KEYs

In the 90's and some years earlier than now, this wouldn't have exceeded a few lines. BUT here we are in 2014 (when this was written) and a lot of advancements have been made to everything and the "key" wasn't left out in the development.

KEY
This is what gives us access to the car (lock/unlocking and starting). They come in different shapes and sizes.

Some are readily available (exposed)

Some are like switchblades, they reveal the key after the push of a button on the fob

These kind of keys are inserted into the key hole (door or ignition) and twisted to lock/unlock the doors or to start the ignition.

Keyless Entry
You still need a key here, but the key fob just has to be on your person (be it in your hand or pocket etc)

(doesn't look like that "shield-like" key would fit into any key hole)

Whereby to lock the car, all you need to do (as long as the key is on you) is simply press the button on the door handle and to open, pull the door handle (sensors in the handle would detect your intention and unlock the door).

Some handles have numbered buttons that are used to input codes to lock/unlock the vehicle

Some side mirrors fold (close/open) automatically when the doors are locked/unlocked.

In most cars, you start/stop the engine with the key
You can also push a button located in the spot the key is normally inserted

or on the gear stick

or in the center console

the "Push Start/Stop" button could actually be anywhere the manufacturer decides.

Some vehicles have the "remote start" option which allows you start your car and adjust temperature (turn on your air-conditioner/heater) with the remote at a given distance.

When you valet your car, you wouldn't want the valet having access to your entire stable or to things in your storage compartments so some cars have "valet mode", where you input a code in a system or a "valet key" that has an engine output limiter and cannot open storage compartments.

In some cars, a special key is used to UNLOCK the vehicle's output limiter e.g the Bugatti Veyron's Top Speed Key removes the 375km/h limit and permits the vehicle to go up to 450km/h (although 437km/h is the fastest i've heard of anyone push it to). This key is different from the normal Bugatti key

Top Speed Key

Normal Bugatti Veyron Key

The "insert, push & hold key" in to start system used in the Aston Martin is similar to that used in some Volkswagen cars such as the Passat and the CC, where you have to insert the whole key fob into a key hole and push/hold it in for a bit to start the engine.

As an option, the watch company Jaeger LeCoultre have a watch series "AMVOX" which has a transponder that can be configured to lock/unlock and start your Aston Martin vehicle. The watch costs around $26,000.00 (N4,680,000.00... with a $ being N180).

Some keys such as the BMW i8's key are capable of showing you your petrol and hybrid battery range level.

AIR ... Grille, Splitter, Diffuser, Skirt, Spoiler, Wing

AIR
This free gift of nature is everywhere and is used for a whole lot of things.
It plays a lot of roles in our lives. These could be negative or positive roles in the car's life.

Cooling
Its majorly in traffic that we get to see cars overheat,

this is as a result of heat build up in the engine and the failure of the radiator to disperse the heat. This dispersal is made possible thanks to the air blown on the radiator by its fan.

Wonder how the fan gets air to blow?
Through inlets in the vehicle's body. These inlets are called...
"Grilles".
The most common grille is the opening we see at the front of the car (its gotta breathe too you know)

Which doesn't just let air into the engine compartment but also tells us who its maker is as majority of them bear their maker's LOGO

some car makers even have "trademark-like" grilles.
Such as

BMW's Split kidney Grille

*Birdman's shoe on the "Horse Shoe" Grille of his Bugatti*

Rolls Royce's Vertical bars on Grille

to name a few.

As mentioned earlier, the grille isn't just that opening at the front of the car.
It's also the air inlets for the cooling of the brakes (which can produce quite an enormous amount of heat)

Lift
The faster we go, the lighter the car seems to get,"ryt"? and
You also remember slowing down drastically after a fast straight to go round sharp bends so that you don't get thrown off the road? AIR playing games with us.
(Would explain in detail later)

Anyhows, to reduce these negative effects of air, some cars are fitted with special "aeorofoils" to provide "downforce" and "reduce drag".

*Downforce: Downward thrust of the car, allowing the car tackle corners at high speed.
*Drag: Air resistance, this gives the car more to fight against leading to more fuel consumption.

Splitter
This is situated at the foremost part of the front bumper. It splits the air from the front and sends most above the car at high pressure and channeling the rest at low pressure (high velocity) underneath the car.
The reaction of the high pressure above the car and the low pressure underneath it creates downforce.

Diffuser
This is situated at the rearmost part of the car's under body. It simply slows the low pressure air from the bottom of the car and sends it out the rear at an angle that creates downforce.

Side Skirts
These are worn on the sides of the car to help channel the low pressure air to the rear of the car while keeping out as much high pressure air as possible

Spoilers
Located on the boot of a car. Its literally used to spoil the bad air that builds up at the rear of a moving car by "correcting" it as much as it can. Assists in reducing drag (better fuel efficiency)

Rear Wing
located on the same spot as the spoilers but more pronounced and helps in downforce creation.

Diffuser and Massive Rear Wings on an Audi R8

*The spoiler and rear wings are normally thought to be the same, they aren't as they have different functions and sizes.
*Neither of them increases vehicle speed.

On some cars they are flush with the vehicle body and deployed when needed or at will of the driver.

Manual, Automatic, Semi-automatic, Manumatic Transmissions and Shift Paddles

What is a transmission?

Simply put

It's the system that converts the power from the engine into motion via multiple gears through the wheels (tyres' traction with the road).

Switching through these gears can be done in 2 major ways:

The Manual Transmission:
This was the first of the 2.
To select a gear, the driver FIRST has to disengage the engine from the transmission (by pressing the clutch pedal with the left foot and holding it down) to enable the desired gear's manual selection (with the use of a gear stick/shift lever) after which the engine is re-engaged (by getting the foot off the pedal)
* A learner here would need luck not to roll into the car sniffing his rear on the slightly steep slope at Unilag's back gate if suddenly made to halt just at the tip.

The Automatic Transmission:
This was developed after the manual transmission to enable seamless continuous gear selection without a clutch pedal or tasking the driver to manually select the right gears continuously to vary speed.

All you have to do after leaving the gear stick in the required gear (R, N, D ,S*) is release the brake (the middle pedal which you had pressed to release the gear from P) then press throttle (right pedal) as desired.

When either 1 or D1, 2 or D2, 3 or D3 etc written below the "D" in some automatic gearboxes is selected, the car instructs its "internal" gear selector not to venture into a gear higher than that selected gear.
*the gears e.g 2, D3 etc is the same gear in its manual counterpart.

You might be asking yourself "Why would I need to restrict my gear movement? Hang around, #T_A_P_ has the answers.

Comparisons
- On our more than often congested Nigerian Roads, you would experience less stress with the auto as you do not ask/require anything of your left leg.
- Want to save some Naira? Go for the manual option as its cheaper to buy and maintain. Bearing in mind that ...
- ... if you have not grabbed the "clutch/throttle-release/press" technique (skills which an increasing amount of new, sometimes lazy Nigerian drivers lack). Your clutch repair costs would be "obtaining" you regularly.

("obtaining" taking place)

* On the bright side, in a race, if gear shifting is done properly, manuals feed their auto counterparts DUST.

BONUS: More stunts are available in the "MANual Stunts Handbook" as less power (from the engine) is lost to the transmission system.

Apart from the regular gear stick which is normally located in the center console or on the steering column

We also have the rotary gear selector

and the push button gear selectors in some cars

A blend of both would be best for YOU?
Then you have nothing to fear, Semi-Automatics and Manumatics are here!!!

This is the harmonization of manual and automatic with the elimination of their major flaws.
Now, the clutch pedal as in the manual (a "seeming" flaw) has been eliminated and the auto which deprives the driver of the ability to manipulate gear change at will (especially in times of performance need) has been replaced by a "sequential" gearbox, sometimes accompanied by shift/flappy paddles mounted behind the steering wheel.

These "flappy paddles" allow the driver downshift (-) by tapping the left steering mounted paddle towards self and upshift (+) by doing same to the right one.

With the sequential gearbox, "gears" can't skipped, they must follow a sequence 1,2,3,4,3,2,3 etc.

To use, driver pushes the gear stick right at "D"  (or left depending on car) to gain access to the sequential gear selector and taps it up or down for upshifts and downshifts respectively. 

When the offspring has either more of the man or auto's DNA, it's called a "semi-automatic" or a "manumatic" respectively.

Semi-automatic transmissions can be found in high performance cars like the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and the BMW M5

 while some of their less powerful siblings which belong to the mainstream line up such as the Mercedes-Benz E350, E500 etc and the BMW 530i, 535i etc are fitted with Manumatic transmissions.

*WARNING!!!
They might look similar but ONE is "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing".

(For the serious car lovers, would go deeper into TRANSMISSIONS later)

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