Glossary

The words below turn up all over this site and are easy to read past. Each entry explains one in plain language, for the person paying for the work rather than the person doing it.

One editorial list fixes how each term is spelled, so it means the same thing on every page, in English, Malay and Chinese. The about page sets out how the site is written, sourced and reviewed.

OEM

OEM stands for original equipment manufacturer. An OEM part is the part the car's maker fits at the factory, or supplies as its own replacement, and it carries a factory part number. That number is the one fact you can check before paying: a seller can promise a part fits, but a number either matches the catalogue or it does not. On this site OEM stays in Latin script in every language, because it is the term a parts counter recognises.

Aftermarket

Aftermarket means the part was made by a company other than the car's maker. Sellers often list a cross-reference number, which is that company's claim about which factory number its part replaces. Compatible or direct fit describes where the part is expected to go, not who made it and not how well it is made. Compare the numbers on the box with the numbers the catalogue lists, and treat the word compatible as a claim to check rather than a promise.

CVT

CVT stands for continuously variable transmission. Instead of a fixed set of gears it runs a steel belt between two pulleys, so the engine can hold one speed while the car's speed changes. That is why a CVT can feel like it is slipping, or as though the engine is not keeping up, when you press the accelerator. Some low-speed judder is a characteristic of the transmission; past a point it points to worn fluid or a worn belt, and the CVT pages here say which checks an owner can make.

S4PH / CamPro

CamPro is the engine family Proton developed with Lotus Engineering, and S4PH is the code for the original 1.6L version of it. In the cars on this site the S4PH was sold from 2004 to the March 2008 facelift, and the later CamPro engines are the IAFM and CPS versions plus the CamPro VVT in the Iriz. The code matters because a parts list is written against one engine, not against one model. A 2005 Gen-2 and a 2009 Gen-2 can wear the same badge and take different parts.

IAFM

IAFM is the intake system that arrived with the CamPro engine at the 2008 facelift, and it is one of the two codes that mark the later Gen-2 cars. Its parts are not interchangeable with the earlier S4PH engine, so the engine code decides what you order. This site's engine pages name the codes they cover, and a workshop can confirm yours from the engine number if the paperwork is unclear.

CPS

CPS is the CamPro version rated at 125 hp in the cars covered here, and it sits above the IAFM engine in the range. It changes when the valves open as engine speed rises, which is where the extra pull over the fixed-cam S4PH comes from. A CPS car takes CPS parts: the earlier engine's parts are not a substitute, and the model year alone does not settle which engine a car has. Check the code first.

Kerb weight

Kerb weight is what the car weighs ready to drive: fluids in, nobody aboard, nothing loaded in the boot. It is a property of the car, so it is the figure to compare between two variants rather than a limit on what you may carry. The weight a car is allowed to be loaded to is a different figure, and it is not one this site publishes.

OTR (on the road)

OTR means on the road. A price quoted on the road includes the registration and the paperwork needed to put the car on the road, and the figures here say when insurance is not part of it. Insurance is priced on the owner and the car, not on the model, so it cannot be a fixed number in a list price. Treat a list price as the starting point of a purchase rather than the amount that leaves your account.

Facelift

A facelift is a mid-life update to a model: new bumpers, lights and equipment, and sometimes a different engine or gearbox. The model name usually stays the same, so two cars wearing one badge can take different parts. Where the documents split a range at a facelift, this site splits its parts and spec pages the same way, and says which side of the split a number belongs to.

Labour and parts

Labour is what the workshop charges for the work; parts is what the parts cost before anyone fits them. They move independently, because a part that is cheap to buy can be slow to reach, and a job that takes an hour is priced differently from one that takes a day. This site says which of the two a figure covers, so you can compare a quote line by line instead of against a single total.

Service interval

A service interval is the distance and the time a maker sets between services, for example a distance in km and a number of months. Whichever comes first applies: a car that covers big distances reaches the distance limit first, and a car that sits unused still reaches the time limit. Both are worth checking against a service bill, because a bill that resets one and not the other hides what was skipped.

Warning light and diagnostic code

A warning light tells you a system has logged a fault, and the code behind it is what a workshop's diagnostic tool reads. The code narrows the search; it does not name the failed part, and clearing it without fixing the cause brings the light back. That is why these pages stop at the point of booking a workshop. What they do instead is describe what the light usually means on that model, and when to stop driving.

Torque

Torque is a turning force, and engine output figures are quoted in newton metres of it. The same word covers how tight a bolt is, and that second use is one this site does not publish: no tightening values, no sequences, not even as about right. A number nobody here can check is worse than no number, and a torque wrench is a tool the reader this site is written for does not own.

Coverage reviewed and Coverage in progress

Coverage reviewed means the page has been through the site's review: sourced specs, part numbers, fluids, service intervals, documented faults, and a source line under the numbers. Coverage in progress means nothing on the page is known to be false, but the review is unfinished, so treat it as a starting point. A third state, In progress, is a page that has not been reviewed at all, and it stays out of search and out of the comparison table until it is. The about page explains each badge, and what the site does when a number is unverified.

Variant

A variant is a version of one model with its own engine, gearbox and equipment, and trim is the same idea in the language of equipment levels. Two variants of one model can take different parts, so a parts list that names only the model is not enough to order from. Where a source says a part fits one variant and not another, the page here says so.