The Elio Automatic Transmission

[Ekh]

We owned a Prius with a CV tranny. I hated the thing -- tach and noise had no relationship to what was going on; I take in information that way as much as by instrument. Also have one on my Burgman 600 scoot, and ditto -- though you can over ride that one if you wish. All in all, not my favorite way to go.

 

[raybonz]

My 2008 Sentra has CVT with 145,000 miles and the CVT works OK.. Nissan seems to do CVT's better than most and they use them on powerful V-6 cars as well.. You better get used to CVT as it isn't going away anytime soon!

 

[Charlie G]

My Subaru Impreza has a CVT and while it took some getting used to - I don't mind it at all now.
I definitely don't have the same sort of acceleration my last automatic had by default, but I can hit the paddle shifter at any time (not just in 'manual mode') and it will change the acceleration profile to pass etc. When not in 'manual mode' the change is temporary, but enough to warn the car what my intentions are so it will behave accordingly.

 

[BlioKart]

thanks for the clip. I'm not sure, does all he do is push down or let up on the gas pedal?

My guess it was normal throttle application with interruption and control by the various ECU's on board. It was banned before the 1993 season because it removed so much driver input. The driver was more passenger than driver. Same car won 1993 World championship with Alan Prost an easy victory with active suspension, traction control and ABS. All electronic driver aids were dropped in 1994.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

User acceptance of it mostly they make different noises and act differently even though they are tuned to feel like conventional A/T. In my experience they have been unreliable.

List of CvT cars http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automobiles_with_continuously_variable_transmissions

The most interesting use of a CVT for me was the Williams FW15C F1 car that was banned before it ever raced.

So much for racing being about technology.

 

[ScarecrowRepair]

I've never driven an AMT. I googled and read a bit, and find the mystery was half from not knowing the jargon (dual clutches, etc).

One thing I could find noething about was about slow speeds and slipping the clutch. For instance, in stop and ccrawl commute traffic, sometimes I will leave the gas pedal alone and ease the clutch up just a bit to barely engage and creep forward. Or when driving up the dirt road I live on, sometimes I will slip the clutch to slow down over water ditches and other bumps.

With regular automatic that's no problem either. But an AMT with no clutch -- how do you drive below idle, so slow that if everything were fully engaged, the engine would stall?

 

[Ekh]

I've never driven an AMT. I googled and read a bit, and find the mystery was half from not knowing the jargon (dual clutches, etc).

One thing I could find noething about was about slow speeds and slipping the clutch. For instance, in stop and ccrawl commute traffic, sometimes I will leave the gas pedal alone and ease the clutch up just a bit to barely engage and creep forward. Or when driving up the dirt road I live on, sometimes I will slip the clutch to slow down over water ditches and other bumps.

With regular automatic that's no problem either. But an AMT with no clutch -- how do you drive below idle, so slow that if everything were fully engaged, the engine would stall?

Great question. I hope one of our tech-heads will explain; I too would like to know how this issue is handled.

 

[Charlie G]

I believe some have a creep mode specifically for this scenario, no idea how it works though.

 

[Johnny Acree]

I know smart has what they call "creep mode", I'm not sure how it works, but it feels just like slipping the clutch.
Some on the smart forum with many miles on their car say it does not seam to wear the clutch out.

 

[goofyone]

Just about all AMT's now have a variation of 'creep mode' which is essentially a partially engaged clutch. The article I have linked to gives a nice general overview of the operation of Toyota’s Multi-Mode transmission (MMT). This transmission is the Aisin MC5 entry level AMT which is the same transmission EM has said they will be using.

Take off/reverse assist control

When the brake pedal is not depressed and 1st, 2nd or reverse is selected, the clutch is halfengaged, even if the accelerator pedal is not depressed. As a result, the vehicle can creep slowly like an automatic transmission vehicle; this will assist the vehicle in preparing to move. The take off assist control is cancelled while the parking brake switch is ON.

There is no ‘P’ (Park) function, but it is possible to stop the engine with a gear engaged (to park on a slope for instance). When this happens, the driver needs to press the brake to allow the engine to be restarted.

http://pmmonline.co.uk/technical/toyota-multi-mode-transmission-design-and-function