http://wardsauto.com/politics/poor-hybri...tm_medium=email
Nothing surprising here; cheap gas, and better mpg in general.
Thought this was interesting, a bit about CVT/many speed transmissions:
Quote:
Conventional step transmissions will remain in the mix for the foreseeable future but will evolve at a much faster pace, says Dean Guard, director-Global Engine Engineering, GM Powertrain. The number of gears will continue to grow and CVTs are gaining favor, especially at General Motors, Guard says.
Rather than looking strictly at the mechanical efficiencies of transmissions, GM now is taking a more holistic, physics-based approach to how it evaluates the interplay between engines, transmissions and the entire vehicle.
“We know step-gear transmissions are mechanically more efficient than CVTs, but maybe what we didn’t fully realize is the CVT transmissions could match well with the engines and give us better combined fuel economy due to effectively infinite ratio capability,” Guard says.
More than 10 speeds? That will be interesting. I thought 10 would be deep inside the point of diminishing returns.
Nothing surprising here; cheap gas, and better mpg in general.
Thought this was interesting, a bit about CVT/many speed transmissions:
Quote:
Conventional step transmissions will remain in the mix for the foreseeable future but will evolve at a much faster pace, says Dean Guard, director-Global Engine Engineering, GM Powertrain. The number of gears will continue to grow and CVTs are gaining favor, especially at General Motors, Guard says.
Rather than looking strictly at the mechanical efficiencies of transmissions, GM now is taking a more holistic, physics-based approach to how it evaluates the interplay between engines, transmissions and the entire vehicle.
“We know step-gear transmissions are mechanically more efficient than CVTs, but maybe what we didn’t fully realize is the CVT transmissions could match well with the engines and give us better combined fuel economy due to effectively infinite ratio capability,” Guard says.
More than 10 speeds? That will be interesting. I thought 10 would be deep inside the point of diminishing returns.