Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:14 pm by NormanVauxhall
ENGINE NAMES
I’ve start to use recently set up a rule for engines name.
For example let’s take this engine:
L486Q-S3S ‘89
First letter it’s the cylinder position. L= Inline
Second number is the cylinder number. 4 = 4 cylinder
Third and fourth are cylinders bores. 86 = 86 mm
The fifth case it’s the stroke indication (in Italian for me) Q = Quadro = Square. It means that the stroke it’s very close (if not the same) of the bore.
In this way I have also an rough indication of the engine size, how much are stressed the pistons and the pistons rod, so if I can squeeze out of it more power or not.
For example I know that the L486SL (SL = super long) cannot redline too high or it will kill the reliability, so I’ll probably take the Q and pump up the head. A SL engine it's probably a space saver engine.
After the dash there are some specs about the evolution of the engine, but this can vary a lot.
In this case we have a SOCH 3valve with SPFI. It’s a 1989 engine. Probably the base engine was an OHV or a DAOHC.
CAR NAMES
The Blue Marlin Motor Company, as ex-motorboat company, started with the Blue Marlin (the fastest creature on earth) and later on developed a wider range of cars. All the cars have nautical-related names like:
Goldfish (B-class hatchback RR layout)
Salmon (C-Class hatchback FR layout)
Dolphine (D-class 3 box FR layout)
Narwhal (E-Class 3 box FR layout)
On the same platform the BMMC build also coupes so we have:
Flying Fish (based on the B-class RR layout)
Blue Marlin (based on the E-class FR)
Sea hunters names are used for the MR coupe:
Shark (big MR)
Murena (medim MR)
The Žnoprešk had a different story. It started at the end of the first world war using the following rule
Z2019
Z (for Žnoprešk), engine size (20 = 2.0 liter), launch year (1919).
This names hold until the end the end of the ’50. In the ’60 they started to use the following rule
Z110
Z (for Žnoprešk), model size (1 = B class), engine size (10 = 1.0 liter).
In the middle of the ’70, after the BMMC takeover they have start to develop a specific nomenclature for the models. The first one was the Zap, later on others Z names followed like:
Zy (A-class RR hatchback)
Zap (B-class RR hatchback)
Zest (C-class FR semi-hatchback)
Zenit (D-class FR 3 box)
Zephir (E-class FR 3 box)
The bigger the car is, the longest the name is (at least for the “regular cars”). There are some exception, as for the 4x4 off-road called Zanzibar.