Direct Drive Trans?

[skygazer6033]

Actually TC none of the Accords ratios are 1:1. I seem to recall 4th is something like 1.07 to 1. All ratios are though 2 gears except reverse which uses 3. All of the gears are engaged with each other all the time. Gear selection is accomplished by sliding collars that are splined to the input and output shafts through brass blocker rings. The input shaft is concentric with the engine crank, countershaft is behind and slightly below and drives the differencial directly by spur gear. Compact unit that keeps a lot of machinery in a small space.

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

Cody, let me explain a little more. The Elio has to compromise. What I need for an optimal gear running highway speeds all the time is different from what someone in the city would find optimal. Someone out in the western states might need a higher ratio than I do even.

Problem is, the off the shelf gearbox/transaxle only comes in one ratio set that I can find. The only way to change effective drive ratios would be with different tire diameters.

Cars need to operate well in a much wider range of speeds than an OTR truck does.

Part of the Elio design is a torquey little motor that SHOULD (haven't seen BSFC maps on it yet) run efficiently over a wider range than your truck motor is designed to. There's always a "sweet spot" but you'll still have to match your speed to that engine RPM, and you may still find that higher RPMS in a lower gear, say on an uphill run, is more efficient than full load (lugging) at optimal rpms.

There are way too many variables to consider. You have the luxury of removing one in your trucks with many available axle ratios. Most passenger cars simply don't. If they did, they'd cost more, and 99 out of 100 buyers would just get the "standard" gear ratio anyway, because they don't know and don't want to know more. They just want a car.

CVT with a good control system is the best answer, motor at optimal speed all the time and vary ratios to match speed. It is flat awesome in ag machinery, with gains of 5-10% common over gear or power shift transmissions, but cost and manufacturing complexity rules it out for a 6800 dollar car, and your rigs for that matter. You already know what works for you most of the time in the truck, so you can gear to that. Farm tractor loads change constantly witb soil type, yield, grade, and other factors, making the CVT work better than even transmissions with 24 gears to choose from between 0-30 mph.

Like I said the first time, apples and oranges (or maybe tomatoes).

 

[wheaters]

If your correct, this thread is moot point. I'll have to do some research on front wheel drive trans. So on your accord, 4th (assuming it's 1to1) still uses 2 gears? If this is the case, i'm surprised elio didn't consider putting the engine in the back and using a direct drive trans facing forwards. I guess having a drive shaft under the driver would take to much space...also the weight of the motor wouldn't help traction.

One thing to include in the FWD equation is that the diff is also in the gearbox because the drive necessarily has to be directed to both wheels at the front rather than at the back end.

Fitting the engine at the rear end of a 2F/1R three wheeler would be just about as unstable as you could build, from a handling point of view!

 

[Jim H]

Trucking Cody, welcome from New Mexico. As you can see we are a friendly active group and there are plenty of knowledgeable people who will respond to your question. Enjoy both the Elio experience and the journey with us.