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Readable, Intelligent, and Detailed
This is a fantastic book! It explains difficult concepts in easy-to-understand language, but it never patronizes the reader. The depth and breadth of the coverage are also very good - while reading it, I never found myself wanting information that I couldn't find somewhere within this book.The most surprising feature is the book's readability. For starters, the grammar and spelling are great, with no typos or conflicting information, which is (sadly) exceptional for this sort of small-press technical book. The text flows nicely from one topic to the next, complemented by the ample diagrams and photos. It's rare that I find myself not wanting to put down a industrial textbook, but this one kept me turning pages.The book deals primarily with the 'theoretical' side of auto mechanics, meaning that it answers questions like 'What is x?', 'What does y do?', and 'Why did they do z this way?' rather than 'How do I fix component x on a y model car built in year z?' But the text is plainly oriented toward working mechanics (unlike Bosch's Automotive Handbook), offering much practical info as well as many general rules and guidelines of interest to mechanics.In short, if you want to learn how automobiles work with a view toward fixing them, you can't go wrong with this book. If you were born with a wrench in your hand, you probably won't learn a lot here, but anyone else from neophyte to advanced intermediate will get his money's worth.
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Excellent book, but too much detail for beginners
This book provides excellent explanations and great diagrams. But I feel that it provides so many details that it can be very confusing for a beginner like me. For example, the book devotes 6 pages of the first 40 pages to just piston rings! I set out with the goal of understanding roughly how all of the parts of a car fit together and was overwhelmed with minutia about piston design. And it talks about the different procedures used to make different parts (whether they're cast iron or die-cast metal or pressure cast or pressed or forged or drop-forged or cam-ground, etc.) without describing what these mean (or, more importantly, the physical differences of the result, which is what presumably makes it worth knowing how each is made). I think the book would be significantly improved if it were reorganized to provide an introductory chapter of how the major parts of the car work (explain the four-stroke engine, for example, without mentioning considerations in piston shape and without distractions like discussing two-stroke engines, etc.) It seems like you have to read all 600 pages before everything starts to fit together. I would also like to see more discussion about why certain features make cars faster. Rather than just a taxonomy of the ways to design a certain part, I'd like to understand how the design choice affects the overall car. For example, when I go to the website of a car manufacturer and see the extra features in the sports-car version of a vehicle, I'd like to understand why exactly those make the car faster.
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This book is just incredible
I purchased this book to gain a better understanding of the inner workings of engines. I was a bit hesitant at first because of the somewhat high price tag, but after reading only the first part of the book, the amount of knowledge I have gained is priceless. The book is incredibly detailed but everything is explained quite clearly and in easy to understand laymans terms. The authors have taken a very technical engineering subject and have successfully made it enjoyable to read. The abundance and clarity of diagrams and technical cut-away drawings in the book is astounding. Everytime I turn the page I found myself saying 'Wow!', then spending 10 minutes looking at all the cool pictures before I begin reading. If you are thinking about becoming a do-it-yourself mechanic or just want to know anything and everything about the workings of automobiles, this book is excellent.
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