[museycal]

While riding today in and around Pune, I came across the OG Hero Honda CBZ. The bike was in pristine condition with all its decals and stickers in place. And one sticker caught my attention, on the fuel tank extensions, announcing 'TPFC'. If I recall correctly, it stood for Transient Power Fuel Control. This fleeting encounter set alight a flurry of memories of many such acronyms I've come across since I could comprehend the automobiles, like (for 2 wheelers as well as 4 wheelers):

• DTSi - Quite a rage since it was first appended in 2003 to the already strong Pulsar brand. Interestingly, there was a brand extension of DTSi to DTS-Si, used on the Bajaj XCD 125.
• TwinSpark - The RE speak for 2 spark plugs in a cylinder. Bajaj had the patent for dual spark plug per cylinder for smaller engine size if my memory serves right (there was a patent fight between Bajaj and TVS on use of 2 spark plugs on TVS Flame). Incidentally, Honda had separate branding of 'iDSI' in cars.
• ExhausTEC - Another Bajaj acronym, this time for swirl chamber in exhaust.
• PGMFi - Old time Honda acronym used on various Hero Honda and Honda bikes & scooters.
• CCVTi - Real tricky one. Was difficult to understand then, and remains mouthful even today. Controlled Combustion Variable Timing ignition or something!
• MPFI - Multi Point Fuel Injection, used by Suzuki in early 2000s
• VVTi, VTVT, VVT, VTEC, MiVEC, VANOS etc. - All of them the acronyms of the variable valve timing for same/similar setup from different manufacturers! And most of them adored the bootlids, fenders, grills etc. of the car models of the time.
• CRDi, TDCI, CTDI, DiCOR, MultiJet, DDIS, QuadraJet etc. - Like variable valve timing, all of these were for common rail DI diesel engines. Again, almost all of them were promoted as almost USPs by the manufacturers, featuring on fenders, tailgates etc. If I recall correctly, the DiCOR was actively promoted along with the Safari name, ala, Safari DiCOR.

I am sure these are just a few of many, which you may recall too. Contemplating on these a bit, I find it fascinating that makers of these machines invest time, energy and other resources to come up with such acronyms, in order to drive some USPs, create brands and develop some good recall. Honda's VTEC, Bajaj's DTSI, Tata's DiCOR are a very good examples. I remember during the college days and early job life in mid 2000s, these acronyms were almost like top trumps! I recall this discussion among us 3 friends:
- Friend 1: Bhai Pulsar le li tere bhai ne (Bro, I just bought a Pulsar)!
- Friend 2: Bhot sahi!! Ab apan dono ke pass hai Pulsar (Very good!! Now we both have Pulsar)
- Friend 1: But teri waali DTSi nai hai na (But yours isn't a DTSi, right)
- Friend 2 & me: (Facepalm)!

Brooding further down the road, these acronyms were also the reflection of what was important at-the-time when these cars/bikes/scooters came out. So, for example, at the moment we have many cars coming out of with dual-clutch gearboxes. These represent something new and transitionary from the prevalent manual and auto transmissions. And, almost every auto manufacturer will have a fancy word for their dual clutch transmissions - DCT, PDK, DCA, DSG etc. Similar is the case with the connected car in-car-entertainment suites - iRA, SmartPlay, BlueLink etc.

Please chip-in with your recollections and anecdotes about these, may be from even earlier decades. Do you find any values in these sub-brands? Are they necessary? Did any of them, any time, influence your automotive decision? Which one is/was your favourite, and why?

[saikishor]

Yamaha had some stickers on the R15 V2. IIRC, they were Deltabox and LCDV. Deltabox was nothing but a name given to perimeter frame. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[SS-Traveller]

Knowledge about vehicle-related 3- to 5-letter acronyms, it is said, differentiates the automotive cognoscenti from the 'caridiot'. Features like ABS, EBD, ESC, TC, ROP, AWD, BTC, HDC... sometimes, the mind boggles. Then there are those nomenclatures for different variants of cars - LXi, VXi, ZXi, ZX, XZ, XT, XTA, AX... Nowadays I just read a specifications list, and not try to figure out which version of which car has what feature. Call me a caridiot if you want.

[GForceEnjoyer]

A lot of manufacturers have had different trim level names for a while. EXI, ZXI, SXI, CLXI, etc. Some more generic ones like ORVM, IRVM, MT, AT come to mind as well. Then TSI, TDI, TCDI (Chevrolet), iVT and iMT are some I commonly see. Some acronyms were used to describe entire cars, such as OHC, NHC and ANHC (Old Honda City, New Honda City and All-New Honda City. Used for the first, second and third generations respectively).

[JoshMachine]

When it comes to engine specs and acronyms, Audi (sub-brand of VW Group) is the only brand to have rights of using the TFSI (Turbocharged Fuel Stratified Injection) moniker, other brands use TSI.

The story goes something like this. In autumn 2017, Audi ditched its numerical badging system which consisted of '2.0' referring to a 2.0-litre engine, and replaced it with a new system that uses a rather complicated (slightly unnecessary) coding format. This system doesn't take into account the size of the engine, only the power output. In the simplest terms, the smaller the number, the less powerful the engine. So while a 35 TFSI is a 1.5-litre petrol engine and the 35 TDI is a 2.0-litre diesel engine, they both produce a similar amount of power.

Per Audi's philosophy (or rather branding strategy I would think), it comes down to the fact that the size of the engine has less bearing on the amount of power it produces nowadays than it used to, in the bygone era. Technically, a small, yet turbocharged 1.0-litre engine can produce more power than a standard 1.4-litre alternative. Not entirely inaccurate.

Here is the tabular representation of the various engine power outputs on offer:-

[adityaprasoon]

CBS - Combined Braking System
A simple system where applying one brake applies both front and rear brakes. It is now common in two wheelers. I remember seeing the first CBS sticker on an Activa.
TVS also added it to Jupiter and called it SBS - Synced braking system.

Several years ago when I was in a Honda showroom checking out Activa for a relative of mine, I remember the salesman being confused between ABS and CBS. He thought both are same and was trying to convince me too. Of course this was some time back and in a smaller city. I guess Activa salesmen do need to explain the features too much to prospective buyers, as Activa practically sells on it's own.