Modern cars are designed to have a constant through-flow of fresh air that keeps the interior atmosphere pleasant even with all the windows shut. The incoming air can be heated by the engine to keep the windows clear of mist and the car interior at a chosen temperature. Read more
Most modern automatic gearboxes have a set of gears called a planetary or epicyclic gear train. Read more
The engine is the heart of your car. It is a complex machine built to convert heat from burning gas into the force that turns the road wheels. Read more
Most modern cars have brakes on all four wheels, operated by a hydraulic system . The brakes may be disc type or drum type. Read more
The conversion of fuel energy into power in an engine starts when petrol is mixed with air in a device called a carburettor , to form a highly combustible mixture. Read more
A car engine burns a mixture of petrol and air. Petrol is pumped along a pipe from the tank and mixed with air in the carburettor , from which the engine sucks in the mixture. Read more
A carburettor mixes fuel and air in the proportions and quantity the engine needs at any time. Read more
The fixed-jet carburettor resembles the simpler variable-jet type (See How variable-jet carburettors work ) in having a venturi - a constricted neck - through which air flows on its way to the engine . Read more
The purpose of the ignition system is to generate a very high volt age from the car's 12 volt battery , and to send this to each sparkplug in turn, igniting the fuel-air mixture in the engine 's combustion chambers . Read more
Internal-combustion engines run at high speeds, so a reduction in gearing is necessary to transmit power to the drive wheels, which turn much more slowly. Read more
A car uses quite a lot of electricity to work the ignition and other electrical equipment. Read more
A car engine produces a lot of heat when it is running, and must be cooled continuously to avoid engine damage. Read more
The steering system converts the rotation of the steering wheel into a swivelling movement of the road wheels in such a way that the steering-wheel rim turns a long way to move the road wheels a short way. Read more
For an engine to work at its best, the fuel /air mixture in each cylinder must fire just as the piston reaches top dead centre ( TDC ). Read more
There are various ways of attaching the wheels of the car so that they can move up and down on their springs and dampers , and do so with as little change as possible in the distance between adjacent wheels or in the near-vertical angle of the tyres to the road. Read more
In a front-engined rear-wheel-drive car, power is transmitted from the engine through the clutch and the gearbox to the rear axle by means of a tubular propeller shaft. Read more
The engine is, in many respects, self-sustaining: it supplies the power that drives a number of ancillary - subordinate - components without which it could not work. Read more
The first stage in the transmission of a car with a manual gearbox is the clutch . Read more
To make an engine start it must be turned at some speed, so that it sucks fuel and air into the cylinders , and compresses it. Read more
The electrical system of a car is a closed circuit with an independent power source the battery . It operates on a small fraction of the power of a household circuit. Read more
The suspension system affects both the driver's control of the car and the comfort of the occupants. The springs allow the wheels to move up to absorb bumps in the road and reduce jolting, while the dampers prevent bouncing up and down. Various mechanical links keep the wheels in line. Read more
The valve which allows mixture into the cylinder is the inlet valve; the one through which the spent gases escape is the exhaust valve. They are designed to open and close at precise moments, to allow the engine to run efficiently at all speeds. Read more
For the engine to run smoothly and efficiently it needs to be provided with the right quantity of fuel /air mixture according to its wide range of demands. Read more
Traditionally, diesel engines have always been seen as noisy, smelly and underpowered engines of little use other than in trucks, taxis and vans. But as diesel engines and their injection system controls have become more refined, the 1980s have seen that situation change. In the UK in 1985 there were almost 65,000 diesel cars sold (about 3.5 per cent of the total number of cars sold), compared with only 5380 in 1980. Read more