WTF With The Techno Terminology?

"Justin Hughes" (justinhughes54)
07/13/2016 at 15:12 • Filed to: car culture

In !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Ike and his guest, Ian of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , discussed a topic that struck a nerve with me – the proliferation of technical jargon in our hobby. Cars are technical objects, so a certain degree of specialized terminology is certainly required. “Make car go” is not a sufficient description of how to drive, no matter how much !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But sometimes there are so many acronyms thrown about seemingly at random that it can be quite difficult for someone new to the automotive hobby to understand just what the heck we’re talking about. This can alienate the newbies, make them feel like our special club has our own special language that they’ll never understand, and that maybe they should go take up basket weaving or ham radio instead.

Read on Right Foot Down or continue below

I autocrossed this thing. Really.

I first got serious about playing with cars in the late 1990s, when my income and knowledge first permitted it. After tinting the tail lights and installing a crappy subwoofer in my Mercury Tracer, I stumbled into a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! autocross, and thus a BMW enthusiast was born. Since the Tracer was lousy at autocross (and most other things besides getting me from point A to point B), I soon picked up a 1983 320i – the last year of the E21 3 series.

Josh’s 2008 BMW M3. It’s an E92.

And here was my first encounter with the technical gobbledygook of BMW chassis codes. What was the difference between an E30 and an E36? How is an E28 better than my E21? BMW owners throw these codes around to differentiate one generation of the 3, 5, etc. series cars from another. When you talk about a BMW M3, there are five different versions of the car you could mean, and eight different chassis codes associated with them. If you’re in the know, a simple “E92” tells you that it’s an M3 coupe made between 2007 and 2013 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But if you’re not in the know, “E92” might as well be “WTF.” I felt compelled to learn these E-codes (they weren’t far enough along to start using the letter F yet) just so I could keep up with some of these guys in conversation, and like I was a second class BMW owner if I couldn’t.

Pretty cunning, dontcha think?

You could write this off to stereotypical BMW snobbery, but that’s definitely not the case (plus I met some wonderful non-snobby people in the BMW club who I’m still friends with today). It’s even worse with Honda, the everyman’s car, as I learned when I had my two Civic wagons. They were from 1991 and 1989, making them from the EF generation. Except they weren’t actually an EF, but an EE4, because wagon. I suppose I could see that, since despite their similar appearance to other EF Civics they shared almost no body panels with them. The engines were the same, but that went down an even deeper rabbit hole of engine codes. My 1991 front wheel drive EE4 had a D15B2 motor, while my 1989 Real Time 4 Wheel Drive wagon had a D16A6. The D16A6 was the same motor used in the EF Civic and CRX Si, although the JDM D16Z6 was an easy transplant and more desirable.

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Are you lost yet? Because I sure was. Fortunately, on the internet, no one can see you open !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in another tab so that you don’t make a complete ass of yourself on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! forum. (“ur a n00b!!!1!”) I found the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to be much more friendly, probably because we all had the oddball Civic and loved them to death. Oddballs tend to stick together, which is something I’ve personally been doing all my life anyway.

Who said a mid-engine sports car couldn’t be cheap?

Even Toyota, often criticized as the most boring auto manufacturer in the world, is no exception. They weren’t always boring, either. Anyone who’s seen The Fast and the Furious knows the Supra. I, myself, owned a beat up rusty old 1987 MR2, because how else can you buy a mid-engine sports car for just $600? I soon learned that my first generation example was the AW11, as opposed to the SW20 version of the 1990s. Some people referred to them as the Mk. 1 or Mk. 2, and woe be unto you if you called it an “Em Kay One” rather than “Mark One.” The AW11 was powered by the veritable 4AGE engine, shared with the AE86 of drifting fame. And it sounds really impressive when you swap in a 1MZ-FE V6, until you look it up and realize it’s just a V6 from a Camry.

The Price Of Complexity

My Wouxun KG-UV920P-A – whatever that is, right?

I imagine basket weaving is pretty simple, but I can’t help but be reminded of another hobby of mine with an even higher level of complexity – !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Here’s the control panel of the radio I just installed in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Unless you’re into ham radio yourself, you probably have no idea what you’re looking at or how to operate it. In this case, you’re required to master some of the complexity to engage in the hobby in the first place. You have to know some basics to get the required license to operate one of these. But while the majority of people you meet on the air are friendly and will go out of their way to help a newbie, there are some habits that can confuse and scare people new to the hobby.

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Sometimes during a conversation, someone will ask “What’s your QTH?” Many moons ago, a list of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was developed for frequently made questions or statements back when Morse code ruled the airwaves. It takes far less time to send “QTH?” than to painstakingly spell out “What’s your location?” Think of it as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! 100 years early. But Morse code is no longer required to get a license, and people new to the hobby have never heard a Q-code before. Plus, when talking into a microphone instead of using a Morse code key, there’s no reason not to say “location” instead of “QTH.” They both have three syllables, but only one is easy to understand. Old timers like me, who have been on the air for years and got licensed when Morse code was still required, are fluent in this terminology, but times have changed and this is no longer the case. Plain English, or whatever language you speak, is much more effective and easy for everyone to understand, no matter how new you are.

“We’re gonna stop on down at the choke ‘n’ puke, get some go-go juice, and stuff some groceries down my throat, is that a big 10-4, come on back…”

Remember CB radio? !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! used it, and truckers and off-roaders still use it today. CBers use 10-codes. Pretty much everyone has heard “10-4” at some point and knows what it means. But listen to how quickly some old time hams jump down a newbie’s throat for asking “What’s your 20?” on the amateur radio bands. It’s even worse than someone referring to an “Em Kay One” MR2. Yet the same people think nothing of asking “What’s your QTH?” which means exactly the same thing. Pot, kettle, black much? It’s enough to make someone who did the work, passed their license test, and bought their radio to put their radio up for sale and never go on the air again.

Be Excellent To Each Other

Party on, dudes!

There was a point around here somewhere… Oh, here it is. The wide use of codes, cyphers, and technical terminology can be intimidating to someone new to a hobby. Hostility about their lack of mastery of this knowledge can drive people away faster than a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Some may believe that requiring such esoteric knowledge is a rite of passage, one that will keep the riff-raff out and only allow true believers in. In 1991, many believed that eliminating the Morse code requirement for entry level amateur radio licenses would turn the airwaves into a new CB wasteland and mean the end of the hobby as we knew it. But it didn’t. In fact, it was such a success that the Morse code requirement was eliminated from all license classes in 2007. Despite widespread use of the internet providing free, instantaneous worldwide communication that amateurs had enjoyed almost exclusively for the previous 100 years, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

The lesson to be learned here is don’t drown newcomers in a fire hose of acronyms, engine and chassis codes, and specialized information. Don’t start an internet flame war with the guy who called a 1987 MR2 an “Em Kay One” – just politely explain that actually we call that a “Mark One.”

Resistance is futile.

Do you want to know why I got hooked on cars, and remained active with the local BMW club for so long, even after I sold my 320i and got a Saturn? It was because of the people. The day I stumbled into my first autocross, people were nice when they approached me and told me about the event. They even offered to let me and my crappy Mercury Tracer join them for fun runs. So I did. I had no idea where the course was. I drove poorly. I skidded all over the place. I was super slow. And I had an absolute blast doing it. That was why I kept coming back for more, regardless of whether I owned a BMW or not.

I didn’t even need to know the difference between an E30 and E36.

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DISCUSSION (21)

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:25

Do you know what GM called their automatic headlights when they were introduced in 1960? Twilight Sentinel. If they were invented today they would be called Automatic Headlamp Control (AHC) or something stupid like that. Which name do you prefer?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
07/13/2016 at 15:27

The one that actually describes what it is instead of some marketing bullshit lol.

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:30

Great read! BMW knows a thing or two about techno babble, they even use their own names and abbreviations for standard safety systems, from traction control (DTC) and ESP (DSC) to TPMS (RDC), as if the standard abbreviations weren’t hard enough to remember for your average car buyer.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:32

This is why I like the use # generation for all cars. Rather than dealing with chassis codes and engine codes for different manufacturers. It is much simpler to deal with “this is a 6th generation Honda civic" to represent the '96-'00 rather than EK or whatever the other stuff is. Then using plain language for hatch or sedan and such. # Generation tends to be a standard for most cars and can follow a timeline rather than obscure alpha numeric stuff.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:33

I like chassis codes but really have a bad habit of using them to talk to non enthusiasts.

Justin Hughes > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/13/2016 at 15:33

I’ve heard mix-ups of that, like “3rd gen F-body,” but yes, I agree with you.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:38

I have a MK3 3-serries!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:40

Its probably also easier when there are only a few variants of a car and there really aren’t large differences amongst them. Like for Miatas, you just have NA, NB, NC, and now ND. Sure there are subtle changes like NB1/NB2 and NC1/NC2/NC3 as well as all of the NA codes. Even though those start getting super specific, its at least still logical and easy to understand. I feel like sometimes people think they are cool if they use more convoluted acronyms. Or they work for the military in someway and so using acronyms is just part of life.

Justin Hughes > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
07/13/2016 at 15:41

An Em Kay Three?

Justin Hughes > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/13/2016 at 15:42

Or IBM. I worked there at one point, and literally everything was some kind of TLA (Three Letter Acronym).

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
07/13/2016 at 15:43

I prefer the III series. More Roman.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/13/2016 at 15:47

I like the one that sounds like a character from a 60's sci-fi/fantasy movie.

HammerheadFistpunch > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:48

The truth is that this level of complexity is required in an effort to neatly classify information, but i hear you that it can be a lot to take it. Then again, I just learned what SMDH meant today so its not just car stuff. Sidenote: The company I work for (healthcare) requires that you use as few acronyms as possible with patients for this very reason - it dehumanizes care. Its one of those things like asking a potential car guy a gateway question and then going hog wild with terms or dumbing it back down - If you know you prefer the real stuff to the watered down stuff, but there is certainly a place for the watered down stuff too.

Justin Hughes > HammerheadFistpunch
07/13/2016 at 15:55

I agree. I enjoy a Morse code radio chat full of Q-codes and textspeak, but when there’s a microphone in my face I drop all that and speak plainly. And I never mind explaining things to someone who doesn’t understand, especially if I’m the one who slipped up and confused them in the first place.

HammerheadFistpunch > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 15:56

Now I will say that q-codes can die the death in the sarlac...but thats just because I don’t want to memorize them and I haven’t had a reason to use them often.

Justin Hughes > HammerheadFistpunch
07/13/2016 at 16:03

QSL on that. :)

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 16:23

My favorite are the ones that are just said as words but are really acronyms. And if you ask around, nobody knows what the acronym actually stands for. It has just become a word itself.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
07/13/2016 at 16:24

Well that is fun for a different reason haha. I could definitely enjoy outlandish stuff like that.

Urambo Tauro > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 16:27

I have mixed feelings about chassis codes. I never learned how to tell BMWs apart, and my eyes gloss over when I hear or read E30, E36, etc. But somehow I’m very comfortable using C2, C3, etc. when talking about Corvettes.

My (biased) opinion is that Corvettes are easier to tell apart, but is that simply because I’ve put more effort into ‘Vette identification than I have for BMWs? I’m also comfortable saying SN95, S197, etc. , but I happen to drive a SN95, so that’s not fair. I mean, as an enthusiant, OF COURSE I’m going to be extra-familiar with my own car. OF COURSE I’m going to have an easy time identifying it from other Mustangs.

The only easy choice for me is to avoid using chassis codes altogether when I’m around non-car enthusiasts.

Justin Hughes > Urambo Tauro
07/13/2016 at 16:33

I think it’s both that Corvettes are easy to tell apart, and it doesn’t get more simple than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Kinja'd!!!

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Justin Hughes
07/13/2016 at 18:31

FOOOOO SHOOOO