3D Mechanic FAQ

3D Mechanic: How Cars Work is an app for iPhone and iPad that teaches how real car systems work in interactive 3D. It has seven systems, from the MacPherson strut to the clutch, with parts you can tap, live tests, a build mode and quizzes.

MacPherson strut suspension, double wishbone suspension, disc brakes with ABS, rack and pinion steering, the CV axle and open differential, a four-stroke inline-four engine, and a hydraulic clutch from the pedal to the flywheel.

Learn lets you orbit a system, explode it into its parts, tap any part for what it does and run its live test. Build makes you fit every part back in workshop order. Quiz asks you to find parts on the model and to put an assembly in the right order.

Each system has one: the bump test for the strut, the camber test for the double wishbone, the brake test, the steering sweep, driving and steering the drivetrain, the four-stroke cycle and the clutch pedal press. You make the parts move and read the numbers as they change.

iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 17.0 or later. The download is 116.4 MB.

Not at the moment. It is made for iPhone and iPad only.

Yes. Once it is installed, everything works without an internet connection, so it is fine on a plane, in a workshop or in a classroom with poor Wi-Fi.

No. Open the app and start.

Each system is a generic compact front-wheel-drive car part, modelled piece by piece with a real layout, and the numbers are teaching values that stay consistent across the app. It is for general education, not a repair manual: on a real car, follow the maker’s procedures and torque values.

No. It is an education app. There is no garage to run and no score for speed: you take real assemblies apart, see how they work and test what you have learned.

Anyone who wants to understand the machine they drive: curious drivers, learners, motor vehicle students and apprentices, new technicians and car enthusiasts. Teachers use it to show what a textbook diagram cannot.

It covers topics in those courses, such as suspension and steering, brakes and ABS, transmission and driveline, and engines. It is not endorsed by any awarding body, and it does not replace your course materials.

Yes. It works offline on iPad and iPhone, and an iPad mirrors to a projector. The teachers page has a lesson starter for each system.

Yes. New modules are added in updates. Release notes are on the What’s new page.

The support page covers restoring a purchase on a new device, fixes for common problems and the device requirements.