[Willy]

Here is an Autoweek Article that may be of interest to CVT enthusiasts.

[nonsequitur]

Good article, objectively written. Thanks for posting it.

In some respects, this is a most interesting comment:
"Transmissions rank very high, more highly than I can tell you about," he [Bob Lee, the Chrysler group's powertrain product engineering vice president] says. "We've got more driveline programs going on now than we've ever had in our history. It's really a systems issue that includes transfer cases and vehicle configurations."

It really is a "systems issue" as all the car companies worldwide prepare to compete in a new expensive petroleum world, that includes production from China.

That little BMW Group experiment, ... the one called "MINI" ..., has quietly shaken up the entire auto industry. There are many other experiments underway by others. Everyone is trying to figure out what comes next. Most agree that smaller, fun, fuel efficient cars are a very big component. Making them profitable, and successfully competing with new "cheap" entries from Korea and China, are huge concerns.

Ways to do that must include truly new designs for the underlying (out-of-sight) but expensive components like "motor", "torque converter", "gearbox", "torque tube", "differential", "drive shaft(s)", "hubs", "wheels", "tires", the "engine management" system, and "brakes". All of these appear in "all" cars today, including the MINI.

What if these components didn't have to be there? A "systems issue" worthy of the R&D being invested.

MINI has proven how important good "product" is. It has proven that mass customization can work with automobiles -- on a global scale. It has re-established a concept of clear brand identity (long forgotten by GM, but coming back under Bob Lutz). It has led the return to marketing of simple, but effective (read less expensive) configurations. And, MINI has proven that Fun trumps Luxury in the brave new world where we are all headed (I did not say "replaces").

The CVT has a role going forward too, just as the article states.

There is a place for all of the gearbox choices: 4-speed, 5-speed, and 6-speed Manuals and automated manuals; 2-speed, 3-speed, 4-speed, 5-speed, 6-speed, and 7-speed Stepped Automatics; Push-Belt (under 250Nm), Pull-Chain (higher power) CVTs, and the MANY other types and styles of CVT.

We will see "the car" rethought in the next ten years, with "hybrid" showing up across the range and ideas like "engine braking" employed creatively. The whole idea of "transmission" will be challenged by "electric" (not a golf cart; think of scaling DOWN a diesel/electric locomotive with it's traction motors for forward thrust and braking).

None of the wild stuff was mentioned in that article. What would your reactions be to a "Diesel Hybrid Performance Roadster" with acceleration that hurts, cornering better than an Elise, and braking to make your eyes...?

[nonsequitur]

Better?

Some would say that the CVT has revolutionized the word "transmission". It hasn't, yet, but it does offer a logical and very effective choice for many applications. There are some seriously big horsepower applications already working too (in tension-pull, not compression-push, as I understand).