Car guy idioms

"Balls to the wall," referring to the throttle, mixture, and timing levers on a fighter aircraft, pushed all the way forward in a dogfight, or trying to get out of one.

"If, at first, you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer."

"Keep Calm and Add More Throttle"

"Second place is the first loser."

German torque: gutentight.

It's always fun to walk around and look at the back of your buddy's car and say, "I always wondered what that looked like."

Robbie wrote: Burn rubber. Lay a patch. Get rubber. Chirp second. Burnout. Smoke show. One tire fire. "Just checking for LSD"

Compression patch (which we all know is just inertia).

68TR250 wrote: It's not an MG! It's a Triumph

My favorite two Brit car idioms

1. Only the British could call that a Triumph.

2. The old retired British army officer brags to his buddies in the pub about how far British influence has spread across the world because of Land Rovers. The old retired USMC Sargent at the other end of the bar replies "Just think of how much further you would been able to go if you used a jeep instead!"

"3/4 race cam"

RICE: Really Immature Car Enthusiast, which tends to result in an excess of: Racecar Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements

RoadRaceDart wrote: "3/4 race cam"

oh yeah, along with a "full house" race build or a "full race" built motor. More common back in the muscle car days.

HappyAndy wrote:

68TR250 wrote: It's not an MG! It's a Triumph

My favorite two Brit car idioms 1. Only the British could call that a Triumph. 2. The old retired British army officer brags to his buddies in the pub about how far British influence has spread across the world because of Land Rovers. The old retired USMC Sargent at the other end of the bar replies "Just think of how much further you would been able to go if you used a jeep instead!"

"If they call that a Triumph I'd hate to see what they call a failure"

Streetwiseguy wrote: If Mercedes built a hammer, it would have three moving parts and a maintenance schedule.

This has been stuck in my head since yesterday. I'm making a spin off thread.

Tighten till loose, then back a quarter turn.

Streetwiseguy wrote: If Mercedes built a hammer, it would have three moving parts and a maintenance schedule.

Like a rotary engine!

snailmont5oh wrote: German torque: gutentight.

I figured someone would post this. I heard this all the damn time. "How tight should this be?" "gutentite" "what the heck is...ohhhh" It worked as a 10 year old...After I crossthreaded/stripped a few things as I got older/stronger I got that answer a lot less often.

Id rather drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow

Torque setting of "pull till you fart."

Torque to failure plus a quarter turn.

It looks fine from the driver's seat

I heard a two-part variation of a few of the above at one of my first driver's schools, and it is still with me a couple decades later:

"When in doubt, throttle out! In a spin? Both feet in!" (i.e. Clutch and brake)

The instructor maintained that newbs stomped the brake at the first sign of oversteer, but insisted on trying to save it with throttle even after they were past 90 degrees.

Only guys that know are me, you, and the guy you run over. Two of us don't give a E36 M3.

If you can't be good, be spectacular.

Dazzle 'em with brilliance, or baffle 'em with bullE36 M3.