PaulW

<ul><li><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/12/audi-and-bmw-to-utilize-8-speed-gearboxes-to-take-on-lexus/">Hunting and dropout will continue</a></li></ul>

ricoblanco

Right? Two more and we'll be driving a semi.

pkrasusky

I love it - all we want is parts quality that doesn't SUCK yet we keep getting crap we don't want.

JimTheBarber

The Hyundai Genesis owner (new 375HP four door flagship for Hyundai) will also get the "real German experience" as after 100K the ZF hunt and thump will be there - just like on the Audi A8!

ryoung

All my future cars will have a simple mechanical gearbox.

A8CT

only the V8, the V6 gets them made by Aisin. If my old Lexus is any indicator, it'll outlast the car

ttuling

Yes, there's something simple and honest about traditional manual gearboxes, but you also like clever engineering, so check this out if you haven't.

The core of the transmission is an open differential, planetary in this case like an ur-Toronado's. Feed the planetary differential with the engine. Put the wheels (with a normal differential between them) and an electric motor/generator on one side of this differential. Put another motor/generator on the other side. Then when the engine revs and the car is stopped, it will want to spin the motor generator not connected to the wheels, like a 2WD car spinning a wheel on ice. Let it. Put a drag on the spinning motor/generator (have it act as a generator) so some of the engine's torque finds its way to the wheels side of the differential. Then feed the electricity it's making to the other motor/generator, adding to the power going to the wheels. Voila, a low gear. At high speeds, siphon off some power from the motor/generator connected to the wheels and use it to spin the other motor generator backwards to essentially add its rpm to the engine's. That's a high gear.

All without chains, variable diameter pulleys, clutches, synchromesh, buried hydraulic piston seals, etc. The motors are brushless. The planetary gears and everything else except the parking pawl are always engaged. This should have fewer wear parts than any other car gearbox design I can think of. There are a few taxis so equipped with &gt; 200,000 miles on theirs.

And of course only a CVT can keep the engine constantly at its power peak when that's what you want.

Yeah, it can also start the engine by playing one motor/generator against the other, and it integrates easily with regenerative braking and moving the car electrically, but that's beside the point. It just seems a fundamentally clean and potentially very durable CVT implementation, whose appeal for driving would depend on the control logic. Toyota actually invented something, or at least realized it commercially. Ça n'est pas brutal, et ça marche.

Tom

ricoblanco

It's been used in tractors forever. Like you said, Toyota just had the sense to implement it into their vehicles.