Proper Auto Terminology: From an Old Gear-Head

Over time meanings of words get lost, it's a natural phenomenon. Someone says something just a little bit different and next thing you know, everyone's doing it. In this article we go over the origins of auto terminology and how its changed.

Drive Line Drive Shaft

Starting with the difference between drivetrain, driveline and driveshaft. All 3 really have different meanings but I've actually been laughed at for speaking the proper usage of the term "driveline". I think sometimes driveline and drivetrain are confused as the same thing. It can make a guy like me feel like I'm taking crazy pills sometimes.

Drivetrain refers to all of the rotating parts from the engine to the axle. In addition to those 2 items it includes the clutch/torque converter, transmission, driveline, and wheel bearings/hubs.

Driveline refers to the entire rotating link between the transmission and the axle which includes yokes, u-joints, driveshaft(s) and may have a carrier bearing.

Driveshaft is one component of the driveline. It does not include u-joints, yokes, or bearings. Perhaps that's splitting hairs a little but those are the true definitions.

Next, I see it all the time now. Someone posting about their 400 Turbo or 350 Turbo. Not a huge deal but it's technically backwards and overall confusing. Are we talking about a turbocharger on your small block Chevy or something? Then come to realize they're talking about a TH350 or TH400. The "TH" designations stand for Turbo-Hydramatic. Over the years it was much simpler for someone to drop the Hydramatic part and just say "Turbo 350" for short. That's all fine and good and makes sense, it's when we swap the placement and say "350 Turbo" that old timers like myself start to get confused.

Speaking of the word Turbo, another little pet peeve of mine is that everyone now uses the phrase "normally aspirated". Perhaps I should quit being so picky? After all you could probably point out several grammatical errors in any one of my articles - guilty as charged, but when I see "normally aspirated" I think, "What's so normal about it?" After all, if cars were all originally equipped with turbos from the beginning then a turbo charged car would be "normally aspirated". The correct term is "naturally aspirated". For even if we reach a space age future where every car has forced induction it may now be "normal" but it's still not "natural" because everything forced is not natural by definition.

Maybe I'm just an old codger grasping for the way things were with a propensity to resist the natural passing of time and the fickle nature of the internet age. Maybe I'm just an old curmudgeon and need to get with the times, but I just can't. I can't bring myself to bend the knee to the new "hip" gen-Z terminology. Perhaps we need a self-help hotline for old stubborn gear-heads like me. I'll be sure to call it up on my rotary phone.