There are automotive terms that are so often misused that they’ve become widely accepted. That doesn’t mean they don’t grate the senses when you encounter them. The classic example when it comes to Japanese cars is using “JDM” when not specifically referencing cars sold in the Japanese market (An Acura NSX is not a JDM car). Another one that drives me nuts personally is the use of Mk.IV (or Mk4 or MkIII and so on) for various generations of the Toyota Supra. Any other Japanese car would be referred to by their chassis code, but for some reason the British convention of “Mark” was applied to the Supra in the early days of tuning and just stuck. Please, for the love of Kiichiro Toyoda, use A80 or A70.
What misused automotive term drives you crazy?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “How do you stay awake on long drives?”
Music is one way to stay alert during long drives, but simply listening to good tunes like ra21benj isn’t enough for most of us. Ian G. and streetspirit‘s in-car karaoke and forcing yourself to sing along and remember the words actually helps a lot.
If that doesn’t work, there’s always Taylor C.‘s method of chewing gum. And if that doesn’t work Kyuusha Corner‘s technique is simply to drive faster to get that adrenaline pumping. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always Jonathan P.‘s strategy: praying.
Caffeine is the most time-tested method, and dankan defaults to coffee but will resort to a Red Bull if necessary. Negishi no Keibajo also recommends coffee, not to drink, interestingly, but to simply hold it: spill coffee on your upholstery at your own risk. The winner this week is Drive510, who introduced a technique we hadn’t heard of before, but it makes sense for an addictive substance that you body can build tolerance against:
I prepare for long drives more than 20 hours by reframing from caffeine for like a month prior and then leave my house about 10pm and slam Monsters the next day while my family sleeps in the mini-van or Tacoma.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
The term that drives me nuts the most is the term “whip” to refer to someone’s car, in any condition, typically whatever car they own
The term is a misuse of the acronym W.I.P. which stands for Work In Progress. Back in the CarDomain days folks use it to refer to their project car or their car that was undergoing some sort modification or restoration. Granted, even at the time folks started callingl their car a WIP even if they were using it as their daily driver if they had some plans for it.
I want to say it was Pimp My Ride that first used the term in mass media, mostly because I remember the phrase “Yo dawg, that’s my WIP!” being everywhere. Or maybe that was Grand Theft Auto ..
So anyway, does anyone still use the term whip? Am I yelling at clouds?