CarCurious: How Cars Work

bjiag.dev

About this app

CarCurious explains how a car works — with clear animated diagrams and plain language, for curious drivers rather than mechanics. Learn the basics of car mechanics at your own pace: what is under the hood, what happens when you press the brake pedal, and how petrol, hybrid and electric cars differ.

WHAT'S INSIDE
• 16 car systems taken apart: engine, electric motor, transmission, brakes, suspension, steering, electrics, electronics and networks, cooling, fuel and exhaust, climate, lighting, safety, tires, interior, body and structure
• General overview: how energy flows in petrol, hybrid (mild, full, plug-in) and electric cars
• Animated diagrams that show the moving parts at work — pistons, gears, brake pads, springs
• Clickable overview maps: tap a part and jump straight to its explanation, then back to the diagram
• Petrol, hybrid and electric cars compared for every system
• A full-car cutaway with petrol, hybrid and electric views
• 44 dashboard warning lights: what each one means, how urgent it is and what to do — turn on the ignition on three dashboards
• A glossary of about 500 car parts in five languages, each with a picture of where it sits in the car — find the right word at a garage or parts shop abroad, and hear how it is pronounced
• Street Through Time: drive along a road from 1886 to today and watch the car and the street around it change, with facts along the way
• A curious fact every day about cars, roads, traffic lights and fuel, and another one whenever you want it — also as a home-screen widget

QUESTIONS IT ANSWERS
• What does that warning light on the dashboard mean — can I keep driving?
• How does a car engine work, and what do the spark plugs, the timing belt and the turbo do?
• Manual, automatic, CVT or dual-clutch gearbox — what is the difference?
• How do disc brakes, ABS and regenerative braking work?
• What do the springs, shock absorbers and MacPherson struts do?
• How does an electric car charge, and what does the inverter do?
• What are a DPF, a catalytic converter and AdBlue for?
• How do airbags, crumple zones and driver assistance keep you safe?
• What does the tread on a tire actually do?

WHO IT IS FOR
Anyone curious about cars — from teenagers to drivers with decades behind the wheel. No mechanical knowledge needed: start with any system and go as deep as you like.

FIVE LANGUAGES
English, Polish, German, Ukrainian and Russian. Switch at any time in Settings.

FREE, AND STAYING FREE
No ads, no trackers, no accounts. Works fully offline: everything is inside the app.

A NOTE ON ACCURACY
The diagrams are simplified for learning, and details differ between makes and models. CarCurious helps you understand your car; it is not a repair manual.

Also on the web: carcurious.org

What’s new

• Street Through Time: In Discover, drive from 1886 to today and beyond: the car and the street around it change as you go, with facts on the way and links to what was under the hood.
• New facts of the day: 15 more facts about traffic lights and signs, fuel stations and charging, and roads. A fact with a year opens Street Through Time right there.