Whenever you visit a car dealer, they often provide a copy of what you will hear them refer to as car specs or car specifications. The idea of car specs is quite broad; hence, some car models, although they belong to different car brands, might be sharing some specs. Some of these specifications are quite confusing and difficult to understand, and others are quite easy.
What Are Some of the Common Car Specs?
Some of the most common car specs to look out for before purchasing a car include:
Torque
Torque may seem complex since it is not a common term or a term you might have heard from your dealer or mechanic. It usually goes hand in hand with horsepower. Simply it usually refers to the engine’s ability to perform an action. In other words, torque can also be defined as the rotational or twisting force that usually causes the rotation you see in the wheels. It is usually measured in pound-feet or Newton Meters.
Vehicles with diesel engines tend to have a relatively higher toque than vehicles running on petrol or even electric vehicles. This is because the engines of these vehicles are built with longer strokes, producing more torque. This eventually leads to the generation of more power from the engine.
Horsepower
Whenever you read or hear any basic information about cars, the term horsepower will likely come up. Horsepower is the amount of power generated by the engine, which usually leads to increased speeds in cars. Diesel cars generate lower horsepower although they produce high torque. This is because diesel engines tend to have a higher compression ratio compared to petrol or gasoline engines.
The higher compression ratio occurs because the workload arising from diesel engines is very large, but it takes a lot of time to generate. However, with petrol engines, the workload from the engine is small but occurs very fast. This is why petrol cars are relatively fast but cannot haul or carry great weights.
Body Type
Some of the common types of car bodies include SUV, Crossover (CUV), coupe, hatchback, sedan, wagon, limo, and convertible. It is easy to spot a car and classify it in any of the above classes just by looking at it.
The role meant to be played by the car makes one prefer one body type over the other. If it is for luxury, a large sedan or a convertible is a perfect choice. Large-sized families are best served by an SUV, which has more space.
Miles Per Gallon
Miles per gallon can simply be defined as a car’s fuel appetite or the distance covered by a car running on a single oil gallon. This is a key spec to note, but it is often ignored since miles per gallon (mpg) indicates a car’s fuel economy. However, such information is crucial in determining how easy or hard it is to run your would-be car.
Other Important Specs
- Wheelbase – It is usually the distance between the centers of the wheels and a given side of the car. The wheelbase is important in determining both the handling and quality of the ride both on and off the road.
- Wheel size – This is used in reference to the diameter of the wheel, especially the width. It is essential when you are making a comparison between two vehicles of different trim levels.
- Trim level – This usually is among cars models that are similar in some ways. There is the base model, which is the model of the car before new features were added. When these features are added, the trim level increases to signify the change in the model.
Conclusion
It is very important to ensure that you know the real reason you need that vehicle before purchasing any automobile. From that information, you are able to choose the car specs that are likely to suit your needs.
