How do i become Car-Literate?
 

So how did you become knowledgeable with cars? Did you go to school, did you work in a garage, did you learn by taking care of your own car through trial and error, did a website online help you, did you read car magazines growing up, playboy?

Ever since taking that car IQ test which said i was a fiat doblo, i've been wanting to improve my knowledge. first i started by googling "fiat doblo" to find out what the hell it is, and god damn that is one ugly car! my car knowledge is pretty bad. i can drive, i just cant tell you "how" anything inside the car works.

i think wikipedia is a pretty well organized place to learn about cars. but there are so many cars, should i just start off by learning about bmw's and then work my way to other german cars, then american, then japs. . . the amount of information is very overwhelming.

Buy a beater car. When it breaks, you fix it. That's how you learn about cars.

take your car apart and build it back.....lol...try hitting the books? lol and wiki man...this is a stupid question, take it off....are people trying to be the most retarded member on here????

:laughabov at the same time :slap:
people are on forums to ask stupid questions they cant ask in person :D

soo, wiki = bad. mkay

lol....most of us dont have patience for these questions. consult with friggin professor if people want to ask these types of questions, not e90post. :slap::mad0260: :laugh:

:laughabov
lol.. then dont answer if u dont have the patience :laugh: someone else will...

anyways...to answer the question, it depends what u want to learn about cars...lol...it's like talking about finance...there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MANYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY different things!!

i see that he's not having much luck....:rolleyes:

:laugh::laugh: yah i was going to say... if his question is boring he prolly wont get replies.

basically i'm asking how did YOU learn about cars? if you dont want to answer the question Mr. e90fanatic, there's the door . . . .

start doing what ur doing now ask questions but in regards to cars. Much is attained from just reading and other sources such as hands on experience or even a good friend who will educate you with there knowledge. But ur question was funny thats like goign to college and saying teach me how to learn LoL:bellyroll

Buy an old car that isn't running. Tear it all down and rebuild it. No Shit, you'll know all you ever wanted to know.

Buy a subscription to a couple of Automotive magazines.

I'd recommend Road&Track, and Automobile. Car and Driver is pretty useless...

But Reading is your friend.

just keep reading the forums and you will learn.

laern how to DIY and you will discover more as you go

+100000000000000000000000000000

I think the best is hands on as people are saying. However, I think if you picked up a Bentley Book for any car really (I'd actually say a bit older would be better before all the computer modules kicked in) and read it cover to cover, you'd get a pretty good idea of the parts of cars, how they go together, their functionality, etc..

For some good visualizations, such as engines, engine timing, transmissions, etc, go to howstuffworks.com

yup, i've been there.
that's how i found out what 2.0 'liter' meant.

I started by washing cars for my parents. then I saw teh neighbor kid who was a few years older than me working in his garage, and I lent a hand. Then when he moved a few blocks over I helped him totally rebuild a 70 GTO. We stripped teh engine, painted all teh parts, rebuilt the tranny. Mostly he needed me to help him with transporting parts to various shops ;) And I did all my own oil changes, then got the service manual for the car and started fixing things as they broke. Could replace alternators, change brake pads, swap out radiators and water pumps. And I always knew when it was way over my head and took it somewhere professional. But even when you do that, ask questions, spend some time, even if you have to stand outside the bay and watch.

the good old fasion way: get your hands dirty!!!

I'm far from the most car-literate person out there; but as everyone's said, hands-on experience is the best way to learn. If you're an extreme beginner, start with some simple DIYs, and read mags and online forums. Go to local meets and talk with the guys who have modded cars.

Well, I think there's two ways of being car-literate:

a) You can be knowledgeable of car specs. I started out being an MB fanatic. Memorized the entire lineup when I was about eleven. Then I learned their specs. Didn't know what they meant, just memorized 'em. Then my dad got his Bimmer, and my tastes expanded. Since then I've read as many magazines and web articles as I can about every car that gets released. I've also learned what everything means.

b) You can be knowledgeable of how a car works. Pretty obvious as to what that would include. I feel like I know the general process of how an engine, tranny, etc. works, but I don't know the specifics. I need to go buy a beater car and a manual to screw around with.

That's my .02¢.