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Transmissions
Transmissions
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Pgina 1
The Vehicle
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For the majority of this article, I will be using a 2006 Nissan 350z Coupe as an example vehicle. In stock form, it comes with a 6-speed manual transmission and a 3.538:1 rear axle ratio. Below is a graph showing the torque and power curves of the engine, a 3.5L 287hp VQ35DE V6.
Transmission Formulae
Ratio Spread The ratio spread is the ratio of two different gear's ratios, such as second gear and third gear, or first gear and top gear. The overall ratio spread directly affects the range of speeds that the transmission can allow the vehicle to travel at, and the ratio spread between each gear affects the change in acceleration force after each gear change. Ideally, the ratio spread between first gear and top gear would be very high, so that the car would have high acceleration at low speeds, and a high top speed without causing the engine to redline. Also, the ratio spread between each gear should be low, so that the engine can be kept revving near its power peak while the vehicle passes through a wide range of speeds. The only way to have a large overall ratio spread and a small ratio spread between each gear is to have numerous gears.
http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/transmissions
Pgina 2
A close-ratio transmission will have a small overall ratio spread , by definition. Likewise, a wide-ratio transmission will have a large ratio spread .
RPM Change When Shifting Gears When a higher gear is selected in the transmission, the engine RPM drops. The RPM after the shift can be calculated if both gear ratios and the RPM before the shift are known. The process can be reversed to determine the RPM after gearing down. The formulae for calculating the ratio spread and RPM change are shown below.
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http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/transmissions
Pgina 3
Gear ratios of various transmissions. Note that Supra's 6-speed does not have the same ratios as the 6-speed in the Mustang GT500.
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Overall ratio spread for each transmission. Note that the 3-speed does not have nearly the same ratio spread as the 6-speeds.
Below is a graph showing the force that the 350z puts to the pavement versus the speed that the car is traveling. Each arc represents a selected gear in the transmission . First gear is the highest, narrowest curve, and top gear is the lowest, widest curve. The beginning of the arc is when the engine is at 1600RPM (chosen by me to keep the graphs clean) in that http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/transmissions 19/07/2011 05:29:30 p.m.
Pgina 4
particular gear, and the end of the arc is when the engine hits its redline of 6600RPM . A higher force implies a higher acceleration at that speed.
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Road force with the VQ35 DE turning the 3 speed and 6 speed transmissions . Note that at 75 mph, there are 4 gears to choose from with the 6 speed, while the 3 speed offers only two.
The above graph clearly shows the superiority of the 6-speed in terms of acceleration. The 6-speed has significantly better acceleration than the 3-speed at numerous vehicle speeds , especially at 45-60mph and 85-100mph. The graph below shows the engine RPM versus the speed of the car. Note that the 6-speed is much better at keeping the engine revving high than the 3-speed. This is because the ratio spread between each gear is much lower. The fact that the engine can be kept revving high allows much more average power to be put to the road while the car accelerates. This was already seen in the previous graph.
http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/transmissions
Pgina 5
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Engine RPM versus vehicle speed for both transmissions. The large Rate: Home Site Map Random Page Contact Me About the Sit RPM drops on the 3-speed's gear changes are from the high ratio spread between the gears.
It can be seen in the above graph that at 60mph , the 6-speed can have the engine turning as low as 2150rpm, while the 3-speed can only bring it down to 2700rpm. To correct this, I will change the gears in the 3-speed car's rear axle from the stock 3.538:1 to 2.809:1. Below is a graph showing the effect of changing the rear axle gear on the 3-speed.
Road force with the VQ35 DE turning the 3 speed and 6 speed transmissions . Note that in order to have the same top gear cruise RPM as the 6-speed, the 3-speed has had to sacrifice acceleration all across the board.
http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/transmissions
Pgina 6
It can clearly be seen that the 3-speed is now very far behind the 6-speed in terms of acceleration. This shows that transmissions with very few gears can give a car good acceleration or good fuel economy, but not both at the same time.
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The ideal CVT can put the engine's peak power to the road at all speeds . It is superior to the 6-speed .
Cornering
When going around a corner, there is a maximum speed that the car can go around it. It is therefore important that the transmission can keep the engine revving at a suitable RPM at that speed. Below is a diagram showing the 3-speed car and 6-speed car going around a corner at 80mph.
http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/transmissions
Pgina 7
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When the cars are going around a corner at 80mph, the 6-speed has the advantage because it can keep the engine revving fairly high without redlining. The 3-speed can either redline in 2nd gear, or lug in 3rd gear.
Drag Racing
In drag racing, the time it takes to shift gears is very significant. The faster the vehicle is, the more significant the gear change time becomes relative to the elapsed time down the strip. Because of this, most high performance drag cars only go through three gears (two changes) when going down the mile. The fastest drag cars do not shift gears at all , but rather have a hydraulic drive system that varies the transfer of power from the engine to the drivetrain. A drag race engine must be tuned to provide a high amount of power at any RPM to provide the necessary acceleration while pulling through so few gears. Transmissions with fewer gears also tend to have less friction , which allows more of the engine's power to make it to the pavement.
Conclusion
Transmissions have a direct effect on a vehicle's ability to accelerate. An ideal transmission can keep the engine revving near its power peak when the vehicle is driving at various speeds. The gear ratios are chosen based on what speeds the vehicle will be traveling, and having more gears raises the speed range that the vehicle can accelerate most quickly.
See Also
Horsepower and Torque Gearing for Mileage
http://craig.backfire.ca/pages/autos/transmissions