28 - Friday, February 23, 1990 - North Shore News

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Become fluent in auto classified-ese

FLIP THROUGH the automotive classifieds of
the North Shore News, and you may come across

a car for sale like this:

**1989 Zippymobile, 3.0 |
V6 MFI turbo, FWD, 4 spd,
auto O.D/torque converter,
ABS, PS, PB, PA, PDL,
cruise, tilt, air, best offer
900-0000.”"

No, it’s not a foreign lan-
guage. It’s abbreviated
automotive jargon, common
to just about every kind of
publication with an
automotive classified  sec-
tion.

Shortened words serve to
save the seller money in
advertising line costs, but
they can confuse potential
buyers.

To my knowledge, there is
no dictionary of abbreviated
automotive terms, so here is
a brief description of some
common, and confusing
automotive abbreviations
and what those terms mean.

Let’s start with a transla-

tion of the features of the
mythical Zippymobile,
* 1989 Zippymobile, three
Jitre, V-6 engine with
multi-port fuel injection,
turbocharger, front-wheel-
drive, four speed automatic
transmission with overdrive
and torque converter, anti-
lock braking system, power
steering, power brakes,
power windows, power
antenna, power door locks,
automatic speed control,
tilt-away steering wheel, and
air conditioning...’’

Even after it’s translated,
many of these terms remain
a mystery to the average
buyer. What is a torque
converter and do you need
one? What exactly are fuel
injection, overdrive and tur-
bochargers?

Safety
ideas
rewarded

INNOVATIVE TRAFFIC
safety ideas can earn cash
awards for B.C. elementary
schools in a province-wide
incentive program.

The 1990 Elementary
School Traffic Safety
Awards program, designed
by the Insurance Corpora-
tion of B.C. in 1984 to en-
courage student involvement
in school and community
traffic safety activities, is
open to approximately 1,400
elementary schools
throughout the province.

Fifty awards of $500 will
go to elementary schools
which can document traffic
safety activities carried out
in conjunction with parents,
teachers, and members of
the community. To qualify,
entries must be submitted by
April 30 at 4:30 p.m.

Developed by {CBC's
Traffic Safety Education
department, this program is
one of many designed to in-
crease students’ awareness of
the importance and
significance of traffic safely.

For further information
contact ICBC, Traffic Safety
Education department, 151
West Esplanade, North
Vancouver V7M 3H9 or call

661-6651.

Here are some basic
definitions:
LITRES (1)

The size of an engine is
measured in litres or cubic
centimetres. A small engine,
say three or four cylinders,
usually ranges in size from
one to two and a half litres.
An inline six cylinder engine
(all the cylinders are arrang-

ed in a straight line) or a V-6
engine (three cylinders on
each side arranged in an
upright V-formation) usually
range in size from two and a
half litres to four litres. V-8
and V-12 engines are usually
more than four litres.
TURBOCHARGER (turbo)

A turbocharger is essen-
tially an air compressor,
driven by recirculated ex-
haust gases, that significant-
ly increases the supply of air
and fuel to the engine at
higher engine revolutions. A
turbocharger can give an
engine up to 50 per cent
more horsepower.

It is not generally recom-
mended for vehicles that tow
or carry heavy cargo. And
since turbochargers tend to
provide surprising bursts of
power, they are recommend-
ed only for drivers with a
more sporting character.

FUEL INJECTION (TBI,
MPI)

Fuel injection has virtually
replaced the carburetor
because it offers better cold
weather starting, idle quali-
ty, performance and emis-

sions.

Both fuel injection and
carburetors have the same
function — to deliver the
correct amount of fuel to the
cylinders for the amount of
air that is drawn into the
engine.

The main difference be-
tween fuel injection and
carburetors is that carbure-
tors are  velocity-sensitive
while fuel injection systems
are volume or mass-sen-
sitive.

This means that carbure-
tors deliver fuel in the air
stream according to the
speed of the air through the

SUZUKI SWIFT

Aovknder | Titte oseete at
caver tine Resta fies
page 2 ou 8 acer
Bruen

SUZUKI SIDEKICK
Pole mention, tame i

42,995

1845 POWELL AT VICTORIA

15 minutes to North Vancouver

254-0811

carburetor. However, carbu-
retors cannot differentiate
between dense, cold air
(which contains more oxygen
for burning) and less dense
hot air.

A fuel injection system,
on the other hand, is usually
electronically-controlled,
and it can sense the weight
of the air under all condi-
tions. Therefore, the air-fuel
mixture is optimized for all
circumstances.

There are two common
types of fuel injection
systems: MPI (sometimes
written as MFI) multi-port
fuel injection, and TBI,
throttle body or single point
fuel injection. The latter
makes use of one fuel injec-
tor which supplies fuel to all
of the cylinders. MPI, a su-

perior system, has an indi-
vidual injector for each cyl-
inder.

OVERDRIVE (O/D}

Both manual and
automatic transmissions are
available with overdrive
gears. This is essentially an
extra gear which allows the
engine to run at lower engine
revolutions at higher speeds,
thereby improving fuel
economy and reducing
engine wear.

in technical terms, an
overdrive gear ratio allows
the driveshaft to turn faster
than the crankshaft.

Some overdrives can be
engaged or disengaged man-
ually by pressing a button or
moving a shifter. Remember
that a four speed automatic
transmission with overdrive

has four speeds, not five.

TORQUE CONVERTER

Unlike manual transmis-
sions, automatic transmis-
sions have a fiuid coupling
between the engine and the
‘gearbox’. As there is some
slippage between the input
and output shafts of the
transmission, a device
known as torque converter
fockup eliminates this slip-
page. This makes the
transmission more fuel effi-
cient.

Now that you know a tor-
que converter has nothing to
do with cable TV channel
selection, you can go out
and impress some unwary
new car salesman with your
knowledge. Chances are, he
doesn’t know what one is ei-
ther.

1988 ‘Vanagon
7 Pass. Bus GL

@ 4x4, synchro driva, s.root,
g balance of warranty.

g Auto trans., Sunrooi, power
steering. Bal. of factory warranty.

; Polar Siiver $13,469

AM/FM cassette, 4 speed trans.,
snow tires, roof rack. Atlas Grey
metallic paint.

# Asking Only
1982 VW Rabbit
Convertible

5 speed trans. Leatherette seats,
SAM/FM cassette, Brown in color.

Only” 10,575

Transp

$8775 | 3

1989
Cabriolet

Red witn black top, 5 speed
trans., power steering, AM/FM

cassette ‘18, 750

Sale Prive

4 Door, auto, loaded.
sa 14 500
ig .
Station Wagon

Fully toaded. One-owner. Auto
trans. Custom root rack.

Price _ 5950

"1988 Nissan
Sentra XE

2 Door, 5 speed. sunroof, power
steering, Silver metallic.

Askin
Only 8

4 Door Park Ave. Fully loaded,
including teather.

Asking
only

GTS 5 speed trans., sunroof,
power steering. White incolor.

sexing +9500}
1981 Chrysler
LeBaron

4 Door, automatic. clean car.
Stlver/Grey.

El °4350)

ortation Specials!

From S199 fo sg 9 as is

or best offer!

1979 Honda

1982 Plymouth
Colt

4 Door automatic

ASik. 503101 5499

1980 Pontiac
Acadian

4 Door, auto trans.

Stk 211202 5899

1977 Ford
| T'Bird
mB 2 door, automatic.
m Stk. 180002 8999
[S67 Plymou
Belvedere

B 4 Door soLD

Stk. 206201 3199

1979 Chev
‘Caprice —

4 Door Station Wagon

5999

Stk. 204501
Audi Fox

2 Door

sik. SOLD...
Remeber... VWs cost less at

2 DR Civic

4 speed.

Sik 202202 $599]
1973 Olds

Cutlass

2 Door, automatic.

Stk. 209302 5399 a

DOZENS OF
GOOD USED
IMPORT CARS
ON HAND

Deaier
#6066