# Auto Trim: What Do The Letters Mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820 "2011-02-09T23:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/1 "2011-02-09T23:21:02Z")
Is there a chart somewhere that tells you what S, SL, SE, etc., actually _mean_ when they’re tacked onto a make and model insignia? I’ve tried googling but I can’t actually find any results that are _about_ the system of designating trim. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/2 "2011-02-09T23:31:43Z")
why do they have to mean anything? they vary so much by manufacturer that to make any sense of them, writ large, is a pointless endeavor. S usually means a sport version (different gear ratios, stiffer suspension, peppier engine, etc) E usually means economy L usually means either luxury or long wheelbase, depending on the manufacturer ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/3 "2011-02-09T23:53:04Z")
it all depends on what the manufacturer means them to be. in Ford parlance, “S” is the base, no frills model (you’ll find these at finer rental establishments near you.) “SE” is the next level up, “SEL” is above that, and sometimes there’s a “Limited” or “Sport” at the top. Chrysler used to do SE, then SXT, then R/T. The only one that “meant” anything was R/T (for “Road/Track.”) they couldn’t live up to that moniker, but oh well. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/4 "2011-02-10T01:05:13Z")
They’re generally pretty arbitary. They’re not even always consistent within makes. Sometimes there’s even trim inflation, where the cheapest trim gets dropped and they invent a new top-o-the-line. For example, I had an old 70’s Chevy truck with the smallest engine and zero options (no power steering or brakes, no cigarette lighter, no carpet) that was somehow a Custom Deluxe. A few years earlier it would have only been a “Custom”, which had in turn been the Luxury truck in the early 60’s. During the next redesign, they dropped Custom Deluxe and the Cheyenne trim, which had been near the top when my truck was made, became the bottom of the barrel. I think similar things have been happening with all the DX/LX/SE nonsense that seems to go on with the Japanese cars-- my old Accord LX was the top of the line in its day, but on the current one LX is the cheap trim, with the EX being the fancy one. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/5 "2011-02-10T01:29:37Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > I think similar things have been happening with all the DX/LX/SE nonsense that seems to go on with the Japanese cars-- my old Accord LX was the top of the line in its day, but on the current one LX is the cheap trim, with the EX being the fancy one. I know that the Civic and Accord are different, but my in my day, the LX was always the cheap Civic. The Si (discontinued for a while) was always the top one, with the EX just behind. I had both an Si and then an EX. The LX was the economy version. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/6 "2011-02-10T02:01:48Z")
Until the early Seventies, the various car lines had individual names like Greasyjack mentions for his truck. Chevys went from Biscayne to BelAir to Impala. This worked well when there was only one Chevy. Beginning in the early Sixties manufacturers began making different sized cars, compact, mid-size, subcompact, ponycars, etc. The new cars had their own model names - Chevy II 100, 300 and Nova. Soon there were so many damn names that nobody could keep track. The Japanese popularized the idea of option packages instead of individual options. They differentiated them with S, SE, XL and all of the stuff you see now. Detroit followed suit because they had to drill fewer holes for the nameplates and save paperwork by eliminating model names and just listing the letters with their option packages on the back page of the catalogs. Instead of two or three model names for each platform, you had a three step plan for each of them and they were labeled the same within that brand. Since the new model designations were more or less meaningless, the public came on board too. No longer would they feel shame for owning a base Biscayne instead of a BelAir. Now they owned an SE and your neighbor didn’t know that was good or bad. You told them it meant Special Edition or LuXury or whatnot and everyone was happy. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/7 "2011-02-10T02:12:32Z")
I’d like to see one market a really awesome muscle care and give it the brand name of BAD SOB. I think there might be a market for it. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/8 "2011-02-10T08:02:29Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I’d like to see one market a really awesome muscle care and give it the brand name of BAD SOB. I think there might be a market for it. That’s even worse than my idea for Mazda to make a car called the Rhadi… ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/9 "2011-02-10T12:05:19Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > That’s even worse than my idea for Mazda to make a car called the Rhadi… Actually, I like your idea much better than my own. Maybe my hypothetical car should be called a BAD ASSSOB. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/10 "2011-02-10T13:43:52Z")
I can see it now: > [@](#): > > Jules: I want you to go in that parking garage, and find my car. > Pumpkin: Which one is it? > Jules: It’s the one that says Bad Motherfucker. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/11 "2011-02-10T14:26:51Z")
Oh, it’s a Fishburn Badass MF! Thanks for answering, folks. I had thought they were standardized because I was looking at the website of a local used car place and their dropdown for “Trim” had all those letters in it, even if you hadn’t picked a make and model yet. I drove a Cutlass Ciera SL for years and never had the first idea what that meant. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/12 "2011-02-10T15:28:05Z")
As others have said, there is no standard. Some of them are semi-standard throughout the automotive industry though. SE = Special Edition or Sports Edition R/T = Road and Track RS = Rally Sport SS = Super Sport SL = Sport Light (i.e. light weight and sporty) or Series Limited ST = Sport Touring LE = Limited Edition LTD = Limited LS = Limited Series, Luxury Sport, or Luxury Sedan GT = Grand Touring (gran turismo in Italian) GTS = Gran Turismo Sport GTO = Gran Turismo Omologato (Which is Italian for Grand Touring Homologated) LX or LXE = Luxury Edition DX = Deluxe Edition DLX = Deluxe CE = Compact Edition CL = Comfort Luxe ES = Euro Sport GL = Grand Luxury C = Convertible, Coupe, or Compact R usually means racing or rally. L usually means luxury. A lower case i added to the mix of letters often means fuel injection (this was more common when fuel injection was a new thing). ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/13 "2011-02-10T15:46:40Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > … A lower case i added to the mix of letters often means fuel injection (this was more common when fuel injection was a new thing). Similarly, a ‘D’ in the mix will usually mean diesel. At least on cars here in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/14 "2011-02-10T15:50:40Z")
TD = turbo diesel 2.0T = 2 liter turbo AWD = All-wheel drive (implies full-time system) 4WD = 4-wheel drive (implies a part-time system) Z = Marketing (Sounds Cool: Turbo Z, Shelby Z, 370Z, etc) ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/15 "2011-02-10T15:52:34Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > why do they have to mean anything? > > they vary so much by manufacturer that to make any sense of them, writ large, is a pointless endeavor. > > S usually means a sport version (different gear ratios, stiffer suspension, peppier engine, etc) > E usually means economy > L usually means either luxury or long wheelbase, depending on the manufacturer Ironically, the full designation of “Sport”, not the initial, has evolved to mean: Pretty much entry level, with just enough creature comforts to meet your needs. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/16 "2011-02-10T19:26:56Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Ironically, the full designation of “Sport”, not the initial, has evolved to mean: Pretty much entry level, with just enough creature comforts to meet your needs. But then the Fusion Sport is the top tier model. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/17 "2011-02-10T20:00:51Z")
It’s individual to the auto manufacturer. An S or L on one doesn’t mean the same on another. You got to look it up by manufactuer. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-trim-what-do-the-letters-mean/570820/18 "2011-02-10T20:15:04Z")
Fusion Sport: Which is further evidence that there are no wonderful standard meaning to all the designations. Many designations don’t mean anything other than: This sounds cool and will market well.