The process of driving of cars became greatly simplified thanks to appearance of automatic transmissions. Now drivers can pay much more attention to the road itself rather than the process of gear shifting. But many car amateurs wonder why automatic transmissions are equipped with a neutral gear…..So let’s provide some insight into this question.

It’s not a secret that all major auto manufacturers contribute greatly to programs on development of electric vehicles (EV) and in the nearest future this trend will gain greater momentum. But how will it affect vehicles with internal-combustion engines (ICE)? Will they become extinct? And more importantly, EVs don’t have a traditional gearbox. What if admirers of manual gearboxes will be interested in buying EVs in the future?

All motorized vehicles have a transmission, which transmits torque from the engine to the driving wheels. Producers of automobile gearboxes offer new technical solutions, which use fuel more efficiently, are easier to operate, and ensure comfortable driving, as well as enhanced reliability and maintainability. Therefore, modern gearboxes for trucks and commercial vehicles are innovative high-tech products with integrated electronic control systems.

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. A reliable and efficient transmission is an indispensible part of each racing car and a key success factor. Carefully adjusted and balanced transmissions allow racers to get a split second advantage over other competitors during acceleration or turning of corners that may be decisive at the finish.

Tiptronic is a trade name of the manual gear shifting function (mode), which is implemented in the automatic transmissions. In the world of the automobile industry the name Tiptronic is used to define automatic transmissions of a specific design and control method regardless of the actual developer and producer of the transmission.

Currently it seems that the whole automobile industry became obsessed with more and more sophisticated transmission solutions. So why more gears? The list of potential advantages of such solution includes smoother shifts, enhanced fuel efficiency, and improved performance characteristics, but it's not all that simple......

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.

The valve body is a hydraulic “controller” (also called as a “transmission brain”) consisting of valves, solenoids, sensors batteries and attached to them are passages and channels, which guide the flow of ATF to various valves with the purpose to activate required clutch and shift the gear properly according to the driving situation.

While manual gearboxes utilize the clutch to shift speeds, automatic transmissions make use of a sophisticated hydraulic system for shifting, and the transmission solenoid is especially important for this process.

ATF issues are considered to be the main reason of automatic transmission failure, therefore some drivers use ATF additives. Automatic transmission fluid (ATF) additive is a luquid with unique characteristics which is used for improvement of the automatic transmission performance and prolonging its service life.

This article contains the information about the most popular automatic transmissions. We will review the most common problems encountered in automatic transmissions, present the most reliable gearboxes and warn about troublesome transmission solutions. Moreover, descriptions of transmissions are supplemented by images and different videos containing some general information on transmissions and their components, typical problems and repair tips.

Nowadays numerous specialized tuning agencies and transmission services offer auto enthusiasts the opportunity to upgrade automatic transmissions. Such tuning operations may vary from reprogramming of transmission control algorithms to complete replacement of transmission parts. But it is important to point out that transmission tuning is a painstaking procedure which requires detailed analysis of desired changes and possible consequences of implementation of such transmission specialties.