Transmission

The transmission in a vehicle is a group of components that transmits the engine power to the wheels. A vehicle's transmission can be regarded as the middleman in the process that drives a car forward. The transmission is quite a complicated piece of engineering design.

The engine only generates a suitable torque or turning speed within a fairly narrow range, that is the rate of the crankshaft turning. However, the wheels of a car have to turn at a suitable torque over a wider range of speeds. While speed is constant the engine turns an input shaft attached to the transmission and the output shaft of the transmission is adjusted to turn the wheels at the required speed.

Manual transmissions are the simplest type and these are simply a system of interlocking gearwheels. However, many modern cars now have an automatic transmission to allow the selection of an appropriate gear ratio without driver intervention. These mainly use hydraulics to select the gears. A clutch is not used; rather there is a torque convertor or fluid flywheel placed between the transmission and the engine. Automatic transmissions are easier for drivers to use than manual transmissions.

Microprocessor controlled electronic sensors have enhanced automatic transmission performance further. The sensors collect information about exhaust pressure, engine speed and other performance characteristics. This data is sent to a processor that is then able to use the information to control the changing of the gears. Automatic transmissions are complex, and as they tend to be heavier than manual transmissions they can be slightly less efficient regarding fuel consumption.

Some carmakers give their customers the option of having an automatic transmission with manual controls. The driver can optionally choose to control the transmission manually by the use of special shifting positions on the gear selector. Alternatively it may be done using two hand-operated paddles that sit behind the steering wheel.

Contact us today at 1-800-276-7566, or email using the address sales@tdotperformance.ca for further information about gearboxes, clutches and other transmission components.