Motor Car (d)

Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps using the AWL words in the list, then press "Check" to check your
answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble.
Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!

   adapted      affecting      alternative      alternatives      appreciably      attached
     automatic      capable      consist      constitute      designed      devices     
economy      expanding      generating      inclined      infinitely      inherent     
inherently      integrating      internally      maintenance      maximum     
mechanism      range      ratios      required      research      suspended     
suspension      technical      technology      transmissions      variable     
vehicles   

The Running Gear

The running gear of the car includes the wheel- system, the stabilisers,
and the wheels and tyres. The frame of the car may be considered the

member of the running gear. It is to the rear axle and to

the front wheels by springs. These springs, along with the axles, the control and support
arms, and the shock absorbers, the wheel- system. In

modern cars the front wheels are independently from the frame in a

manner that permits either wheel to change its plane without

the other. This type of front-wheel is known popularly

as knee-action . The stabilisers of spring-steel bars,

connected between the shock-absorber arms by levers, to decrease body roll and
improve steerability.

The Control System

Steering is controlled by a hand wheel, mounted on an column and

to a steering tube inside the column. The other end of the tube is

connected to the steering gear, which is to provide ease of

operation. Power steering, for passenger cars in the early 1950s, is
generally a hydraulic used as a booster to reduce the effort of steering.

A car has two sets of brakes: the hand or emergency brake and the foot brake. The

emergency brake generally operates on the rear wheels only, but it may operate on the
drive shaft. The foot brake in modern cars is always of the four-wheel type, operating on

all wheels. Hydraulic brakes on cars and hydraulic vacuum, air, or power brakes on

lorries apply the braking force to the wheels with much less exertion of force on the

brake pedal than is with ordinary mechanical brakes. The wheel brakes
are generally of the type, in which a convex strip of

material is forced against a concave steel brake drum.

New Developments

Oil shortages and rising fuel prices during the 1970s encouraged car engineers to
develop new technologies for improving the fuel of existing petrol engines

and to accelerate work on engines. Large V-8 petrol engines became

less common from the early 1980s, being replaced by 6-, 5-, 4-, and 3-cylinder V-
engines, using microprocessors for improved fuel-air control and thus better fuel

. During the early 1980s and development began on

controlled electronically for efficiency
and having gear . At the same time, digital

speedometers, trip-information , and electronic to cue owners

regarding and other chores were appearing in increasing numbers of
cars.

Engines

Among to petrol engines, diesel and electric engines appeared the

most promising. The turbine engine continued to be held back by high manufacturing
costs and other problems; hurdles remained for the revived Stirling
engine; the steam engine, which was the object of experiment in passenger cars during
the 1960s and 1970s, proved impractical; and the Wankel rotary engine,

less fuel-efficient, remained a low-production, high-performance power

plant.

Diesel V-8 engines appeared in the late 1970s in cars made by the United States

manufacturer General Motors, and V-6, V-5, and V-4 diesels were used increasingly
during the early 1980s because of the engine's superior fuel , which is up to
25 per cent better than that of a comparable petrol engine. Concern that diesel exhaust

may contain carcinogens continues to retard diesel development. The advent of

turbocharged diesels overcame one problem of the engine: slow
acceleration.

Electric Cars

Important advances in battery have led to electric cars of

speeds up to 80 km/h and a of 160 km or more. Such cars might become

popular because they can be recharged overnight when the power demand on electric
stations is low. Mass use of electric would lower the

demand for crude oil.

By using lightweight steel, aluminium, plastics, and magnesium, car manufacturers

drastically reduced the size and weight of their models in the late 1970s and early

1980s in an effort to improve fuel efficiency. Front-wheel drive , which

allows more passenger and cargo space inside smaller cars, has been adopted by
carmakers worldwide, replacing the rear-drive arrangement commonly used since the

motor industry's earliest days.

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