Automatic Transmissions:Many car owners love
their Automatic Transmissions for comfort and ease. Put it in
Drive, the torque converter does all the work and you Go. New
technologies in Automatic Transmissions are now allowing
six-speed automatic transmissions. You will find these six-speed
automatic transmissions in mainstream cars like the Mazda6 and
Ford Five Hundred. The MINI Cooper S, made by BMW, is thinking
of going with the six-speed automatic transmission in its car.
Seven-speed automatics are also showing up in high end luxury
cars.
CVT Transmissions:
These are also automatic
transmissions, yet perform slightly differently. You still put
it in Drive and go. In these transmission, I have heard you do
not feel the shift like normal automatic trannys, and that they
cannot transfer as much horsepower to the ground, without some
type of failures. The Nissan Murano and MINI Cooper have this
option, and we will see how widespread this goes.
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Gear shift stick of my Mazda Protege SE 1999
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Manual
Transmissions:
The Manual Transmission is the choice of
gearheads who love their cars. They live and breathe having cars
with this transmission, giving them complete control of the car
at all times, and how it transmits the power. These
transmissions have not changed much. You still have the clutch,
brake and gas combo to make it move and stop. They do in many
cars now have six-speed manual transmissions, and this is not an
uncommon thing. Whereas you had 4-speed manual trannys long
before. Want control? You want a manual transmission.
Auto-Shifting Manual Transmissions:
BMW and Audi are
the leaders in this front. BMW has its SMG (Sequential Manual
Gearbox) and Audi has the DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox). I have
driven neither, so I don't have first hand experience with how
they relate in control to a Manual Transmission. However, they
do use a clutch like a manual transmission that is automatically
shifted. The good news about that? Automatic transmissions loose
roughly on average 20% of its power as it hits the wheels. With
this transmission, you dont loose that power, because you do not
have a torque converter, but you have an actual clutch. This is
great news for people who like the option of automatic for
traffic, but want the power to shift whenever they want to
without loss of power. Look for more of these trannys soon, as
even Volkswagen Golf's are said to have them as an option.
About the Author:
Michael Kralj discusses Car Buying in his Car Buyer Guide blog
at
http://carbuyerguide.blogspot.com. Also, his Car Detailing
Products blog will educate you to keep that new car looking
incredible. See it at
http://cardetailingguide.blogspot.com.
