Abbreviations, features may leave consumers confused

The new Acura RL is powered by a VTEC engine, uses Honda's SH-AWD system and keeps passengers safe with its ABS, EBD, VSA, EBA and CMBS.

Huh!?

All of this on a vehicle whose very name itself is also a two-letter combination. You could imagine the exciting conversations the Acura engineering team would have over lunch.

But this was an excerpt from some literature I'd read on the machine, and if I could get overwhelmed by abbreviations, anyone could.

Let's take a look at making sense of some of the new technologies emerging on the 2007 models- this way the next time you read a brochure, you won't just skip over the important technical safety stuff. It's important to understand just what sort of science and technology may be at work in your new machine to keep you and your family safe, entertained and moving.

For information's sake, I'll skip the ABS and go straight to the more complicated and unfamiliar abbreviations you'll start seeing soon, if not already.

(Photo: Justin Pritchard, Auto123.com)

SH-AWD is exclusive to Acura. It indicates that the vehicle is equipped with Super Handling All Wheel Drive, as the modest Japanese engineers call it. It works just like regular all wheel drive, except that the handling is, well, super.

EBD is a braking feature becoming more and more common on today's cars and minivans. It stands for Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, and it ensures that braking power is metered out precisely to the wheels that need it the most, compensating for potential variation in traction between tires on each side of your car.

Another important feature is Emergency or Electronic Brake Assist, also known as EBA. It compensates for a natural tendency of drivers to not apply the proper amount of braking pressure for a situation. In effect, EBA monitors the pressure and application rate of the brake pedal and boosts stopping power accordingly if it thinks you're in a panic situation.

This tends to work very well if you are, in fact, in a panic situation- though trying to figure out what the car was thinking when it caused you to spill your Starbucks Latte all over the windshield is infinitely amusing.

Vehicle Stability Assist (HONDA) can be deactivated completely

VSA is a little trickier. In this case it stands for Vehicle Stability Assist, although other names for the system are possible. Electronic Stability Program, or ESP is more common, as is DSC or Dynamic Stability Control. The key word regardless of the abbreviation is "stability". The system, whatever the name, is used to keep your machine on its intended path during emergency maneuvers or in inclement weather by dosing out power against the amount of grip available, as well as applying brakes or taking throttle control away from the driver as needed to correct a skid. The premise here is that the computer knows how to fine tune your inputs and may save you a fender-bender.