Supercar Glossary

See below for a simple explanation of some of the terms used when talking about supercars.

Adaptive Headlights

A system whereby the car's front headlamps turn with the steering wheel to illuminate around the corner of the oncoming road.

Adaptive Suspension

Suspension settings that can be altered 'on the fly' while you are driving, to choose between a harder (sporty) or softer (comfortable) ride. Some advanced systems can now scan the road ahead and automatically adjust suspension according to the terrain. Often used in conjunction with traction control and stability systems to offer different driving 'modes' (such as comfort, sport, race or wet).

Autonomous Driving

This is the term used to refer to an in car system that takes over responsibility for some (or all) aspects of operating the car from the driver. Computers analyse data from sensors, lasers, radar etc to determine when steering, acceleration, braking and signalling should be applied. True fully autonomous driverless cars are no longer science fiction.

Brake Assist

An automated system that uses sensors or radar to detect an imminent colission and then automatically apply extra brake force to supplement the drivers own braking.

Climate Control

Computer controlled systems regulate air con and heating levels to maintain the user's selected temperature. Some cars offer dual zone systems, where two different environments can be maintained for driver and passenger.

Coilover Suspension

Adjustable spring and damper suspension that can raise or lower the ride height of your vehicle. Normally has a screw thread on the top to adjust by hand. Some also allow adjustment of rebound and damping hardness for a fully bespoke setup.

Downforce

Downforce (shown in Kg) is a measure how a car sticks to the road at speed. A car's aerodynamics (wings, spoilers etc) create a downwards acting pressure through the tyres to push the car into the ground, enabling higher stability and cornering speeds. However, high downforce increases drag, so a balance between them should be found.

Drag

Drag is a meausure of aerodynamics, or how smoothly a car moves through the surrounding air. Drag is denoted as Cd, and is an important factor in the capability of a car to reach high speeds (drag increases dramatically with speed). A value of 0.3 Cd is typical for a road car, but < 0.1 Cd has been achieved in concepts. Drag and downforce increase in tandem, so low drag can produce lift, which is not desirable for handling.

Drifting

Where the driver balances the accelerator and steering (and sometimes the brakes and gears) to keep a car in a constant oversteer position around a corner without spinning. Some modern supercars offer a 'drift mode' to electronically assist the driver in their drifts.

Dual Clutch

A Dual clutch gearbox is a type of semi-auto, manual transmission that features two clutches. When accelerating, the first clutch handles the drive, while the second clutch prepares the next gear up, or vice versa when slowing down. This results in smooth, superfast changes, with the option of a fully auto mode. Manufacturers have different names for their systems such as PDK (Porsche), S-tronic (Audi), Speedshift (Mercedes).

Electric Cars

Conventional combustion engines are slowly being replaced by cars driven by electric motors (typically one on each axle, but sometimes one per wheel in hypercars). Electric cars offer many benefits over combustion engines such as zero emissions, instant rapid acceleration and high fuel efficiency. The original downsides of poor range and long charging times have largely been addressed, but then there's the sound, or lack of it!

Emissions

All cars are now measured for the amount of harmful waste gases emitted through their exhausts, this is measured in grams of Co2 produced per Km driven. Older, high power supercars are the most polluting (>500 g/Km), with modern hybrids and electrics the least (zero g/Km in the latter). Lower emissions means lower road tax and no Emissions Zone charges!

Four Wheel Drive (4WD or AWD)

Where a car's power is transmitted through all four wheels, rather that just the two front or two rear wheels. 4WD gives a car a lot of traction (grip), which is good for roadholding and standing start acceleration. Modern systems can monitor road conditions hundreds of times a second to give differing power to each of the wheels for optimum traction.

Four Wheel Steering (4WS)

4 Wheel steering has been around for a while, but has recently re-gained popularity. When turning at slow speed, the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the fronts to provide a tighter turn. At higher speeds, they turn in the same direction, to enable more stable cornering.

GT

GT stands for Grand Tourer, and is normally attributed to cars that offer a relaxed, comfortable cruising ride, but still with plenty of performance. The focus is on fast cruising rather than hard edged track work. They are often front engined, low slung coupes, with 2+2 seats, but nowadays performance is on a par with contemporary supercars.

Hot Hatch

A Hot Hatch (aka Hot Hatchback) is a mainstream family hatchback that has been mechanically and cosmetically enhanced to give it more power, better handling and sportier looks. Manufacturers have become so adept at producing superb hot hatches that they can now outhandle and outperform supercars from just a few years back.

Hybrids

These are cars that feature a conventional combustion engine that is assisted by one or more electric motors. Hybrid technology allows you to use a relatively small, economic combustion engine and still have good performance due to the instant torque of the electric motors (e.g:- BMW i8). The famous 'supercar trilogy' of the Porsche 918, McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari all use such systems.

Hypercar

In the past, supercars represented the fasted most powerful cars of their day. However, manufacturers began to introduce limited edition, extremely high performance cars that were a level above their supercar offerings (e.g:- Ferrari have the 488 supercar and the LaFerrari hypercar), these cars have become known as Hypercars.

Keyless Entry

The ability to unlock your car without having to push a remote or put your key in the lock. A sensor in the car detects the proximity of your keyfob and automatically unlocks the car. Keyless/push button starting operates on a similar principle.

Lateral Acceleration

This is a measure of a car's cornering ability. As a car drives around a corner, centrifugal forces push the car to the outside of the curve, the force of this push is measured in 'g' (force of gravity). The higher the force, the better. Cars are tested on a cornering skidpan, to get the maximum lateral force they can take before they spin off. 1g is a good result, but some track focused supercars can achieve up to 3g.

Nurburgring

The Nurburgring (or more accurately the Nordschleife loop of the Nurburgring) is a 13 mile long German race circuit open to manufacturers and the public. Over the past few years, a good Nurburgring lap time has become popular measure of a supercar's handling and performance. An 8 minute lap used to be deemed quick, but nowadays manufacturers are looking to the low 7s, or even high 6s to stand out from the pack.

Oversteer

Where the car turns further than the driver intended due to lack of traction at the rear wheels. This can often lead to a spin.

Park Assist

A high tech system using sensors, braking and steering motors to automatically park a car without driver input.

Power

How hard a car's engine can work. The higher the power, the faster the car. Power is expressed in BHP (brake horse power) in the US and UK, but you may also see HP (metric horse power), CV (chevaux vapeur) or PS (pferdestärke), which are popular in Europe and are all basically the same unit. KW (kilowatts) is also used in some coutries. 500bhp+ is now considered a starting point for supercars, or 1000bhp+ for hypercars.

Power to Weight Ratio

How much power a car produces for a given weight. Divide the power of the car by the weight of the car to get that car's power to weight ratio (usually measured in bhp/ton). This is a good indicator of performance, as you can compare the power to weight ratios of vastly different cars to judge their relative performance, the higher the power to weight ratio the better (a lightweight car may only have a small amount of power but it may outperform a powerful car that is much heavier).

Prototypes & Concepts

Before most cars enter production, the manufacturer builds a prototype model to iron out errors and develop the car to production standards. Concepts are where a manufacturer wants to show what they can do, or gauge public reaction to a potential new car, so they build a one off concept car that often has no running gear but is finished to a high standard.

Semi Auto

This is something of a misnomer, as semi-auto transmissions are robotised manual gearboxes not automatics. Also known as automated manuals, the main feature is the lack of a clutch pedal, where gear shifts are made using either a conventional looking gearstick or the more popular steering wheel mounted paddle-shift. First generation semi-autos were often crude, clunky devices, but with the advent of Dual Clutch systems, they now offer smoother and faster changes than a human could achieve.

Stop/Start System

An automated system that stops the engine when the car comes to a standstill. The engine is then automatically (and instantly) restarted when the driver presses the accelerator or brake. These systems can significantly improve fuel consumption and total emissions.

Super Saloons

In the same way that hot hatches enhance a normal hatchback, super saloons enhance the looks, handling and power of a family saloon car to produce a high performance version, often with acceleration and top speed to match a contemporary supercar.

Supercharged

A supercharger is an air compressor that forces higher pressure/density air into a combustion engine to increase power and performance. Superchargers are mechanically driven, connected to the engine by a belt, and so take some power from the crankshaft. This makes them less efficient than turbochargers, but faster responding.

Torque

How strongly an engine pulls, or the amount of twisting force available at a given engine speed. Measured in either lbs/ft (UK and US) or the metric Nm (newton meters) popular in Europe. A high torque figure (at low revs) means you don't have to rev the engine too high to get good acceleration. Diesels and particularly electric cars are good examples.

Torque Vectoring

An advanced form of traction/stability control, torque vectoring varies the amount of power sent to an individual wheel so that it has optimum grip for the conditions. Advanced hybrid systems can also apply regenerative braking to the opposite wheel to enhance the effect and recharge the battery at the same time (as in the F1 KERS systems).

Track Focused

These cars are harder edged, better handling versions of existing supercars (e.g:- Porsche 911 GT3 RS), or specially created cars intended for track use but still fully road legal (e.g:- BAC Mono). As their name suggests, they give the ultimate trackday experience, but are often too hard or impractical for everyday road use.

Traction Control

Sensors detect if a particular wheel is spinning more rapidly than the others, which indicates that wheel is not getting enough grip on the road and slipping. The system will then pulse the brake on that wheel (and some systems also reduce power) so that it regains grip. Often used in conjuction with ABS systems.

Turbocharged

Like a supercharger, a turbocharger (or just 'Turbo') is an air compressor that forces higher pressure/density air into a combustion engine to increase power and performance. Unlike Superchargers, Turbos are driven by exhaust gases which makes them more efficent but they take time to spool up (known as'Turbo Lag'). However, modern twin-turbo systems (one turbo at low revs, another kicking in at high revs) have all but eliminated this problem.

Tyres

The size & type of tyres vary considerably amongst supercars. A typical tyre size may be 275/35 ZR20. This means 275mm wide, 35% wall height, and 20 inches diameter. Slicks (no tread) tyres offer the most grip in the dry, but require varying patterns of tread in the wet to shed water. Tyre manufacturers also offer 'sticky' road/track tyres that give great grip but wear quickly. A deep tread, quality brand tyre is vital for safe performance.

Understeer

Where the car turns less than the driver intended due to a lack of traction at the front wheels.

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