Axon's Automotive Anorak: Sprachen Sie Porsche?

Popping by to see some friends recently for supper and some car talk, when I arrived my pal already had his laptop open in the kitchen on Porsche GB’s website, while he was helping his wife with the cooking.

He was looking at the Car Configurator on the Porsche GB site, to ‘spec-up’ his next potential car, a new Porsche 911 4 GTS. Wading through the configurator, a bewildering bunch of Porsche acronyms popped up to choose from, some standard, many optional, but nearly all baffling. 

Try out the following abbreviations for a 911 yourself, for example, and see how many you can fathom… 

PDCC - Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control

PAS -Porsche Active Safety

PCCB - Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes

PTV - Porsche Torque Vectoring

PDK - Porsche Doppelkupplung (automatic transmission!)

PASM - Porsche Active Suspension Management

PCM - Porsche Communication Management

PDLS Plus - Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus

PTM - Porsche Traction Management

TPM - Tyre Pressure Monitoring

DFI - Direct Fuel Injection

PSM - Porsche Stability Management,

POSAIP - Porsche Side Impact Protection System

PTVS - Porsche Vehicle Tracking System

Acronyms are not unique to Porsche of course, as bewildering abbreviations have been used by the automotive industry for many years. 

We all understand ABS (anti-lock braking system), SRS (Supplementary Restraint System - airbag), ACC (Automatic Climate Control) and so on, but what about the ‘catchy’ marketing abbreviations such as SAHR (Saab Active Head Restraint, anti-whiplash read restraints, JTD (FCA Automotive) uniJet Turbo Diesel, SIPS (Volvo) Side Impact Protection System, WHIPS (Volvo) Whiplash Protection System, EDC (Renault/Dacia) Efficient Dual Clutch) and so on... It all gets very confusing. 

Next time you’re playing with a new car configurator online, dreaming about your lottery win car, some of the following acronyms, now commonly used by the automotive sector, might be of use.

AAAS – Advanced Active Adaptive Secondary Safety

ABC – Active Body Control

ACS – Anticipatory Crash Control

ADD – Auto Defect Detection

AICC – Automatic Intelligent Cruise Control

ASD – Anti-Slide Device

BAS – Brake Assist System

CVT – Continuously Variable Transmission

DCAS – Distance Control Assist System

DCT – Dual Clutch Control

DOHC – Dual Overhead Camshaft

DPF – Diesel Particulate Filter

DRL – Daylight Running Lights

DSC – Dynamic Stability Control

HEV – Hybrid Electric Vehicle

KERS – Kinetic Energy Recovery System

LNC – Lean NOx Catalyst

OBD – On-board Diagnostic

RKE – Remote Keyless Entry

ROP – Roll-over Protection

RPA – Rear Park Assist

SCO – Sensor Control Unit

VSC – Vehicle Stability Control

VVT – Variable Valve Timing

A OK?