first time driving an AT car...

[Bopop4]

I don't quite get how CVTs work. I heard that it's banned in Formula 1 because being able to develop a viable F1 CVT would make the car overkill, but I don't really have an idea how they work in the real world.

As the plates move together the belt follows up the cone and has to travel a further distance.

Like a snowmobile transmission except it has a computer to control the gearing instead of a spring.

 

[Leggy1]

I have a 2013 Suzuki Quadsport Z400 with a 5 speed manual. I prefer the clutch over my brother's YFZ.
View attachment 369534
And I agree, I don't like CVTs. Or the Polaris PVT.

Ah, a sports quad. I work at a Honda and Polaris dealership, the difference in driveability between the two is huge. The auto-clutch on a Honda is perfect for low speed pulling and manoeuvring, which is essential on utility ATVs. And the transmission doesn't break like a Polaris PVT.

 

[synchromesh]

And the transmission doesn't break like a Polaris PVT.

Years ago my brother had a Phoenix 200 and the tranny was crap
Manuals on utility quads are kinda rare. Something I give Honda credit for, is the TRX90 as its the only youth quad with a manual, 4 speed with automatic clutch.

 

[Tornado]

I live in the U.S., and I will never drive an automatic. My Mini is a manual, my Delorean is a manual, my ATV is a manual, even the company's dump truck is a manual, so truck drivers aren't bored and for control. Unless you're in a paddle shift supercar, automatics are boring. I take pride knowing something all but one of my other friends know how to do. Plus, I like to feel like I'm doing more than driving, I controlling an actual part of the car.

This just sounds to me like you need to drive a car with a revvy but torquey engine hooked up to that slushbox, instead of dump trucks and cars that would struggle to pass 88 MPH with one.

 

[Skygrasper550]

A CVT does what it says on the tin. "Constantly/Continuously Variable Transmission". It uses 2 variable diameter pulleys and a belt rather than gears to alter the gear ratio constantly with the ECU determining the most suitable engine RPM and gear ratio for the driving conditions at any given moment (meaning the throttle position, road speed etc.).

This means that if for example you want hard acceleration (accelerator pedal fully depressed) the engine RPM is held where it produces maximum power and the gear ratio is altered to increase the speed of the vehicle.

This is the most basic king anyway. There are many different ways of achieving a CVT.

As the plates move together the belt follows up the cone and has to travel a further distance.

Like a snowmobile transmission except it has a computer to control the gearing instead of a spring.

Oooohhhhhh I see. So they're heavily reliant on computers in adjusting the ratios. With regards to that illustration, where are the drive wheels connected to? Because from the looks of it, why does the driven pulley expand when it's on high gear?

 

[niky]

A simple way of understanding CVT gear ratios is by taking a gearset... like, for example, the rear gearset on a bicycle, and smoothing it down into a cone.

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This is where the "infinite" part comes in. You don't actually have infinite ratios. Your "first gear" and "top gear" are still the same as they would be in a regular transmission. What you do have is a near-infinite number of steps between those gears, as the belts that connect the input and output slide up and down the cones.

-

Many CVTs use as many of those "steps" as possible, for seamless performance. It's not as much fun for the driver... because it doesn't feel fast. The acceleration remains constant instead of kicking you in the back at each upshift as the engine torque is interrupted and restored. But for passengers, it's a much better experience. Smooth acceleration, less longitudinal g's.

The biggest issue with CVTs has typically been the slurring experienced before the clutch packs lock up or when the CVT gets hot. Newer CVTs use torque converters with lock-up clutches, and can feel almost as "solid" as a manual from a stop... with little in the way of slippage.

 

[synchromesh]

This just sounds to me like you need to drive a car with a revvy but torquey engine hooked up to that slushbox, instead of dump trucks and cars that would struggle to pass 88 MPH with one.

My Mini could easily do more than 88 MPH...

 

[Jet Badger]

...But can it outrun the Albanians?

 

[FordMKIVJ5]

Oooohhhhhh I see. So they're heavily reliant on computers in adjusting the ratios. With regards to that illustration, where are the drive wheels connected to? Because from the looks of it, why does the driven pulley expand when it's on high gear?

Not sure I quite understand your question. The drive wheels are connected in the same way as any vehicle- the only difference being the the driven pulley transmits its rotation to the differential rather than an output shaft as per a regular gearbox.

The driven pulley expands on high gear and the drive pulley shrinks- meaning the belt rides up the drive pulley, and falls down the driven pulley, giving a long gear ratio (large diameter input, small diameter output- exactly like when gears are used).

 

[Pseudopod]

Oooohhhhhh I see. So they're heavily reliant on computers in adjusting the ratios. With regards to that illustration, where are the drive wheels connected to? Because from the looks of it, why does the driven pulley expand when it's on high gear?

It expands so that the driving pulley won't have to be enormous, while still allowing for the same min/max gear ratios.

 

[Grandea GTR]

Kinda on topic, so...

In Europe, isn't it bad to only have experience with AT cars? A European friend of mind told me that people in EU have it tougher there whenever it comes to driving.

For my thought on CVTs, I really don't mind them, despite popular claims that they will be consistently noisy and whatnot, at cruising speeds, they are just about as noisy as a regular AT or MT cruising on the highway at the highest gear. I do know that CVTs, whenever it came to racing, we're technologically superior to Semiautos and Manuals due to the fact that they stay consistently within the optimum power range (so I have heard), as shown when they made a CVT-equipped F1 car. That transmission got banned.

 

[synchromesh]

Kinda on topic, so...

In Europe, isn't it bad to only have experience with AT cars? A European friend of mind told me that people in EU have it tougher there whenever it comes to driving.

For my thought on CVTs, I really don't mind them, despite popular claims that they will be consistently noisy and whatnot, at cruising speeds, they are just about as noisy as a regular AT or MT cruising on the highway at the highest gear. I do know that CVTs, whenever it came to racing, we're technologically superior to Semiautos and Manuals due to the fact that they stay consistently within the optimum power range (so I have heard), as shown when they made a CVT-equipped F1 car. That transmission got banned.

In Europe, if you take your license test in an Automatic, you don't get your regular license. You get a special one that says you can only drive automatics. And because taxis, company cars, police cars (I think) vans, trucks, and big rigs (lorries) have manuals, it's kinda useless. Plus, even if the job doesn't have to do with driving, it makes the application look bad.

 

[Legro]

In Europe, if you take your license test in an Automatic, you don't get your regular license. You get a special one that says you can only drive automatics. And because taxis, company cars, police cars (I think) vans, trucks, and big rigs (lorries) have manuals, it's kinda useless. Plus, even if the job doesn't have to do with driving, it makes the application look bad.

Actually, you can get automatic company cars and vans nowadays, I've also seen automatic taxis here a couple of times, police cars may be manuals only, but seriously, who is going to drive one anyway if they aren't a cop. There are other reasons, why automatic only isn't a good thing in Europe, for instance it's lot harder to find automatic used car, and it's not very good for your image, if you can't take a friend who has been drinking home in their car only because you can't drive a manual car, here.

 

[Jet Badger]

About first times, my first time driving an auto was with the car on a lift. I put it in Park with the wheels still rotating, there was quite a bit of ratchet... Good thing it survived, it was someones mid-00s S-Class Mercedes. Oops, would've been expensive.

 

[Leggy1]

Years ago my brother had a Phoenix 200 and the tranny was crap
Manuals on utility quads are kinda rare. Something I give Honda credit for, is the TRX90 as its the only youth quad with a manual, 4 speed with automatic clutch.

But Polaris can't make anything that lasts long anyway. Honda are by far the most popular utility ATV around here, most of them manual, some auto (hydrostatic).

and big rigs (lorries) have manuals

Most full size trucks are auto now, almost all new ones are. Smaller trucks are often manual though.

 

[MatskiMonk]

My first automatic was a 1983 BMW 635CSi, took ages to get used to it, but that's when I learned to left foot brake.

Personally, in the UK, although there is such a thing as an automatic only license, for the most part people don't care like they do in the states. In the US it seems to be a big deal to drive 'stick', like some kind of badge of honour, over here, it's just what everyone does pretty much from the first time they get behind the wheel.

 

[synchromesh]

My first automatic was a 1983 BMW 635CSi, took ages to get used to it, but that's when I learned to left foot brake.

Personally, in the UK, although there is such a thing as an automatic only license, for the most part people don't care like they do in the states. In the US it seems to be a big deal to drive 'stick', like some kind of badge of honour, over here, it's just what everyone does pretty much from the first time they get behind the wheel.

It's a badge (or stick) of honor because so few cars are available with one. http://www.tflcar.com/2015/03/want-a-manual-transmission-comprehensive-car-list-for-2015/
The link is a list of cars in the US available with a manual.

 

[VXR]

I've driven various autos, the most mundane being a Ford Freda and the best being a Caddy SRX with the 4.6 Northstar. Kick down on that and you were treated to a pure NASCAR howl.