Attn car experts (1 Viewer)

[yenta]

So where did you all learn all your knowledge of cars? Did you learn from a relative/friend, teach yourself with magazines/manuals/books etc, or even do an auto course? I'm keen to learn a lot about cars and I'm just wondering where the best place to start would be.

 

[SlipStream]

*waves* Am I a car "expert"?

Before I say anything (i.e. me tired) I would like to say it is awesome to see a girl interested in this kind of stuff! I'm very impressed.

 

[breaking]

*waves* Am I a car "expert"?

Before I say anything (i.e. me tired) I would like to say it is awesome to see a girl interested in this kind of stuff! I'm very impressed.

aaaaaaaand she <3s the eels
the perfect woman?

 

[yenta]

*waves* Am I a car "expert"?

Before I say anything (i.e. me tired) I would like to say it is awesome to see a girl interested in this kind of stuff! I'm very impressed.

Well from what I've seen you post in various car threads yes I consider you an expert. So, how did you learn all you know?

 

[w1ck3d_c10wn]

hmm i got into cars when everyone started getting their p's in year 11 or so. Reading a lot of the better car forums, and technical articles on the net, various chatrooms, magazines, i even got some info from manufacturers.

 

[golfstick]

I wouldn't call myself an expert but between about 7 and 16 I would have bought nearly every Wheels magazine published.

Actually, doing the sums, that adds up to a fuckload of money spent

Everything else I learnt was from owning my own car and having mates who liked to modify theirs (and when you mess with a car you learn a lot about it's bits).

 

[Emily.]

i know a bit
i could recognise nearly any car from a distance

its just something ive grown up with

we used to live next to the highway and apparently my dad would sit me with him and wed plat "Spot the beetle" lol so i think ive just grown up taking notice of cars from that influence and early conditioning

 

[SlipStream]

Well from what I've seen you post in various car threads yes I consider you an expert. So, how did you learn all you know?

I'm flattered!

Well, to start off, not a single person on this forum is an "expert". We're all basically amateurs. I plan to be an expert in the future, writing for car magazines and perhaps even editing them. No, I am not hopeful - I'm serious. I'm studying journalism at Macleay College in Sydney next year.

But, from what I hear I do apparently know a little. Anything that I do know is the result of years upon years of learning, albeit not at the fastest pace since nobody really taught me anything (except for a useless TAFE course I did last year)- I had to soak it all in myself. I've been interested in cars since I could talk. Obsessed since I could walk. They've been my passion since I was about twelve years old - since then, over the last five years, my knowledge has gone from basic to quite indepth (well that's how I see it).

It all pretty much started from relatives giving me the low down on this and that, but how did I get to where I am? I've had this question before so answering it is pretty simple - I've been all over the net and found the best sites for learning.

Basically, car knowledge is separated into a bunch of different categories.

- Concept and understanding (i.e. knowing how it works)
- Mechanical knowledge (i.e. working on your car, parts etc)
- Driving skill and experience(i.e. road driving, racing, etc)
- Industry knowledge (pretty generic category, but basically means being able to identify a car on the road, what it's called and some info from it)
- Automotive legacies (motorsports, car history, development, etc)
- Miscellaneous (things like car audio, modification, etc)

Each category could be separated into levels of knowledge: None -> Basic -> Intermediate -> Indepth -> Perfect. To be an "expert", you'd probably have to be indepth for five out of those six categories, and have an intermediate understanding for the rest. You'd only expect specialists to have perfect knowledge - i.e. a mechanic with years under his belt you'd hope to have perfect mechanical knowledge; and he's made it his life in doing so.

Anywho, here are the best learning sites:

For the basics: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/
For more details: http://www.autospeed.com.au/

Books would be another good place to start. For mechanical knowledge, trying picking up a thickish automotive textbook. Although they can be boring to read through, even for me. Howstuffworks should do the job - they get the basics across really clearly. Beware! You'll be there for hours if you are keen.

 

[Emily.]

however most experts with perfect knowledge would only really be experts in one type of cars...like they would specialise in a particular make

it would be impossible to have perfect mechanical knowledge of every car on the road....

 

[braad]

So where did you all learn all your knowledge of cars? Did you learn from a relative/friend, teach yourself with magazines/manuals/books etc, or even do an auto course? I'm keen to learn a lot about cars and I'm just wondering where the best place to start would be.

most people grow up with it. That may be why alot more guys are car nuts/experts (i mean amatuers) than girls. generally its probably father to son stuff, and past generations needed to know about cars...having to de-coke? lol, who even knows what that is? anyway, they had to know about their cars, and if it's passed onto their sons (and daughters) then they're more likely to grow up with a hunger to know more. the car industry never stops, and is always evolving, trying to stay ahead of developments and all the categories that SlipStream mentioned is nearly impossible, you have to go back into history, now and plan for the future (btw, SlipStream, i reckon your categories are pretty much spot on)...it's ALWAYS interesting if you have the slightest liking of cars, the industry etc etc...

then, it's just there, like golfstick said, he bought nearly every Wheels magazine...habit? but either way, they go buying magazines and find new stuff, new cars, developments, ideas, stories and millions of other things

if you seek it, you'll find it, but it doesnt just happen...personally, i had wheels and Motor magss each month for numerous years (from my uncle) street machine subscription since i was 8 and numerous little fads which happen, you know, FFs HOT4s all the street ones (street commodores for example) then the techincal ones like zoom. Internet is good, sometimes...when it's realted to future models, it's usually all speculation, so take that with a pinch of salt. Also fortunate enough to have a close family freidn who has been in racing for ages, and especially the historics, and buzzboxes (familia GTR anyone?)...dad has also helped

all up, like said before, seek and you shall find (yeh, that was lame... ) but it's there, but the vast size and amount of it all takes alot of time to digest...and then theres the new stuff

 

[SlipStream]

braad, very true what you said. Elaborating a little, you can never know everything about cars (well, without retaining some kind of a life). You just need to keep learning, like I'm trying to do. At the moment I'm learning everyday on one of those categories: driving.

I've been reading MOTOR and wheels for gawd knows how long. I have to admit they have helped considerably in my understanding - I credit them a lot for my passion I have nowadays. I aim quite seriously at writing for MOTOR magazine and passing my passion onto the next generation of eager youngsters like you and I. It's a truly wonderful thing to have a central passion in life; something to live for.

But for the moment I reckon this is where my knowledge is at the moment:

- Concept and understanding: Middle of Indepth
- Mechanical knowledge: Middle of Intermediate
- Driving skill and experience: Early Intermediate
- Industry knowledge: Early Intermediate
- Automotive legacies: Early Intermediate
- Miscellaneous: Early Indepth

So in my eyes I still have much to learn. But I'm working on it.

And the Familia GT-R? An alternative to the Pulsar GTi-R if you ask me - albeit rarer and more berko. In my humble opinion, the best small Mazda ever made.

 

[Cape]

Well, I'm not an expert on cars. However, I do know more about them than most of my friends, including my guy friends. There have been numerous times when on the way home from uni, I've had to do something to fix their cars, one didn't even know how to change a tyre

Anyway, I learnt mostly through my dad teaching me all about the different parts of a car and what can go wrong and how to fix them. Also, I read magazines and watch motorsport (far too much). But as I say, I'm not really an expert as such.

 

[DaddyK]

I just know lots of things because every day of my life, cars are involved, street machine mag i read every day pretty much, i'm also an actual cams affiliated motorsport scrutineer and flag marshall so i learn alot there, i do a tafe course, automotive mechanical, and basically just being around cars, thinking about cars, reading about cars.

 

[SlipStream]

DaddyK is right. All of the people on BOS who know a lot about cars do because we are dedicated and it is our passion. It is mine, atleast.

As with DaddyK, I spend not a single day without some kind of car input. I've driven a car everyday for the last 2 years - since being on my Ls and my Ps - and read a car mag every night. I spend my internet time on car forums. I even work in a car parts shop. The TVET course that DaddyK is doing, I have completed. I plan to do Cert. II as well, and would do Cert. III but I think you have to be an apprentice mechanic for that one.

Like I said before, those with a central passion in life are most down to earth. Whether it is animals, cars, guns, space, trees, surfing, music... it is great to have a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Wild Dan Hibiki]

initial d!

 

[HotShot]

however most experts with perfect knowledge would only really be experts in one type of cars...like they would specialise in a particular make

it would be impossible to have perfect mechanical knowledge of every car on the road....

wat kind of statement is that? every car is basically the same, just a few mods added and replaced so on..

otherwise no mechanics. but generally car has an engine (yes it important), a gearbox, chasis (the body), tyres (no chit), windows (holy crap a car has windows). hmmm what else, a fuel tank, steering wheel, seats,. thats it all you need to about cars and yeah how to drive it.

everything else is not needed, lol who gives a shit about the valves and pistons, gearbox ratioes and stoichmetry crap, those are for rally drivers, and thier mechanics.

 

[DaddyK]

Actually basic car maintanance knowledge is extremely good to know, like, how to change the oil, flush out your radiator and put new coolant in it, and basically what shouldn't be in the engine bay. Honestly some people just drive there cars and expect them to last untill they sell them.

 

[braad]

wat kind of statement is that? every car is basically the same, just a few mods added and replaced so on..

otherwise no mechanics. but generally car has an engine (yes it important), a gearbox, chasis (the body), tyres (no chit), windows (holy crap a car has windows). hmmm what else, a fuel tank, steering wheel, seats,. thats it all you need to about cars and yeah how to drive it.

everything else is not needed, lol who gives a shit about the valves and pistons, gearbox ratioes and stoichmetry crap, those are for rally drivers, and thier mechanics.

errr....im hoping you were being sarcastic

 

[DaddyK]

You've been published in magazines and yet you still struggle to spell scene?

 

[DaddyK]

Oh im sure.