survive a heated automotive conversation.

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Read more on: #garage talk #off beat
Article Published On: Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 14:00 [IST]
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