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.

Toyota Has Problems Selling Cars with Manual Transmissions


Toyota Has Problems Selling Cars with Manual Transmissions

When Toyota released its latest automatic-only Supra model, many fans of this legendary model around the world started demanding the manual option to be added. However, not everybody wonders on what it takes to promote sells of the manuals on the markets currently dominated by cars equipped with automatic transmissions. According to Toyota, it is a very risky initiative with almost no chance to succeed.


In the recent interview,




Toyota 86


Let us have a look at some sales statistics. The manual 86 model, offered with manual and automatic options, attracted only 33 % of customers, therefore 2/3 of the 86 model customers still gave preference to the 6-speed automatic version. The 86 is one of the most reasonably-priced sports cars currently available on the market, and if 66 % of buyers still prefer the automatic version, it gives some idea about the current demand for manuals on the market.


Inside the Toyota

Corolla 2020

Toyota also installed its latest manual gearbox on the redesigned Corolla hatchback model. Despite the fact that the use of the manual transmission adds to the driving experience and reduces the car price, the majority of buyers still stick with more convenient automatic version: the demand for the manual version did not exceed 15 %. The situation with the Corolla sedan is even worse, as the sales of manual versions drop to less than 1%.


Learn more about the latest 2020 Toyota Yaris


The buyers of Tacoma and Yaris models also in the vast majority of cases (95 %) selected the automatic model, thereby forcing Toyota to drop the manual as an option for the 2020 Yaris model. On the basis of the above, we may reach the conclusion that it is not a carmaker who determines the selection of transmission options, but a customer who shapes the demand. However, it is hard to say with 100% certainty that manual transmissions will disappear from the market in the nearest future.

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.