2008 Wish list part 2

No Gears

With the end of the year rapidly approaching you can be sure that lots of retrospective views of 2007 are being readied for publication. Rather than look back (which I will do) I would rather look forward and think about some of the cars I’d like to drive in the next year.

Once upon a time I owned a Ford Granada with an old-fashioned 3-speed automatic, which worked well but could have used another ratio. At the other extreme I once borrowed a Land Rover Defender which had ten possible gear ratios by combining a 5 speed gearbox with a low-ratio transfer box. On the road such low gearing was no use but on the whole you can never have too many gears. The greater number of gears the easier it is to keep the engine working either at speeds that offer the best mix of performance and economy (or the best of either if you prefer).

There comes a point where increasing the number of fixed gear ratios becomes impractical. Some Mercedes have 7-speed autos (and they seem to work well) while Lexus have an 8-speed transmission in the LS-series but how far can this strategy go? There must come a point where either the Van-Doorne or Torotrak transmissions, with steplessly variable gear ratios between fixed limits, become a smarter choice.

The logic behind such transmissions is persuasive, the engine turns at a steady speed and the transmission adjusts the ratio as the car accelerates. Eventually the transmission finds a point of equilibrium where the power supplied by the engine is matched by the power necessary to maintain a steady speed. At anything less than top speed the transmission will adjust so that the engine is turning as slowly as possible in order to maintain a steady cruising speed. Steady speeds are not really what I am interested in; I want to know how the transmissions cope with transitions, from cruising speed to acceleration, stopping and starting. A transmission without fixed ratio steps also promises to be an interesting aural experience; it is the one thing that nearly everyone dislikes about stepless transmissions and I want to see how I feel about it.

Quick Torotrak update

Another F1 team have been confirmed as taking out a license on the mechanical kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) for the 2009 season. One license was encouraging but two licenses are a clear sign that this is being taken seriously. Torotrak and its partners, Flybrid Systems and Xtrac, won the Professional MotorSport World “Engine Innovation of the Year Award" on 6 November 2007 in Cologne for the mechanical KERS.

All these developments are very promising, I just hope that involvement in Formula 1 don’t distract from getting a Torotrak transmission into a road car.

Automatic Choice

Today was in many ways a perfect motoring day. The weather was cool but dry, the sky clear and visibility good. Even better, I was able to travel on single carriageway A and B-roads. While the roads were practically on my doorstep they were unfamiliar. Under those circumstances it is good to have automatic transmission. There are those who say that you can’t be serious about driving if you like automatics but they don’t know what they are talking about.

Automatic transmission encourages left braking without having to worry about any other pedals. A little practice with the right foot and the transmission selector lever means you will never be stuck in the wrong gear. The automatic transmission in the Citroën BX isn’t the best but the control lever allows you to get the best from it. Lots of transmissions allow the lever to be pushed from the drive position into neutral, something that could have disastrous results for the engine if done whilst driving quickly. In the Citroën the lever can’t be pushed into neutral without squeezing a button on the lever.

The same button must be held to lock out third and top gear but it is useful to hold second gear for roundabouts and tight corners. Between drive and 3rd there is nothing to inhibit free movement of the lever, which is great for overtaking or fast bends. Someone within Citroën clearly understood how to get the best out of automatic transmissions.

It was the automatic transmission that did so much to aid my enjoyment of today’s motoring. I also appreciated the Citroën’s suspension as the roads weren’t always as smooth as they could be. If only the steering was sharper, how much more fun I could have had.

More Torotrak News

Another press announcement from Torotrak, this time slightly more relevant to the real world. A bus fitted with a prototype Torotrak IVT transmission demonstrated a 19% improvement in fuel economy compared with the standard 5-speed automatic transmission.



The bus, an Optare Solo 60-seat vehicle, was fitted with a Torotrak IVT transmission and run through the Millbrook London Transport Bus cycle at the Millbrook test facility in Bedfordshire. It is an intensive stop-start cycle, which sounds like it should make the highest demands on any vehicle on the test.

Torotrak seem to think that with a purpose built transmission the gains could be even higher. Optare are, apparently, interested in putting the IVT into production. I would imagine that if the transmission can be incorporated at minimal additional cost the bus operators would be keen on the potential reduction in operating costs.

Torotrak update

The development of the Torotrak transmission has moved to the next stage. You may remember my enthusiasm when Torotrak announced that it was working with Xtrak on a drive system for Formula 1 cars (see July to refresh your memory). A major F1 team has become the first customer of a Torotrak-based kinetic energy recovery system.

The name of the customer has not been revealed but it is encouraging that progress from concept to application has been so swift. If only someone would use a Torotrak transmission in a car. Recovering energy that would be wasted under braking is very admirable. It is even better not to waste energy in the first place by running an engine at inefficient speeds.