(Andy Zapata / Special to NWautos)
A LATCH car seat anchor system is shown on a Ford Taurus. (Ford)
When Carol Grubb bought her new car, the salesman told her that the "BA" on the invoice stood for brake assist. He wasn't able to tell her much more about what brake assist actually does, or why she needed it, though. The Kissimmee, Fla., resident didn't even ask about "BFD."
Newer vehicles are available with a growing number of safety features. But they can turn into a confusing, complex alphabet soup with the shorthand many manufacturers use. While a window sticker might spell out what the initials stand for, it seldom explains what they really mean to a new owner. Let's do some decoding.
ABS: Anti-lock brakes became popular on luxury and performance vehicles more than 25 years ago, and gradually migrated down to even the least-expensive vehicles. Before ABS, it was generally assumed that the quickest way to stop a vehicle was to lock the brakes.
If you've seen a skid mark, you know why that isn't true -- rubber melts under the heat and puddles under the tire, and those black streaks are what's left. Even worse, you can't steer when the brakes are locked. ABS uses an onboard computer to sense when each brake is about to lock, and it lets the wheel roll very slightly to prevent skidding.
BA and BFD: Brake assist and brake force distribution are similar. Again, thanks to those onboard computers, the vehicle can sense when you are making a panic stop. Brake assist can increase braking pressure, and brake force distribution can distribute that pressure between the four wheels for maximum efficiency.
ESC: Electronic stability control is marketed under different names by different manufacturers. Cadillac, for example, calls it "Stabilitrak"; Jaguar calls it "Dynamic Stability Control." They typically perform the same function: When onboard sensors detect that the vehicle is sliding sideways, the computer can cut the power and apply the brakes to one, two, three or all four wheels (it's tied in with the ABS computer) until the vehicle is under control.
If you drift off the side of the road into the dirt and then try to steer back onto the pavement, a vehicle without ESC can easily go into a spin. For big vehicles -- large vans and full-sized SUVs, for instance -- stability control is a gift.
LATCH: Not that long ago, parents had to try to fasten child car seats to whatever mounting points they could find. The "lower anchor and tether for children" system standardized those mounting points across the industry lineup.
SRS: This is a common one, but why the term "supplemental restraint system" is used may not be that clear. SRS essentially refers to air bags, but "supplemental" is used to indicate that air bags supplement seat belts -- they can't protect you unless you're buckled in.
TC: Traction control may also be marketed under different acronyms for different manufacturers -- Toyota, for instance, calls it "TRAC" -- but they typically work the same. When you give the vehicle gas and one or both drive wheels spin because they aren't getting traction, traction control reduces the power until the wheel (or wheels) find enough traction to handle the amount of power you're giving to the engine.
TPMS: There are two tire pressure monitoring systems in use. One just tells you that there is a problem with one of the tires (and it could be the spare). The more sophisticated system, usually offered on pricier vehicles, tells you which tire has the problem; it might even give you tire-pressure readings.
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