Someone said their car had gone into limp home mode. What is this?
The modern car is a computer-powered marvel and limp home is a good example of that. Read on to see what it is. What is limp home mode? Every car…
Category: Mechanical
Find out how your car works – in plain English. We reveal all those tricky technical things that might have baffled you about your car
How does Autonomous Emergency Braking work and is it worth it?
Cars are now coming with an increasing amount of standard safety kit. Among these is Autonomous Emergency Braking or AEB. It’s a safety system designed to prevent the front-to-rear shunts…
I’m looking at used cars. Some have ESC and some don’t. What is ESC?
ESC is one of the most important safety features the car industry has developed. The letters stand for Electronic Stability Control. Some car companies call it ESP Electronic Stability Programme,…
How close are we to seeing hydrogen cars on our roads?
Cars powered by hydrogen already are on our roads. But you’ve probably got as much chance of seeing something fairly niche such as a Rolls-Royce Cullinan as seeing a hydrogen…
My car doesn’t have a spacesaver spare wheel. Should I carry one?
Spare wheels, or rather the lack of them, is one of the things that really makes some drivers mad. A recent survey showed the lack of a full-size spare was…
If there are airbags in a car, should I worry that they might go off randomly?
Since the mid-1990s there have been ever-increasing numbers of airbags in a car. Your concern is a valid one. Afterall, airbags use an explosive to deploy in fractions of a…
What is torque in a car?
An engine’s performance is measured in two ways: power and in increasing popularity, torque. This is frequently used in car makers’ sales literature because the heavier our cars get, the…
How do I know if my car has problems with ABS brakes?
ABS stands for Anti-lock Braking System. It’s been fitted to all new cars since 2004. The aim of it is to help drivers to maintain control when they’re braking heavily.…
Mechanical: I’m thinking of buying a hybrid car. Will I need to plug it in?
Slightly confusingly, there’s more than one type of hybrid car. There’s the standard hybrid, the mild hybrid and the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). To further confuse matters, some models…
My car brakes squeak when I slow down. What does it mean?
After its steering, the brakes are probably the most important of your car’s controls. Sometimes car brakes squeak, squeal or screech depending on your viewpoint and the problem. This can…