We present HST /STIS ( 1160–1700 Å ) echelle spectra of the cataclysmic variable ( CV ) star , QU Car , at three epochs .
In catalogues this binary is classified as a nova-like variable .
QU Car was observed three times in time-tag mode for 2300 sec , 2600 sec and 2600 sec , allowing us to study the spectral time evolution on timescales down to \sim 10 sec .
We find evidence of a high-state non-magnetic CV at low inclination , with unusually high ionisation .

We observed narrow absorption lines ( \sim few hundred km s ^ { -1 } wide ) in N v \lambda 1240 , O v \lambda 1371 and Si iv \lambda 1398 , as well as broader ( HWZI \sim 1000 \mbox { \thinspace km \thinspace s$ { } ^ { -1 } $ } ) emission in C iii \lambda 1176 , C iv \lambda 1549 and He ii \lambda 1640 , all with a superposed absorption component .
High ionisation is indicated by the He ii emission , which is unusually strong in comparison with C iv , and the relative strength of the O v absorption line .
The dereddened UV continuum spectral index of , on average , -2.3 suggests that disc accretion dominates the spectral energy distribution .
In two observations velocity shifting is noted in the absorption lines on a timescale long enough not to repeat within the \sim 2600 -sec exposures .
The absorption superposed on the C iv emission line moves coherently with the N v and Si iv absorption , suggesting the same origin for all absorption lines – most likely to be in the accretion disc atmosphere .

Weak blueshifted absorption in N v and C iv provides evidence of an outflow component and we estimate a maximum outflow velocity of \sim 2000 \mbox { \thinspace km \thinspace s$ { } ^ { -1 } $ } .
This may be linked to a wind launched from further out in the disc than is typically seen in those high-state non-magnetic CV whose wind speeds are observed to reach to \ga 4000 \mbox { \thinspace km \thinspace s$ { } ^ { -1 } $ } .
Unusually , three ionisation stages of carbon – C ii , C iii and C iv – are present in emission , with line width increasing with higher ionisation .
The presence of C ii in emission and the positive line-width/ionisation correlation is most easily reconciled with an origin in a disc chromosphere , beyond the influence of the EUV-emitting inner disc .