Stupid things PETROL HEADS say
Discussion
matthias73 said:
In Germany, most people who have a vague idea of cars actually know the numbers.
Mostly because there is no other way of describing what sort of BMW you have other than model year, which can be equally confusing.
The alternative is to do the following: "yep, my bmw 3 series (that's the one that came out after the 4 cylinder m3, and before the one that offered the 330i engine. It's the one with the most square headlights but still looks reasonably modern."
Seriously, most people on pistonheads understand model numbers. If they don't, it takes about a week for them to figure them out.
But still no one could care if you had a E-quadrillion 3-series with a V8 engine, its still just a dull as dishwater 3 series.Mostly because there is no other way of describing what sort of BMW you have other than model year, which can be equally confusing.
The alternative is to do the following: "yep, my bmw 3 series (that's the one that came out after the 4 cylinder m3, and before the one that offered the 330i engine. It's the one with the most square headlights but still looks reasonably modern."
Seriously, most people on pistonheads understand model numbers. If they don't, it takes about a week for them to figure them out.
RichB said:
johnny fotze said:
'torque', as in "it's got loads of torque".
What adjective would you use to describe the amount of torque? Plenty, Sufficient, lots..? 
I claim no expertise in the matter, but will give two examples of my own experience with 'torque'.
As a former owner of a 205 gti, I often heard it said (by 1.6 owners, no doubt) that the 1.6 was a much 'torquier' engine. It wasn't faster, either from a standstill or on the move, so I can only conclude that in this case torque actually meant 'I wish I'd bought a 1.9'.
My job involves using a 2 speed hoist, speed 2 being faster than speed 1. However, if lifting above a certain weight, speed 1 must be used because it has more torque. So when someone says "it's got loads of torque", do they really mean "it will pull a big caravan"?
johnny fotze said:
My apologies, I should have elaborated. It isn't the use of the adjective 'loads', or even using the word torque; it is the way it is used with no understanding of what it actually is or it's relevance to their car.
I claim no expertise in the matter, but will give two examples of my own experience with 'torque'.
As a former owner of a 205 gti, I often heard it said (by 1.6 owners, no doubt) that the 1.6 was a much 'torquier' engine. It wasn't faster, either from a standstill or on the move, so I can only conclude that in this case torque actually meant 'I wish I'd bought a 1.9'.
My job involves using a 2 speed hoist, speed 2 being faster than speed 1. However, if lifting above a certain weight, speed 1 must be used because it has more torque. So when someone says "it's got loads of torque", do they really mean "it will pull a big caravan"?
Generally means "pulls well at low RPM" and "I don't understand what 'torque' is". I claim no expertise in the matter, but will give two examples of my own experience with 'torque'.
As a former owner of a 205 gti, I often heard it said (by 1.6 owners, no doubt) that the 1.6 was a much 'torquier' engine. It wasn't faster, either from a standstill or on the move, so I can only conclude that in this case torque actually meant 'I wish I'd bought a 1.9'.
My job involves using a 2 speed hoist, speed 2 being faster than speed 1. However, if lifting above a certain weight, speed 1 must be used because it has more torque. So when someone says "it's got loads of torque", do they really mean "it will pull a big caravan"?
t acronyms car manufacturers apply to various systems on cars that no one in the trade ever uses.
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