Understanding the Most Interesting Racing Acronyms

Several acronyms have been used by some of the topmost manufacturers in the automotive industry. These acronyms have been in circulation for a while and have different meanings. Deciphering these acronyms and knowing about them is fun to boost knowledge. Every company has a particular set of acronyms for different purposes and occasions. This list is all about deciphering these acronyms and understanding what they represent.

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BMW 'M'

To compete with the dominance of Italian cars around the 1970s, BMW came up with a 'turbo' prototype. That car was termed BMW Motorsport GmbH. Since then, the Motorsport was shrunk down to M, so it became BMW M GmbH.

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SRT

SRT is an acronym for Street and Racing Technology. This is the tuning company for Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. It was originated from the Dodge Viper.

Ford 'RS'

The RS stands for Rallye Sport. The badge was specifically designed for rally racing that the company was designing models for.

Honda 'Type R'

The Type R models specifically represent the company's models for racing purposes. Although the Type R cars were originally just for racing, their usage was expanded for wider markets.

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Mercedes 'AMG'

The AMG can be deciphered like this:

• A: Comes from one of the founders "Hans Werner Aufrecht."
• M: Comes from one of the founders “Erhard Melcher”.
• G: Grobaspach (the German village where Hans Werner was born; it also happens to be the first headquarters for AMG)

This is the high-performance division of Mercedes. AMG is now also known as Mercedes-Benz Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM.

OPC

Short for Opel Performance Center, this is a subsidiary of Opel. The main aim of this division is to develop models that are specifically designed for motorsport purposes.

CUPRA

Cupra is an acronym for Cup Racing. This division works under the Seat company, designing motorsport car models.

Skoda 'VRS'

There was a dispute between Ford and Skoda regarding the naming of RS due to the similarities. That was later settled, and the term VRS was chosen. VRS stands for Victor Rallye Sport. They define various Skoda models that have been designed for racing purposes.

Vauxhall 'VXR'

For decades, Holden and Vauxhall have been using VXR for their racing car models. The term stands for VX Racing.

GTI

The GTI is a very popular acronym that various automobile companies have used. GTI stands for Gran Turismo Injection. It is a term used for sporty cars with petrol engines. The term GTI has been used by Maserati, after which Volkswagen copyrighted it. Another company that used GTI was Citroen.

It might seem that these acronyms are just a gimmick, but in reality, these are of extreme importance for creating distinct brand recognition.