Popular articles

Probably every transmission repair specialist was keen on LEGO constructions or at least enjoyed making some minor things with their hands. Here's the game taken to a new level of creativity!

Modern auto industry is full of sophisticated drivetrain technologies which are supposed to make your driving experience even more pleasant and trouble-free. Despite a great abundance of sophisticated technical solutions, it is highly likely that very few people know a transmission solution operating like a manual CVT.

Over recent years engineers developed a lot of gear shifting solutions for different car brands, which may seem a bit unusual for oldtime drivers. In this article we will review the most peculiar gear stick technologies and provide video materials related to these technologies.

Only few people know about transmission concepts which were popular 70-90 years ago. For men of today, these gearboxes may seem very unusual and weird, but even now some gearboxes that date back to those years are quite competitive in comparison with modern transmissions.

Nowadays Extroid CVTs are commonly known as “toroidal” due to the fact that the working surface of driving and driven discs in this transmission has the form of a torus. Extroid CVT is not a V-belt transmission, but a friction drive CVT.

True Porsche Should Not Necessarily Be Manual


True Porsche Should Not Necessarily Be Manual

Today, it is hard to argue with the fact that manual transmissions lose their popularity among car enthusiasts, thereby forcing car manufacturers to exclude manuals from their line-ups. Only a few years ago, it was hard to imagine that sports cars would shift from classic manuals to automatic and dual-clutch transmissions. Some fans of classic sports cars are extremely disappointed with this automation trend, but Porsche says that you no longer need a stick to drive a ‘real’ Porsche.


The car manufacturer admits the fact that previously manuals surpassed automatics in a number of critical operation parameters, but new technologies allowed engineers to design much more efficient alternatives to manuals, such as dual-clutch units (DCT).


Check out the duel between manual and PDK-equipped Porsches 911


The dual-clutch technology has been known to the auto world for decades, but Porsche didn’t risk installing this type of gear shifting solution until the 7-speed PDK transmission, designed by Porsche engineers in collaboration with ZF, premiered on the 911 in 2008. At the time, the PDK solution became a real breakthrough as the unit was 22 pounds (10 kg) lighter than the Tiptronic S gearbox and changed gears much faster.



Cutaway of a PDK unit


This DCT unit ensured a significant boost in operating characteristics to the 911 Carrera 4 that could speed up from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) for 0.4 second faster than its 6-speed manual analog. In addition to enhanced performance capacity, the new solution provided significant fluid economy. Currently, the German car manufacturer equips more than 75% of its 718 and 911 models come with a PDK transmission, as this transmission still provides a wide range of operating benefits.

Modern automatic solutions are known to be superior to manuals, but it wasn’t always the case. For instance, Porsche’s Sportomatic semiautomatic solution, which found application on the 911 in 1967, wasn’t quite impressive in terms of operational capacity. As a result, the cars equipped with this unit weren’t very popular among Porsche customers.

Popular articles

Probably every transmission repair specialist was keen on LEGO constructions or at least enjoyed making some minor things with their hands. Here's the game taken to a new level of creativity!

Modern auto industry is full of sophisticated drivetrain technologies which are supposed to make your driving experience even more pleasant and trouble-free. Despite a great abundance of sophisticated technical solutions, it is highly likely that very few people know a transmission solution operating like a manual CVT.

Over recent years engineers developed a lot of gear shifting solutions for different car brands, which may seem a bit unusual for oldtime drivers. In this article we will review the most peculiar gear stick technologies and provide video materials related to these technologies.

Only few people know about transmission concepts which were popular 70-90 years ago. For men of today, these gearboxes may seem very unusual and weird, but even now some gearboxes that date back to those years are quite competitive in comparison with modern transmissions.

Nowadays Extroid CVTs are commonly known as “toroidal” due to the fact that the working surface of driving and driven discs in this transmission has the form of a torus. Extroid CVT is not a V-belt transmission, but a friction drive CVT.