Racing Specials: What Do The Acronyms Mean?

Some of the top car manufacturers in the world make use of several acronyms for setting their vehicles apart not just from their rivals but also from different car ranges within their own stable. Some of the most popular racing acronyms have been around for decades but few know their actual full forms, let alone their meanings. Today, we've decided to decipher some of the most common racing acronyms for you so you can finally find out what they stand for. Let's get going then.

SRT

This one's an acronym you've probably seen on various American cars. It stands for Street & Racing Technology and represents heavily tuned and produced variants of Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep brands. Its origins date back to the 1980s when Team Viper was put together to come up with the Dodge Viper. It would later merge with Team Prowler to become Specialty Vehicle Engineering (SVE). The name was later changed to Performance Vehicle Operations (PVO) and then to SRT.

Honda Type R

That red Honda badge on a Type R car always adds special value to it. That R stands simply for racing as these models were originally conceived for combating race conditions, with an emphasis on minimizing weight, and maximizing performance potential. Over time though, Honda's growing focus on their VTEC engines saw Type R being made available commercially.

Mercedes AMG

We all know that Mercedes AMG models represent more aggressive looks, powerful performance, better handling, better stability, and more extensive use of carbon fibre. But did you know what AMG stands for? The A stands for the last name of co-founder Hans Werner Aufrecht, the M stands for the last name of the second co-founder Erhard Melcher, and the G stands for Grobaspach, the German village that acted as the first headquarters of AMG.

BMW M

The M on several special BMW cars simply stands for Motorsport. The M branding was originally created to facilitate BMW's racing program but eventually began to stand for cars with modified engines, transmissions, suspensions, interior trims, aerodynamics, and exterior modifications. All M models from BMW are tested and tuned at the company's private facility at the Nürburgring racing circuit in Germany.

GTI

GTI stands for Grand Tourer Injection and was originally intended to represent fuel-injection car models meant for Grand Tour races. Now though, the term is used by various car manufacturers from around the world to represent powerful versions of their hatchbacks. Companies like Volkswagen, Audi, Peugeot, Nissan, and others have GTI models in their fleet.

Ford RS

The RS here stands for Rallye Sport and the badge was specially designed for rally racing. Subsequently, various consumer Ford models were given this same branding to indicate amplified performance.

These are some of the prominent racing acronyms on consumer cars that you should know about.