Tag: How it Works

Your engine is called an ‘internal combustion engine’. This means that while running there’s a lot of, well, internal combustion occurring. Thousands of explosions a minute, these create a lot of heat. How do you stop all this heat from ruining your engine? Coolant is pumped through the cooling channels, carrying heat away from the […]

We recommend you absolutely do not try to drive with a broken clutch. It isn’t a good idea, in fact, it probably won’t even work. Your clutch is what connects the engine to the transmission. Your clutch is what mates and transfers the power from the engine to the wheels. If it isn’t working then […]

Your timing belt doesn’t run the clock in your car. It runs a way more important part – your engine. Like many other engine components, it wears out. When your car is running, it’s spinning at extremely high speeds, in a very hot place. I don’t really like running in a very mild place, imagine […]

The manual is a sacred thing among car people. More of an annoyance to everyone else. Fair enough, anyone who’s been stuck in rush hour for an hour in a manual will also be question the reason for its existence. Connecting car and driver, in such a raw and engaged way however, is the main […]

In your car you’ll either have a manual transmission, or an automatic transmission. Each of these takes the revolution per minute of the engine, and transfers it to the wheels via the drivetrain. As your engine needs different gears to move the car at different speeds, your transmission determines at what speed the engine moves […]

Well to put it simply, “Revolutions Per Minute”. The follow up question you’ll have is, “what’s revolving?”. When your engine is running, the pistons travel up and down and rotate the crankshaft. The amount of full 360 degree rotations the crankshaft does in one minute. This tells you how the engine is operating at that […]

There are different types of brake rotors for different requirements. If your car has disc brakes, it’s something that will need to be serviced, sometimes machined, occasionally replaced. When you do replace them it’s worth thinking about what you might want. If you need brake rotors replaced, or any other work for your car done, […]

Nearly all modern production cars have water cooled engines nowadays, however, there was a time when air cooled cars held their own. Cars like the VW Beetle, Porsche 911 and the Fiat 500, all used air cooled engines. There were some advantages to an air-cooled system but ultimately the efficiency and reliability of water-cooled systems […]

Your engine inhales air and fuel, at the top of the compression stroke, the spark plug ignites the mixture. The spark plug only has that job, to ignite the mixture. Yep, you’ve got a whole ignition system for the sole purpose of one spark each cylinder at the top of every combustion stroke. The spark […]

Unfortunately, it doesn’t make your car fly. It does do some really neat other stuff though. It’s actually critical to any car with a manual transmission. It’s bolted to the crankshaft and serves as the mechanical connection between the crankshaft and the transmission. It also starts the car and makes sure it’s comfortable when it […]

A turbo is a impeller that is spun via exhaust gas. It then spins an impeller that sucks in air, pressurises it and forces it into your engine. So your turbo takes something that you weren’t using anyway and turns it into more horsepower. Add in the fact that it often makes your car more […]

An EGR valve sounds like it belongs in your heart. It doesn’t involve ventricles or aortas, it involves exhaust gas, the intake manifold, air and fuel, and emissions. EGR stands for Exhaust Gas Recirculation, it is a valve that car makers turned to in the fight against emissions and for fuel economy. It sounds really […]

When you hear sway bar, you assume it has something to do with swaying. You’d be on the money. Also known as an ‘anti-roll bar’, it helps to distribute weight transfer and reduce body roll during cornering. It is a fairly simple idea but the engineering boffins make it an excellent one. A sway bar […]

To keep your engine running you need air to combine with your fuel, at the set air fuel ratio. This mixture is what gives your engine the potential energy to combust. What amount of air and what amount of fuel though? Well you have a fuel injection map to scale up and down depending on […]

Your internal combustion engine does many interesting things. Most noticeably, it powers your car. To do this it needs fuel and air. When it has combusted the mixture, it needs to get rid of the byproduct – exhaust gas. These exhaust gasses are passed through the exhaust valves when they open, through exhaust pipes to […]

Your car’s wheels spin around, the pistons go up and down. So the question is how you take the lateral movement of your pistons and turn it horizontal to make it rotational energy? The answer is your crankshaft. It takes all the energy from the pistons and sends it to the transmission. This is super […]

Your car idles at about 750-900 revolutions per minute, rpm, this requires the valves to open and close 750-900 times a minute. Without the camshaft you wouldn’t have a working engine. It is what allows air into, and exhaust out of, the engine via the intake and exhaust valves. What is a camshaft? What a […]

Your car’s engine gets really hot. Mainly due to the thousands of explosions per minute. To cool the engine your car uses coolant, to cool the coolant, you have a radiator. Modern cars use newer and more high performance radiators for coolant to pass through the cooling system. So whether you’ve got an aluminium radiator, […]

Your car has brakes. The size of the brakes determine stopping power, the ventilation deters brake fade, and your brake components range far and wide. There’s a lot going on with stopping your car basically. Your brake pads are what make contact with your brake rotors. This contact creates friction, which creates heat. The friction […]

Your car has a lot of safety features that keep you safe that you’ll (hopefully) never use. Things like airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones and even fire extinguishers, all of these are great for when you’re having a crash. What about to avoid a crash though. These things can save your life, let alone your car. […]

Shock absorbers do what their name suggests. They absorb shocks. There are a few different types of shock absorber but they all do the same job, provide a smooth ride. When you’re driving your car and it hits a bump, your shocks are what absorb and distribute the impact. They are an integral component of […]

Your brakes stop your car. They sound pretty important don’t they? You’re right, they are. They also wear out and if unchecked, poor brakes can lead to an accident.  There’s a reason you need to have them replaced as required. They slow your car down through friction. That creates wear, dust and heat.  There’s a […]

You want a fast car, who wouldn’t? But it’s got a DCT transmission, what’s that? Don’t worry, we’ll tell you all you need to know on how a dual clutch transmission works.  A manual gearbox has one clutch, an automatic transmission has a torque converter, but now there’s an automatic transmission with two clutches. Is […]

You’ve got brake lights, you’ve got headlights, lights for turning, daytime running lights, and even lights for opening your door. But what about fog lights? What do fog lights do? Why do you need them?  Fog lights, or fog lamps as some call them, help you see through…. You guessed it – fog. When fog […]