Category: Glossary

If you are a passionate car owner you care a lot about your vehicle’s appearance. You are probably one of those people who sticks to the maintenance schedule and …

If you look up the words “trim level”, you are more likely to end up confused rather than enlightened. The word trim is often used on websites and in …

An engine block heater is a handy electrical device used for the sole purpose of warming up your car engine and its fluids on those cold, wintery days. In …

When deciding to buy a new vehicle, you’ve most likely considered the brand, performance, color, and make or model. Other questions you should ask yourself are: how many passengers …

The Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor measures the intake manifold pressure (IMP) downstream of the throttle valve in order to indirectly compute — by means of the ratio of pressure …

The positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) is a feature  in piston engines that maintains regulated pressure ratios in the crankcase in relation to the surrounding environment.  A further function is …

Car rain sensors are ingenious devices that detect the amount of rain falling on a car’s windscreen and then adjust the operation of the windscreen wipers accordingly. They are …

Rotary engines are combustion motors that operate without the need for pistons. This topic concerns those used in cars, often called rotary combustion motors to tell them apart from …

ATTESA (Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain) is the name for all-wheel-drive systems on Nissan and Infiniti cars. The system first appeared in 1987 when the Nissan Bluebird …

XWD, Cross-Wheel Drive, or Haldex Generation 4 are names of the all-wheel-drive system which first appeared on the Saab Turbo X model in 2008. It was developed by the …

4motion is the patented name for all-wheel-drive systems featured on Volkswagen cars. It has been used since 1998. Before then, all-wheel-drive versions were referred to as “Syncro”. An increased …

PCS (Precision Control System) is an electronic stability control system, which was installed on Oldsmobile cars. It was first used in 2000 on the Intrigue saloon. It improves the …

DSA (Dynamic Stability Assistance) is a dynamic stability control system designed specially for compact Volvo models. It prevents the drive wheels from slipping and improves their grip on wet …

4Matic is an all-wheel drive system installed on Mercedes-Benz cars. It is a proprietary development of Daimler AG. It was created in collaboration with the Austrian company Magna Steyr …