Glossary
From R31info
Where possible, follow the links for more information.
Contents |
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A
- AAC valve: Auxiliary Air Control Valve
- ABS: Antilock Braking System.
- ADR: Australian Design Rules. See Department of Transport and Regional Services
- AFM: Air Flow Meter.
- Anti-lag: Used on competition cars to maintain boost while off throttle. Basically the timing is retarded to allow unburnt fuel to enter the exhaust manifold, and air is injected via a valve. The fuel ignites and drives the exhaust turbine. This is the loud popping noise that most WRC cars make.
- Autronic: An aftermarket ECU.
- AVC-R: An aftermarket boost controller made by Apexi
- AVGAS: High octane leaded petrol, 100 octane or higher.
- AAFRB: The Automotive Alternative Fuels Registration Board
- AWD: All Wheel Drive.
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B
- Bar : A measure of pressure relative to one atmosphere (14.5 PSI). Multiply by 14.5 to convert to PSI. Also see PSI.
- Bleed Valve: A valve used to bleed off boost from the wastegate supply line to control boost. Usually a cheaper alternative to electronic valves. A common type is Turbosmart. click here for more info
- Block: The lower part of the engine. Includes the cylinder bores, pistons, crackshaft, sump etc.
- Blow an engine: To break an engine. Sometimes spectacular, with engine parts protruding from the block or bonnet, sometimes not so spectacular with just internal breakages.
- Blow a turbo: To break a turbo. Usually by either breaking the turbine wheel, or damaging the compressor wheel by ingesting stuff into the air intake.
- Blower: See "Supercharger".
- Boost controller: A device used to maintain boost levels. They are plumbed into the wastegate supply line and regulate the pressure supplied to the wastegate, ie tricking it into "seeing" less boost than there actually is.
- Borg Warner: Automotive parts manufacturer. The R31 Skyline has a Borg Warner differential.
- BOV : Blow off valve.
Vents unwanted pressure trapped between the throttle plate and your turbo's compressor wheel when you back off the accelerator. This allows the turbo compressor wheel to maintain a useful RPM in between gear changes. It is triggered by a pressure difference in the "compressor to throttle" length of pipe and the intake manifold.
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C
- C.A.I: Cold air intake.
- C.A.M.S: Confederation of Australian Motorsport
- Cam: See camshaft.
- Camshaft: A shaft with shaped lobes on it that control the opening and closing of the inlet and / or exhaust valves. Variable valve timing changes the lobe in use. Click here for more information.
- Canary: Yellow sticker which is placed on the windscreen of a defective vehicle.
- CAS : Crank Angle Sensor.
- Catalytic Converter: A device that sits in the exhaust and uses a hot matrix to cause CO and HC in the exhaust to become CO2 and H2O. Regarded as being restrictive.
- Cold Air Box : A box for keeping a constant supply of cold air to the engine intake. Usually seals off the engine bay from the air intake with partitions and ducting.
- Compliance: Process of certifying that an imported car meets Australian safety standards.
- Compression Ratio: A numerical ratio of cylinder volume with the piston at Bottom Dead Center versus cylinder volume with the piston at Top Dead Center.
- Conrod:Joins the piston to the crankshaft. A common point of failure in engines that see high RPM.
- Crankshaft: The vertical movement of the pistons is transformed into rotational movement by the crankshaft. Connected to the pistons via the conrods.
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D
- Damper(s): Another term for shocks or suspension.
- Detonation: Uncontrolled combustion of the air / fuel in the cylinder.
Primarily caused by the following factors: Boost too high,Ignition too advanced, Intake air temp too high, Also - Detonation will not destroy or adversely affect your turbo, but it will destroy your pistons, con-rods, and maybe crank Also known as "pinging".
- Diff: Slang for differential.
- DOHC: Double Overhead Camshaft IE: Two camshafts. Used in the RB20DE, RB20DET, RB25DE, RB25DET and RB26DETT. (Also see SOHC)
- DOTARS/DOTRS: Department of Transport and Regional Services
- Dump pipe / Front pipe: The section of exhaust between the turbo and the catalytic converter.
- Dyno: Dynamometer, device used for measuring power output of vehicles. (Also see RWKW)
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E
- ECCS: Engine Concentrated Control System.
- ECU: Engine control unit.
- EFI : Electronic Fuel Injection. The fuel and air is electronically controlled and metered by the ECU to ensure the air / fuel mix is fed into the engine at the correct ratio, quantity, and at the right time.
- EGI: Electronic Gasoline Injection (Pintara Models)
- Exhaust : A combination of the turbine outlet, downpipe/frontpipe, catalytic converter and muffler.
- Extractors: Exhaust manifold designed to allow better exhaust flow
- EVC: An electronic boost controller made by HKS
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F
- F-CON: An engine computer made by HKS
- FMIC: Front Mount Intercooler
- Fuel Pressure Regulator: A valve that controlls the pressure of fuel in the fuel rail. It is mounted on the return end of the rail.
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G
- GTS1: Nissan SVD vehicle, see R31 for more information.
- GTS2: Nissan SVD vehicle, see R31 for more information.
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H
- Haltech: An aftermarket ECU
- Head : The top part of the engine. Includes the valves, camshafts etc.
- HICAS: High Capacity Active Steering- 4 wheel steering. The back wheels turn to assist the front wheels.
- HP: HorsePower. A measure of power output. Multiply by 0.746 to convert to KW.
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I
- Intercooler: A radiator like device that cools the air that has been though the turbo.
- IRS: Independent Rear Suspension
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K
- KW: Kilowatts. A measure of power output. Multiply by 1.34 to convert to HP.
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L
- Link: An aftermarket ECU
- LPG: Liquid Petroleum Gas
- LRP: Lead Reduced Petrol.
- LSD: Limited Slip Differential. In low traction situations, driving force is fed to the wheel with traction.
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M
- MAP sensor: Manifold Absolute Pressure. Used by some aftermarket engine management systems instead of an AFM.
- Microtech: An aftermarket ECU.
- Motec: An aftermarket ECU regarded as being one of the best available.
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N
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O
- Octane : A way of describing a fuels resistance to detonating (pinging) The higher the octane, the better it will resist detonation. Fuel is commonly available in octanes from 85 - 100. Turbo Skylines are designed for 95 Octane fuel. Race fuel is available up to 116 Octane. In the 1950's there was some exotic 140+ octane fuel used for the large propliners on takeoff.
- Oil cooler: A device for cooling engine oil that is passed through a series of small passages and at the same time air is passed over the oil to draw the heat away from it.
- Overdrive ON: Used in normal conditions i.e. city driving, dry normal roads etc. (Gearing 1 ~ 3 + Overdrive)
- Overdrive OFF: This mode is useful for hills, boosts of speed etc.
- Oxygen sensor: An electronic sensor that sits in the exhaust stream and provides the ECU with a reading of the oxygen % in the exhaust gas. A narrow band sensor is used by the ECU for cruise conditions. A wide-band sensor is used by a workshop for tuning - the wide band sensors give very good indications of running lean / rich, while the narrow band sensors are less accurate.
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P
- Panel filter: A filter element that fits in the factory airbox. K&N make a good aftermarket high performance element.
- PCV: Positive Crankshaft Ventilation valve.
- PFC: Another name for the PowerFC.
- Pinging : See "Detonation"
- Pod: Either a mount for gauges, or an aftermarket airfilter that replaces the factory airbox filter.
- PowerFC: An aftermarket ECU made by Apexi
- Pre-ignition: Burning of fuel mixture before timed spark.
- PS : A measurement of power commonly used by the Japanese. Multiply by 0.735 to convert to KW, or 0.986 to convert to HP. ("PS" can also be short for "power steering")
- PSI: Pounds per Square Inch. A measure of pressure, commonly used for turbo boost measurements and tyre pressures. Multiply by 0.0689 to convert to Bar. Also see Bar.
- PULP: Premium unleaded petrol.
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R
- Radiator : A device for cooling water that is passed through a series of small passages to maximize its surface area and at the same time air is passed over the water to draw the heat away from it.
- Reo: Bumper bar re-enforcement.
- Rice: A car modified for looks, or fake power. Depends on your point of view though.
- RSM (or Rev Speed Meter): A device made by Apexi that measures 0-100, 400m among other functions.
- RWC: Roadworthy Certificate / Roadworthy Condition.
- RWKW: Rear Wheel Kilowatts.
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S
- S-AFC: A piggyback fuel computer made by Apexi. It modifies the air flow meter signal.
- S-AFR: A piggyback air/fuel controller made by HKS
- Screamer pipe: A wastegate dump pipe that is not plumbed back into the exhaust.
- Strut Bar/Brace: Ties together the strut towers on the front of the car. It stiffens the front end so that it flexes less while corning and when you hit bumps. Generally helps to make your car feel more solid and may help handling a bit. There are front and rear strut bars.
- Supercharger: A device usually driven by the crankshaft. The intake charge is then compressed and forced into the head/combustion chamber.
- Surge tank: A small fuel tank that is designed to maintain a constant fuel supply to the main fuel pump during hard cornering.
- SVD: Special Vehicles Division - Limited edition models of Nissan Australia, including the GTS1, GTS2, and Vector.
- Swirl pot: A secondary fuel tank fed by a low pressure pump from the main fuel tank. A high pressure pump then feeds fuel to the engine from the swirl pot. Used in competition cars where conditions may cause the pump in the main fuel tank to be starved, ie when cornering at speed. Keeps a constant flow of fuel available to the engine.
- SOHC: Single Overhead Camshaft, ie one camshaft. Used in the RB20E, RB30E. (Also see DOHC.)
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T
- TDC : Top Dead Centre.
- Test Pipe: A hollow pipe used to replace the catalytic converter to create better air flow through the exhaust.
- TI: Touring International
- TPS: Throttle Position Switch.
- Torque: Twisting force.
- Torque converter: Part of automatic transmission.
- Turbine: The turbo wheel which sits in the exhaust path and drives the shaft that is connected to the compressor wheel.
- Turbine outlet: A small elbow piece that connects from the exhaust portion of the turbine to the downpipe/frontpipe.
- Turbo: An air pump driven by exhaust gasses. The turbine wheel is turned by the hot exhuast gasses which turns a shaft which drives a compressor wheel that compresses the air being taken into the engine. Can exceed 100,000 RPM, and runs very very hot.
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U
- ULP: Unleaded petrol
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V
- V-AFC: A piggyback fuel computer made by Apexi. It modifies the air flow meter signal and includes a VTEC controller. Used for Honda type applications with VTEC.
- VVTi : Variable Valve Timing with intelligence
- VSS : Vehicle Security System
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W
- Wastegate: A spring diaphragm that releases excess exhaust gas before it enters the turbine stage of the turbo. The wastegate diaphragm is supplied from the outlet of the turbo via the wategate supply line. The wategate is used to prevent excess boost.
- Wheel: Another term for rims.
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Z
- Zorst: Slang for "exhaust".
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#
- 4WD: Four wheel drive.
- 4WS : 4 wheel steering. Found in HICAS equipped Skylines.
Compiled by
Updated By Copnis
