How your car works: Your guide to the components & systems of modern cars, including hybrid & electric vehicles (RAC Handbook)

I was expecting to receive a copy which was well used but the one who iChat arrived was like a new book

Great book can get a bit technical but is to the point. The diagrams are useful to put in your mind how things work

Quick delivery and well packaged

Not as comprehensive as the AA manual my dad used to have, but a fair introduction to cars .

I bought this book because I want to learn how my car works. With absolutely no prior knowledge of cars (all I can tell you is the make, model and colour of mine!), I wanted a book that would explain how things work, in simple terms but also in detail: I want to be able to understand HOW it works and this is where this book falls down. It talks about pistons and crankshafts and camshafts, but doesn't do enough to explain what they are and how they work within the mechanics of the car. Don't get me wrong, the language itself is simple but I find the explanations hollow. In addition, the diagrams (mostly borrowed from car manufacturers as opposed to being original) are too small and not detailed enough to clearly identify the different parts - I want to see a picture of a crankshaft, not just an arrow pointing to what, to a complete novice, appears to be a random point on a small picture of an engine. Overall, I'm disappointed with this book which promised a "comprehensive guided tour" describing "the systems and parts that make your car move" and which claimed that "without emphasizing the 'boring' science bits" it would discuss the "practical application of various automotive terms". I doesn't feel comprehensive, it's more of a gloss and it may describe the systems and parts but not in sufficient detail. Yes, it skips the 'boring' science bits at the cost of reader understanding, it would seem.

drawimngs are quite poor and explanations look like they were copied and pasted from google

Doesn’t really describe what does what

Rubbish.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I work for a dealership and this is really helping me to understand the basics of car repair.

Good book

great read

This book was well written with a balance of technical information presented in an understandable style. The fact that it was written and published in the UK made the metric references a little difficult to follow. The new decriptions of hybrid and electric vehicles was extremely useful as more and more of them are introduced to the American buying public. As a trainer for an automotive group, it will be useful as a refernce book.

It is a very informative book about cars