Car Jargon

Here’s a car glossary of the car terms you might come across:

ABS

An Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) is a safety feature that helps you to avoid skidding when braking suddenly. An ABS prevents your wheels from locking, allowing you to maintain control of the car.

Car handling

Handling refers to the way your car’s wheels respond to your steering, particularly when swerving and taking tight corners.

Chassis

The chassis is the metal frame that holds all the main parts of car together.

Cruise control

Designed primarily for use on long freeway drives, cruise control is an electronic system that lets you set the speed of your car, without having to keep applying the accelerator. The car automatically stays at this speed until you hit the brake pedal or accelerator.

ESC

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Electronic Stability Program (ESP) are two names that refer to the same safety feature. This technology works to prevent sideways skidding when making sharp steering corrections and on slippery surfaces.

Four-wheel drive

A four-wheel drive system allows the engine to power all four wheels simultaneously, instead of the standard two wheels.

Hybrid engine

A hybrid engine is a combination of a traditional petrol engine and a zero-emission electric engine. The car runs off the electric engine at low speeds and when extra power is needed.

Horsepower

Scientifically, horsepower is defined as “work done over time”. Basically, horsepower used as the measurement of an engine’s power – high horsepower indicates a powerful engine.

RPM

RPM stands for Revs per minute, and measures how hard your engine is working. If your RPM is high, you know your engine is working hard.

Start/Stop technology

Start/Stop technology conserves energy by turning off the engine when the car is idle, like when you’re waiting at traffic lights. The engine starts again when you engage the accelerator.

Suspension

A car’s suspension is a system of springs and other parts that sits between the wheels and the frame, allowing the wheels to move independently and absorb the shock of any bumps or unevenness in the road.

Torque

In technical terms, torque is defined as a force used to turn or rotate things. In a car, torque is a measurement of the turning power of the vehicle.

Transmission

The transmission in a car is the gearbox and other mechanical parts that drive the wheels and allow the engine to accelerate through a wide range of different speeds.

Tread

Tread refers to the patterns cut into the rubber on your car’s tyres. Tread helps provide grip on the road, particularly in wet weather.

Turbocharger

A turbocharger increases the power of a car by using the pressure from exhaust gases to increase the density of air entering the engine.

Turning circle

A car’s turning circle is used as a measurement of its maneuverability. Essentially, it refers to the distance a car takes to drive around in a full circle, with the steering wheel turned as far as it will go.

Wheelbase

The wheelbase is the distance between the car’s front and rear wheels.