After reading how these gearboxes work on cars and watching various “animations” of them on youtube.
Could these become the next automated gearboxes for all trucks?
If they work like the manufacturers say they do,then applying them to trucks would improve everything even further than the autos we have now,no gaps in power/torque transmission,faster acceleration and massively improved gearshifting.
Just for the record,i mainly drive a DAF CF with AS-TRONIC,which most of the time thinks it’s an onion rather then a device for transmitting engine power to the diff and wheels.
I hope you’re right, because of the present bunch the only one worth a candle is Volvos offering.
More good news for the main dealers too, even more computerised supercomplicated stuff that only they can plug into and diagnose, and replace rather than fix…kerbloodyching.
Whilst people allow themselves to manipulated into buying into ever more complicated and expensive to fix equipment, they the makers will keep pushing it.
KISS…keep it soddin simple…lorries are or used to be working tools, not an executives car to be stuffed with electronic rubbish and worthless at 5 years.
Trukkertone:
didnt DAF produce a car in the sixties with an automatic gearbox which used drivebelts. was it called variomatic or something like that ■■/
I think Audi still do them up until very recently, just like one long gear, Ford did them on the old Fiesta’s too.
The belt went onto a V-Shaped cone and the faster you went, the further up the cone the belt went. Used to squeak like hell.
Trukkertone:
didnt DAF produce a car in the sixties with an automatic gearbox which used drivebelts. was it called variomatic or something like that ■■/
Yes they did - A continuously variable transmission (CVT) which had two rubber belt drives between cone shaped pulleys. Ford developed it for the Fiesta using a metal belt that (so to speak) pushed instead of pulled. Neither were a great success and have been abandoned.
I think they are mainly used in agricultural and small vehicles like snowmobiles
I guess it’s one of them things that probably isn’t a bad idea in itself, but isn’t as good as the mainstream option hence why it’s so rare. a bit like the Rotary engine.
Hopefully Scania will employ double clutch in the Opticruise box, when they get a few years old you do get the occasional crunch when it tries to select a gear for you.
davepenn54:
Think you’ll find that Ishift 2 in the new Volvo FH employs the dual clutch system, which makes a good system even better, apparently.
Regards
Dave Penn;
Couldn’t agree more,we have a few Volvo FM’s in the fleet that just seem to know exactly what gear to be in everytime,be it a roundabout approach or climbing a hill,it’s never caught out or left fumbling for a gear.
I think all the truck makers should be buying Volvo’s I-Shift and paying them a royalty fee.
Juddian:
I hope you’re right, because of the present bunch the only one worth a candle is Volvos offering.
More good news for the main dealers too, even more computerised supercomplicated stuff that only they can plug into and diagnose, and replace rather than fix…kerbloodyching.
Whilst people allow themselves to manipulated into buying into ever more complicated and expensive to fix equipment, they the makers will keep pushing it.
KISS…keep it soddin simple…lorries are or used to be working tools, not an executives car to be stuffed with electronic rubbish and worthless at 5 years.[/quot
There is still the option of manual available though,but isn’t that now more expensive than the self shifting variety,plus changing a clutch on these automated ones is supposed to be easier with less downtime.
The Euro 6 engines have many more sensors and control systems than the Euro 5 ones (effectively they now have throttles in the inlet and the exhaust) and may produce power over a narrower, lower rev band too in the interests of fuel economy too. Which means that in some cases a manual gearbox version would be undriveable, as they’ve geared them very high again for fuel economy.
So yes everything is going to be computerised and more difficult to fix, but the importers and dealers will be pleased because parts and service is about the only area now where they make real money.
