Compiled
by the members of Club80-90
Please mail me about any errors or omissions.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A/C - air-cooled
Adventurewagen - US based hightop t25 conversion camper company
Air-cooled - no water in the engine! Cooled by a damn big fan. (Production ended in 1982).
AFM - Air Flow Meter (US) (MAF - Mass Air Flowmeter? (UK)
Autohomes - camper conversions
Autosleepers - camper conversions
Bilbo - a conversion company, known for day van designs and a few campers
Bluestar - a "sports" van-type conversion, a "day van" of the same family as the Tristar, Whitestar, etc., the last few special editions.
Bosch Digijet, earlier, simpler AFM (Air Flow Meter) controlled injection system, with black boxes and what have yous - Senses air temp, engine temp and air density/flow rate etc and develops a fuel squirt period from that, as well as spark advance variation over and above normal speed curve (e.g. idle advance). Good power, seem to run somewhat rich, quite reliable, can go wrong.
Bosch Digifant, AFM based, one step up from DJ, includes other factors particularly feedback from an exhaust mounted free oxygen sensor, such that a catalytic convertor can be safely used (they are sensitive to free unburnt fuel and wrong oxygen content in the exhaust). Seems to be somewhat less reliable than DJ in US format, possibly better economy but less power due cat and weaker allowable mixtures. Both systems are sensitive to bad earthing (understandably), and occasional black box (ECU) failure... these are not fully mapped ecu nor chippable systems
Bra - typically vinyl material cut and sewn to fit tight around the front section of a vehicle to protect against road debris.
Bullbars - grossly exaggerated front bumpers, dangerous, unnecessary and should be illegal.
Bulli - German nickname for a VW bus. It is suggested that the term "Bulli" was the nickname when the 1st type 2 (i.e. van rather than car) was designed just before / around ww2, the name coming from the fact that it would be used for shifting material's rather than "Volk", a bull or ox having been traditionally used to pull a "wagen" in Germany. (Had it been designed in Britain it would have been nicknamed "horsey" perhaps).
Caravelle, (GL, CL, or C) - a (mini)bus with 7 or 8 seats
Caravelle - the luxury bus came onto the market in 1983.
Caravelle Carat - airport taxi buses
CNG - compressed natural gas.
Country Homes - US based poptop (straight-up) T25 camper conversion company
Crewcab - 4 / 5 seater cab, i.e. a double length cab with a "pickup" back.
Day van - done out like a camper, but not intended for sleeping in!
Decoupler - originally design by SDP in place of viscous couplings. Never put into production by VW. Disconnects driveshaft from front differential by use of vacuum switchgear.
Devon - UK-based convertors who produced Carravelles as well as campers. One of the oldest names in camper vans, the company was established in 1956 at Sidmouth, Devon. Originally all Devons were based on Volkswagon vans. By 1971 Devon had 55% of the UK market.
Diesel - (aka by some as a "Derv Donkey", etc.). Introduced in 1981 with a 1.6 litre diesel engine (originally from the Golf). Engines include the CS, a 1.6 litre, 4-cylinder upright diesel from 81 to 87, (37kw / 50bhp), the KY, a 1.7 litre, 4-cylinder upright diesel from 87 onwards, (42Kw / 57bhp), and the JX 1.6 litre 4-cyl. upright turbo diesel from 85 onwards, (51Kw / 70bhp).
Delta Six - manufacturer of most Westfalia water & electrical exterior outlet covers.
Differential - in the driving axle(s), a device which enables the roadwheel on the outside of the corner to turn faster than that on the inside.
Digijet / Digifant - see Bosch
DL - Diff(erential)-Lock on Syncro
Doka - Dopplekabine or double cabin, (crewcab)
Dometic - Manufacturer of most Westfalia refrigerators.
Engine types - see Wasserboxer and Diesel.
Eurovan - the T4 Transporter.
Fahrvergnugen - driving / travelling enjoyment / pleasure, a made-up word. VW marketing claims it can only be experienced in a VW.
Fweem - a made-up word to intended to describe the exhaust noise from an air-cooled VW engine.
Frame (US) - chassis. The T25 is a "unibody", (unitbody, US), no real chassis to speak of.
Floor jack (US) - trolley jack
Gates - side gates & tail gates are folding sides intended to facilitate easier cargo loading in dokas and single cab vehicles
Hannover Edition - later model special edition
Harness - wiring loom
Header - exhaust manifold (US), usually non-factory, free-flow exhaust systems typically made of bent tubing.
Hightop - a transporter with a permanent, generally fibreglass, higher than standard roof.
Holdsworth - camper conversions.
Leisuredrive - camper converters, based in Salford, UK
LHD - left hand drive
LPG - liquified petroleum gas
LSD - Limited Slip Diff(erential)
Moving Guardrail - US trucker lingo for a diesel T25.
Multivan - similar to Wolfsburg Weekender edition, essentially a Carat with a pop-top.
Nearside - the side of your vehicle normally next to the kerb, i.e. the left, the passenger side in the UK.
NLA - No Longer Available, (sorry!).
NOS - New Old Stock, i.e. unused.
OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer.
Oettinger - a German tuning company who build souped-up VW engines. Oettinger also built the prototype 16-valve in-line 4 cylinder engines for VW Golfs. More importantly, they developed the flat-6 t25 engines which VW chose not to use in production. Uses Wasserboxer (WBX) parts initially. Later they went to even larger displacements which went to 3.2 & 3.7. There were also several Oettinger T3 specials which typically had leather seating and all the options normally found in Carats, Bluestar, Whitestar, Redstar and other later year Hanover and Wolfsburg editions.
Offside - the side of your vehicle not normally next to the kerb, i.e. the right, the driver's side in the UK.
OHC - Overhead Cam(shaft), operates the opening and closing of the inlet and exhaust valves
OHV - Overhead Valve (all Wasserboxers)
OTC - "On
the cam", (like TDC, another engine G spot, but while driving).
Panel van - a van, no side windows.
PO - Previous Owner
Pop Top - a fold down / up roof. They open in different directions - front up, back up, side up, straight up....
Rotor - disc (as in disc brake)
RHD - right hand drive
South Africa - see VW RSA
Sway bar - anti-roll bar (ARB), aka anti-sway bar.
Syncro - in 1985 the Syncro came onto the market, a four wheel drive van, built with Steyr/Daimler/Puch in Austria. Built until 1992. More here
Syncro 16 or 16" Syncro - specially modified Syncros with 16" steel rims, 2.5cm longer rear swinging arms, bigger CV joints, stiffer Boge 'N' shocks, taller springs, VW LT28 front and rear brakes, urethane flares similar but larger than Tristar flares, and locking differentials front & rear. .
T1 - a split screen van
T2 - a bay window van
T3 - a Vanagon in the US, a t25 in the UK. They continued to be manufactured in the Republic of South Africa, (RSA)) until 2003. If you go to your VW dealer to purchase many T25 parts (like coolant hoses), chances are you will find VW-RSA marks on the parts. The RSA t25s had bigger side windows, more options, 15" wheels (steel and alloys), bigger brakes up-front, thicker drums (to reduce warping) at the rear, wrap-around steel bumpers (no plastic ends), bull bars and more importantly, inline-4 and inline-5 engines fitted at an angle.
T4 - much derided, the Eurovan, (as used by the RAC).
TD - turbo diesel, much faster than a diesel not fitted with a turbocharger.
TDC - Top dead
centre, (the engine's G spot), position of the piston in the cylinder.
TDD - proprietory name by
Overland Parts, Inc. USA for their Mechanically Controlled Turbo Diesel
Direct injection. So named to distinguish it from VAG's TDi.
TDi - Turbo Digital injection, (diesel).
Treasure chest - storage space found under the cargo bed of crewcabs & single cabs
Type 1 - is any Beetle
Type 2 - VW vans, aka split / splittie, bay / bay window, wedge / brick, T4.
type 3 - notchback, Variant, Fastback.
Type 4 - the 411 and 412, not a Transporter
TO - a used part, (Taken Off, Taken Out).
Tristar - a crewcab, a "sports" van-type conversion of the same family as the Whitestar, etc., the last few special editions.
VAG - Volkswagen Audi Group or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG, the German equivalent of Volkswagen plc).
Vanagon - what a t25 is called in the US.
VC - viscous coupling.
Vege - in my limited experience they produce excellent re-manufactured engines. Correctly pronounced vay-gay.
Very High Top - like ours, (Leisuredrive hold the record).
Viking - makers of particularly wide "pop-top" lifting roofs capable of sleeping three people.
VW RSA - (South African) T25s were sold as the Microbus (basic minibus) or the more luxurious Caravelle. Initially they used the same WBX engines as German T25s. In the 1990s VW RSA were allowed to facelift the T25 resulting in smoother body sides and larger side windows. The front and rear were unchanged. They also engineered a new powerplant using Audi-designed 2.3 and 2.6 litre, 5-cylinder injection engines similar to the 2.5 petrol engine fitted to the T4. They were only available as buses - no panel vans or pick-ups. UK owners of imported RSA models may have problems getting an MOT certificate (annual safety test) until the emission specifications can be obtained from VW RSA. These vans have a catalytic converter and may fail the emissions test. The cat-equipped 1995 VW T4 2.5 Caravelle (Eurovan) which is apparently the nearest equivalent model in the MOT testers' "bible". The van has a lot more power - 140 bhp plus a lot of creature comforts including electric windows and mirrors, central locking and ... air conditioning! There's also lowered suspension and 15 inch alloys.
Wasserboxer - a flat-four, (four horizontal cylinders) water-cooled Boxer engine. In a Boxer engine the pistons go in opposing directions i.e. box / punch towards / away from each other. So in a 4 cyl engine you have 2 pistons punching to the left and 2 to the right. It's not just a straight 4 engine (4 pistons in a straight line going in the same direction (up / down normally)) on its side.
DF 1.9 litre from
82 on 44Kw / 60bhp.
DG 1.9l from 82 on 57Kw / 78bhp.
GW 1.9l with injection, 83 to 85 6kw/ 90bhp.
MV 2.1l with injection and catalytic converter from 85on 70kw / 95bhp or
89bhp with automatic gearbox.
DJ 2.1l with injection from 85on 82kw / 112bhp.
SS 2.1l with injection and cat from 89 on 68kw / 92bhp
EY 1.9l from 85on 40kw / 55bhp.
SP 1.9l from 86on 54kw / 73bhp for Swiss import .
DH 1.9l with injection and cat from 84 to 85 61kw / 83bhp.
SR 2.1l with injection and cat from 86on 64kw / 87bhp for Swiss import.
WBX - abbreviation of Wasserboxer.
Westfalia - aka Westy, a camper conversion firm, the only one VW officially used.
Wheels - PCD, ET, offset, etc. - go to the Technical pages here
Whitestar - a late model special editionWinnebago - VWUSA's official T4 pop-top camper conversion company. Also manufacturer of Eurovan - based Rialta Campers.
Wolfsburg Edition - later model special edition t25
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GERMAN(Compiled by Studio T25)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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NG 170204
You may wish to refer also to the Volkswagen Dictionary