Manual CVT Half-Made of Paper? Yes, it’s real!
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. It is not a fiction, and to convince you that it is real we will turn to a great YouTube channel named Jason Drives.
On this interesting channel, the host Jason
Torchinsky drives the most unusual vehicles of all tine and shares his
impressions. In one of his videos, Jason had a chance to drive a 1913 Metz, and
he was truly surprised by the fact that the gear shifting mechanism of this
oldtimer consists of only two main elements and one of them is made of paper!
Metz was one of those early American carmakers, manufacturing its models from 1908 to 1922, that didn’t manage to sustain competition with Ford with the release of its extremely popular Model T and ceased production of its remarkable vehicles. The Metz model examined by Jason in the video is full of smart and curios technical solutions, but at the same time this car is incredibly simple. This car has no starter (actually it has to be started manually with the help of a crank), electric lights, generator, water pump, fuel pump. But how does it work?
Metz also had a curious selling policy which
lied in the fact that the company offered customers to purchase its vehicles cars
on an installment plan, because the company sent separate components of the car
and they had to assemble cars by themselves.
The engine of this retro car reminds Model T’s
solution; it was even developed by the same engineers, and most engine parts
are interchangeable. But when it comes to the gearbox unit, Ford used a
comparatively complex planetary mechanism, while Metz’s transmission consists
of only 2 discs, one of which is made of paper.
Let us have a look at the image of chassis implemented in this amazing car. Here you can see the blue disc and the shaft. The shaft is connected to the engine, and it sets in motion the blue aluminum disc. The orange disc is installed on the rear drive axle (which sets in motion the back wheels which the help of 2 chains) and exactly this orange disc consists of numerous pieces of paper pressed between 2 metal plates. The whole drivetrain mechanism operates as follows: the paper disc is positioned against the rotating engine disc by means of a pedal-driven belt system, and the shift lever is applied to move the paper disc backwards and forwards along the engine disc surface.
That’s how the manual
CVT mechanism looks like
If the paper disc is close to the external edge, then it means that a high gear is engaged, and there is less torque and more speed; when the paper disc moves in the opposite direction and comes close to the center, the gear ratios gets reduced, till the disc crosses the center line, thereby engaging the R gear, as the paper disc starts rotating in the opposite direction. This simple and smart gear shifting mechanism without any doubt can be named as a manual CVT-style gearbox.
Driving 1913 Metz is
not that easy
This unique car is equipped with a big lever to
set the friction disc in motion. But you have to keep an eye on it because this
lever can independently move outside of the drive wheel.
Check out the video itself! It is fun
According to Jason Torchinsky, it feels really
weird to drive this retro car, as you need certain skills to timely use all the
pedals and shift gears accurately.
