The M6 Presto-Matic was a Chrysler Corporation semi-automatic transmission produced from 1946 to 1953. It was a special manual transmission with a fluid coupling . Although it had just two forward gears, an electric overdrive unit was attached and useful in either gear for a total of four forward speeds.
75-456: The driver would use the clutch pedal any time when selecting low, high, or reverse gear. Once underway, the accelerator could be eased and the car would engage the overdrive. With the Fluid Drive coupling, the car could be brought to a halt in gear without releasing the clutch and would creep like an automatic. The Presto-Matic name was only used on Chrysler -brand cars. DeSoto called
150-414: A countershaft (also called a layshaft ) and an output shaft . The input shaft is connected to the engine and spins at engine speed whenever the clutch is engaged. The countershaft has gears of various sizes, which are permanently meshed with the corresponding gear on the input shaft. The gears on the output shaft are also permanently meshed with a corresponding gear on the countershaft; however,
225-708: A column shifter and more practical, as the gearbox was mounted in front of the engine. The linkage for the shifter could then be positioned on top of the engine. The disadvantage is that shifting is less comfortable and usually slower to operate. Newer small cars and MPVs , like the Suzuki MR Wagon , the Fiat Multipla , the Toyota Matrix , the Pontiac Vibe , the Chrysler RT platform cars,
300-417: A column shifter are the ability to switch between the two most commonly used gears—second and third—without letting go of the steering wheel, and the lack of interference with passenger seating space in vehicles equipped with a bench seat . Some smaller cars in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Citroën 2CV , Renault 4 and early Renault 5 feature a shifter in the dash panel. This was cheaper to manufacture than
375-527: A column-mounted manual shifter. Outside North America, the column-mounted shifter remained in production. All Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric taxis in Hong Kong had the 4-speed column shift until 1999 when automatic transmissions were first offered. Since the late 1980s or early 1990s, a 5-speed column shifter has been offered in some vans sold in Asia and Europe, such as Toyota Hiace , Mitsubishi L400 and
450-442: A conventional clutch mounted behind the same fluid coupling unit that was installed in straight Fluid Drive cars. The M4 Vacamatic had two forward speeds and reverse. There was a manual Pull-Cable to lock out the underdrive in the early models. From 1949–1952, Dodge models with the conventional 3-speed Fluid Drive carried front fender emblems that said "Fluid Drive." The M6 Models had emblems that proudly proclaimed "Gyromatic." In
525-411: A gear while the transmission requires the driver to adjust the throttle so that the transmission is not under load, and selecting a gear requires the engine RPM to be at the exact speed that matches the road speed for the gear being selected). Most motor vehicles use a pedal to operate the clutch; except for motorcycles, which usually have a clutch lever on the left handlebar . In most vehicles with
600-425: A gearshift without fully disengaging the clutch). Larger differences in speed between the input shaft and the gear require higher friction forces from the synchromesh components, potentially increasing their wear rate. Even in modern transmissions where all of the forward gears are in a constant-mesh configuration, often the reverse gear uses the older sliding-mesh ("crash box") configuration. This means that moving
675-558: A low range and a high range. Each 'range' had two speeds. To shift between them, the driver accelerated then released pressure on the accelerator. In high range, this shift point was about 23 mph (37 kmh). Once the transmission shifted into high speed range, the driver again depressed the accelerator pedal, and continued accelerating. Solenoids on the transmission connected to the carburetor and ignition system momentarily interrupted engine operation to allow trouble-free shifting. The driver could down-shift for passing by fully depressing
750-451: A manual transmission is an automatic transmission . Common types of automatic transmissions are the hydraulic automatic transmission (AT) and the continuously variable transmission (CVT). The automated manual transmission (AMT) and dual-clutch transmission (DCT) are internally similar to a conventional manual transmission, but are shifted automatically. Alternatively, there are semi-automatic transmissions . These systems are based on
825-421: A manual transmission, the driver selects gears by manipulating a lever called a gear stick (also called a gearshift , gear lever or shifter ). In most automobiles, the gear stick is located on the floor between the driver and front passenger, but some cars have a gear stick that is mounted to the steering column or center console. The movement of the gear stick is transferred (via solid linkages or cables) to
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#1732786755215900-400: A mechanism is needed to stop the input shaft, such as using the synchronizer rings for fifth gear. However, some vehicles do employ a synchromesh system for the reverse gear, thus preventing possible crunching if reverse gear is selected while the input shaft is still spinning. Most transmissions include a lockout mechanism to prevent reverse gear from being accidentally selected while the car
975-482: A reduction gear of 1.75/1. The shift lever was column-mounted and had three positions: Low (in the “2nd” position of a conventional 3-speed manual unit), High (in the “3rd” position), and Reverse (same as the 3-speed). The clutch had to be depressed every time the gear shift lever was moved. When the lever was put in Low, the car started in “underdrive” low; when the vehicle reached a minimum speed of 6 mph (9.7 km/h),
1050-524: A semi-automatic system was optional from Chrysler and Desoto from 1941, and for Dodge from 1949. The fluid coupling and torque converter was invented by the German engineer Foettinger in the early 1900s. For non-marine applications he licensed the development of the fluid coupling to the British engineer Harold Sinclair and his Fluidrive Engineering Co Ltd (now part of Voith AG). Following the development of
1125-441: A switch or pressing a button on the gearshift knob or on the steering column, or automatically by momentarily lifting the foot from the accelerator with the vehicle traveling above a certain road speed. Automatic overdrives were disengaged by flooring the accelerator, and a lockout control was provided to enable the driver to disable overdrive and operate the transmission as a normal (non-overdrive) transmission. The term 'overdrive'
1200-484: A synchromesh and teeth on each side in order to lock either gear to the shaft. Unlike some other types of clutches (such as the foot-operated clutch of a manual-transmission car), a dog clutch provides non-slip coupling and is not suited to intentional slipping. In order to provide smooth gearshifts without requiring the driver to manually match the engine revs for each gearshift, most modern passenger car transmissions use 'synchromesh' (also called 'synchronizer rings') on
1275-411: A three-speed manual transmission. This transmission, along with many similar designs that it inspired, was a non-synchronous (also called sliding-mesh ) design where gear changes involved sliding the gears along their shafts so that the desired cogs became meshed. The driver was therefore required to use careful timing and throttle manipulation when shifting, so the gears would be spinning at roughly
1350-429: Is also used to describe a gear with a ratio of less than one (e.g., if the top gear of the transmission has a ratio of 0.8:1). Vehicles with a manual transmission can often be push started when the starter motor is not operational, such as when the car has a dead battery or when the starter motor itself has malfunctioned and is unable to deliver sufficient rotational energy to turn the engine over. When push-starting,
1425-427: Is connected via a pinion gear at the end of the counter/output shaft. In a modern constant-mesh manual transmission, the gear teeth are permanently in contact with each other, and dog clutches (sometimes called dog teeth ) are used to select the gear ratio for the transmission. When the dog clutches for all gears are disengaged (i.e. when the transmission is in neutral), all of the gears are able to spin freely around
1500-445: Is moving forwards. This can take the form of a collar underneath the gear knob which needs to be lifted or requiring extra force to push the gearshift lever into the plane of reverse gear. Another design of transmission that is used in older cars , trucks , and tractors , is a non-synchronous transmission (also known as a crash gearbox). Non-synchronous transmissions use a sliding-mesh (or constant-mesh, in later years) design and have
1575-746: Is not considered a manual transmission. Some automatic transmissions are based on the mechanical build and internal design of a manual transmission but have added components (such as computer -controlled actuators and sensors ) which automatically control the timing and speed of the gear shifts and clutch; this design is typically called an automated manual transmission (or sometimes a clutchless manual transmission ). Contemporary manual transmissions for cars typically use five or six forward gears ratios and one reverse gear, however, transmissions with between two and seven gears have been produced at times. Transmissions for trucks and other heavy equipment often have between eight and twenty-five gears, in order to keep
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#17327867552151650-404: Is used to reverse the direction in which the output shaft rotates. In many transmissions, the input and output shafts can be directly locked together (bypassing the countershaft) to create a 1:1 gear ratio which is referred to as direct-drive . In a transmission for longitudinal engined vehicles (e.g. most rear-wheel-drive cars), it is common for the input shaft and output shaft to be located on
1725-674: The Honda Element , the Honda Civic , the Daihatsu Sigra , and the Honda Avancier , may feature a manual or automatic transmission gear shifter located on the vehicle's instrument panel, similar to the mid-1950s Chryslers and Powerglide Corvairs . Console-mounted shifters are similar to floor-mounted gear shifters in that most of the ones used in modern vehicles operate on a horizontal plane and can be mounted to
1800-427: The splines on the shaft, forcing that shaft to rotate at the same speed as the gear hub. However, the clutch can move back and forth on the shaft, to either engage or disengage the splines. This movement is controlled by a selector fork that is linked to the gear lever. The fork does not rotate, so it is attached to a collar bearing on the selector. The selector is typically symmetric: it slides between two gears and has
1875-415: The stereo system or HVAC system , to help prevent accidental activation or driver confusion. More and more small cars and vans from manufacturers such as Suzuki , Honda , and Volkswagen are featuring console shifters in that they free up space on the floor for other features such as storage compartments without requiring that the gear shift be mounted on the steering column. Also, the basic location of
1950-427: The 1941 brochure for Chrysler automobiles, a silhouette of the car's drivetrain was depicted against an outline of the car body, with the caption of an arrow pointing to the transmission: "Miracle Happens Here"! The transmission shown was an early variant (M4 "Vacamatic") of the later M6 transmission, and was marketed to compete with the new Oldsmobile fully automatic, clutchless Hydramatic transmission, introduced in
2025-471: The 1948 Ferrari 166 Inter and the 1953 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint . Five-speed transmissions became widespread during the 1980s, as did the use of synchromesh on all forward gears. Six-speed manual transmissions started to emerge in high-performance vehicles in the early 1990s, such as the 1990 BMW 850i and the 1992 Ferrari 456 . The first 6-speed manual transmission was introduced in the 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale . The first 7-speed manual transmission
2100-461: The Fluid Drive was mated to a manual transmission, the driver still needed to use the clutch to shift between any of the gears. The presence of Fluid Drive, however, prevented the driver stalling when taking off from a dead stop. The driver could also come to a stop in any gear without using the clutch and could then proceed without shifting or using the clutch. Naturally, acceleration from a stop
2175-533: The U.S. and Canada had a 3-speed column-mounted shifter—the first generation Chevrolet/GMC vans of 1964–70 vintage had an ultra-rare 4-speed column shifter. The column-mounted manual shifter disappeared in North America by the mid-1980s, last appearing in the 1987 Chevrolet pickup truck . Prior to 1980, the GM X platform compacts (Chevrolet Nova and its rebadged corporate clones) were the final passenger cars to have
2250-434: The accelerator pedal and waiting for the “clunk” that signaled the disengagement of the underdrive. An M6 car would automatically shift from High down to underdrive high when car speed dropped below approximately 11 MPH. Fluid Drive Fluid Drive is the trademarked name that Chrysler Corporation assigned to a transmission driveline combination which replaced the flywheel with a hydraulic coupling and performed
2325-432: The accelerator. The clutch was needed to change between low and high range. The fluid drive system allowed the driver to stop at a light or in traffic and remain in gear without depressing the clutch. The driver could, if not concerned with fast acceleration, drive the car all day long in high range, stopping and starting, without ever having to touch the clutch pedal or gearshift lever unless faster acceleration or reversing
Presto-Matic - Misplaced Pages Continue
2400-484: The collar from bridging the locking rings while the speeds are still being synchronized. This is achieved through 'blocker rings' (also called 'baulk rings'). The synchro ring rotates slightly because of the frictional torque from the cone clutch. In this position, the dog clutch is prevented from engaging. Once the speeds are synchronized, friction on the blocker ring is relieved and the blocker ring twists slightly, bringing into alignment certain grooves or notches that allow
2475-463: The cone-shaped sleeve on the dog collar so that the friction forces can reduce the difference in rotational speeds. Once these speeds are equalized, the dog clutch can engage, and thus the new gear is now in use. In a modern gearbox, the action of all of these components is so smooth and fast it is hardly noticed. Many transmissions do not include synchromesh on the reverse gear (see Reverse gear section below). The synchromesh system must also prevent
2550-408: The confusion by referring to both the standard-shift fluid drive and M6 installations indiscriminately as "Fluid Drive" in much of their marketing and sales literature. General Motors also used a fluid coupling for the full-automatic Hydramatic transmission, introduced for 1940. The standard Fluid Drive configuration consisted of the fluid coupling and a manual transmission and clutch in tandem. If
2625-417: The design of, and are technically similar to, a conventional manual transmission. They have a gear shifter which requires the driver's input to manually change gears, but the driver is not required to engage a clutch pedal before changing gear. Instead, the mechanical linkage for the clutch pedal is replaced by an actuator , servo , or solenoid and sensors , which operate the clutch system automatically when
2700-438: The dog clutch to fall into the engagement. Common metals for synchronizer rings are brass and steel , and are produced either by forging or sheet metal shaping. The latter involves stamping the piece out of a sheet metal strip and then machining to obtain the exact shape required. The rings are sometimes coated with anti-wear linings (also called 'friction linings') made from molybdenum , iron , bronze or carbon (with
2775-427: The dog clutches require the input shaft speed to match that of the gear being selected; otherwise, the dog teeth will fail to engage and a loud grinding sound will be heard as they clatter together. Therefore, to speed up or slow down the input shaft as required, cone-shaped brass synchronizer rings are attached to each gear. When the driver moves the gearshift lever towards the next gear, these synchronizer rings press on
2850-454: The driver lifted his foot off the accelerator, the underdrive unit would kick out and the car would be in Low. Similarly, with the lever in High position, the car would start in underdrive high, and at any speed above 13 mph (21 km/h), the driver would lift his foot and the car would “shift” into direct drive. This configuration had the effect of providing 4 gear ratios: In order for
2925-479: The driver to manually select the gears by operating a gear stick and clutch (which is usually a foot pedal for cars or a hand lever for motorcycles). Early automobiles used sliding-mesh manual transmissions with up to three forward gear ratios. Since the 1950s, constant-mesh manual transmissions have become increasingly commonplace, and the number of forward ratios has increased to 5-speed and 6-speed manual transmissions for current vehicles. The alternative to
3000-417: The driver to select the next-higher or next-lower gear. In a vehicle with a manual transmission, the flywheel is attached to the engine's crankshaft , therefore rotating at engine speed. A clutch disc sits between the flywheel and the transmission pressure plate which is attached to the transmission input shaft, controlling whether the transmission is connected to the engine or not. The clutch pedal controls
3075-631: The driver touches or moves the gearshift . This removes the need for a physical clutch pedal. A manual transmission requires the driver to operate the gear stick and clutch in order to change gears (unlike an automatic transmission or semi-automatic transmission , where one (typically the clutch) or both of these functions are automated ). Most manual transmissions for cars allow the driver to select any gear ratio at any time, for example shifting from second to fourth gear, or fifth to third gear. However, sequential manual transmissions , which are commonly used in motorcycles and racing cars , only allow
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3150-413: The early 1950s, most cars only had synchromesh for the shift from third gear to second gear (drivers' manuals in vehicles suggested that if the driver needed to shift from second to first, it was best to come to a complete stop beforehand). Up until the late 1970s, most transmissions had three or four forward gear ratios, although five-speed manual transmissions were occasionally used in sports cars such as
3225-412: The effect of making city taxi-driving far easier. In 1950, a Dodge Coronet, which had Fluid Drive standard, offered Gyromatic for $ 94.60 ($ 956.22 in 2017 dollars), while Hydramatic was a $ 158.50 option ($ 1,602.12) on Pontiacs. The fluid drive fluid coupling was also used in conjunction with Chrysler's M6 Presto-Matic semi-automatic transmissions. The M6 was in reality a two-speed manual transmission with
3300-407: The energy generated by the wheels moving on the road is transferred to the driveshaft, then the transmission, and eventually the crankshaft. When the crankshaft spins as a result of the energy generated by the rolling of the vehicle, the motor is cranked over. This simulates what the starter is intended for and operates in a similar way to crank handles on very old cars from the early 20th century, with
3375-456: The engine speed within the optimal power band for all typical road speeds. Operating such transmissions often uses the same pattern of shifter movement with a single or multiple switches to engage the next sequence of gears. Many of the first automobiles were rear-engined, with a simple belt-drive functioning as a single-speed transmission. The 1891 Panhard et Levassor is considered a significant advance in automotive transmissions since it used
3450-705: The fall of 1939 on 1940 Model year Oldsmobiles. The Hydramatic was embraced enthusiastically by consumers, and was installed in 45% of 1941 Model Oldsmobiles. Manual transmission A manual transmission ( MT ), also known as manual gearbox , standard transmission (in Canada , the United Kingdom and the United States ), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system where gear changes require
3525-399: The fifth selector on the main shaft. This means that when the vehicle is stopped and idling in neutral with the clutch engaged and the input shaft spinning, the third-, fourth-, and fifth-gear pairs do not rotate. When neutral is selected, none of the gears on the output shaft are locked to the shaft, allowing the input and output shafts to rotate independently. For reverse gear, an idler gear
3600-526: The first-gen Fiat Ducato . Many European cars had manual column shifts and the Renault 16TX had a 5 speed. Column shifters are mechanically similar to floor shifters, although shifting occurs in a vertical plane instead of a horizontal one. Because the shifter is further away from the transmission, and the movements at the shifter and at the transmission are in different planes, column shifters require more complicated linkage than floor shifters. Advantages of
3675-569: The fluid coupling, Sinclair in turn licensed the fluid coupling, now also known as "Fluidrive Coupling" to many companies including the Chrysler Corporation. Many automobile historians confuse Chrysler's Fluid Drive with the Corporation's so-called semi-automatic M5/M6 transmissions , which were marketed under various names as "Simplimatic" (Chrysler), "Tip-Toe Shift" (DeSoto), and "Gyro-Matic" (Dodge). Chrysler contributed to
3750-442: The forces required or provide a faster shift time . The first car to use a manual transmission with synchromesh was the 1929 Cadillac . Most North American marques had adopted synchronized manual transmissions, usually for second and high gears, by the mid-1930s. In 1947, Porsche patented the split ring synchromesh system. The 1952 Porsche 356 was the first car to use a transmission with synchromesh on all forward gears. In
3825-401: The forward gears. These devices automatically match the speed of the input shaft with that of the gear being selected, thus removing the need for the driver to use techniques such as double-clutching . The synchromesh transmission was invented in 1919 by Earl Avery Thompson and first used on production cars by Cadillac in 1928. The need for synchromesh in a constant-mesh transmission is that
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#17327867552153900-418: The front-wheel-drive transaxle's ring gear. This allows for a narrower transmission since the length of each countershaft is halved compared with one that contains four gears and two shifters. The fixed and free gears can be mounted on either the input or output shaft or both. For example, a five-speed transmission might have the first-to-second selectors on the countershaft, but the third-to-fourth selector and
3975-437: The gear shift in comparison to the column shifter makes console shifters easier to operate than column shifters. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, fuel-efficient highway cruising with low engine speed was in some cases enabled on vehicles equipped with 3- or 4-speed transmissions by means of a separate overdrive unit in or behind the rear housing of the transmission. This was actuated either manually while in high gear by throwing
4050-410: The gearshift lever into reverse results in gears moving to mesh together. Another unique aspect of the reverse gear is that it consists of two gears—an idler gear on the countershaft and another gear on the output shaft—and both of these are directly fixed to the shaft (i.e. they are always rotating at the same speed as the shaft). These gears are usually spur gears with straight-cut teeth which—unlike
4125-410: The helical teeth used for forward gear—results in a whining sound as the vehicle moves in reverse. When reverse gear is selected, the idler gear is physically moved to mesh with the corresponding gears on the input and output shafts. To avoid grinding as the gears begin to the mesh, they need to be stationary. Since the input shaft is often still spinning due to momentum (even after the car has stopped),
4200-645: The late 1930s and became common during the 1940s and 1950s. If a U.S. vehicle was equipped with overdrive , it was very likely to be a Borg-Warner type, operated by briefly backing off the accelerator pedal when above 28 mph (45 km/h) to enable, and momentarily flooring the same pedal to return to normal gear. The control simply disables overdrive for such situations as parking on a hill or preventing unwanted shifting into overdrive. [REDACTED] Later, European and Japanese models began to have 4-speed column shifters with this shift pattern: [REDACTED] A majority of North American-spec vehicles sold in
4275-399: The latter usually reserved for high-performance transmissions due to their high cost). Mechanical wear of the synchronizer rings and sleeves can cause the synchromesh system to become ineffective over time. These rings and sleeves have to overcome the momentum of the entire input shaft and clutch disk during each gearshift (and also the momentum and power of the engine, if the driver attempts
4350-462: The nickname "crash" because the difficulty in changing gears can lead to gear shifts accompanied by crashing/crunching noises. Vehicles with manual transmissions use a clutch to manage the linkage between the engine and the transmission, and decouple the transmission from the engine during gearshifts and when the vehicle is stationary. Without a clutch, the engine would stall any time the vehicle stopped, and changing gears would be difficult (deselecting
4425-406: The other shaft, with a bearing located between the two shafts. In a transmission for transverse engined vehicles (e.g., front-wheel-drive cars), there are usually only two shafts: input and countershaft (sometimes called input and output). The input shaft runs the whole length of the gearbox, and there is no separate input pinion. These transmissions also have an integral differential unit, which
4500-489: The output shaft gears are able to rotate independently of the output shaft itself (through the use of bearings located between the gears and the shaft). Through the use of collars (operated using the shift rods ), the speed of the output shaft becomes temporarily locked to the speed of the selected gear. Some transmission designs—such as in the Volvo 850 and S70—have two countershafts, both driving an output pinion meshing with
4575-401: The output shaft inside the transmission. This is a fundamental difference compared with a typical hydraulic automatic transmission , which uses an epicyclic (planetary) design, and a hydraulic torque converter . An automatic transmission that allows the driver to control the gear selection (such as shift paddles or "+/-" positions on the gear selector) is called a manumatic transmission, and
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#17327867552154650-424: The output shaft. When the driver selects a gear, the dog clutch for that gear is engaged (via the gear selector rods), locking the transmission's output shaft to a particular gear set. This means the output shaft rotates at the same speed as the selected gear, thus determining the gear ratio of the transmission. The dog clutch is a sliding selector mechanism that sits around the output shaft. It has teeth to fit into
4725-444: The pressure plate ( clutch engaged – the clutch pedal is not being pressed) or not connected to the engine ( clutch disengaged – the clutch pedal is being pressed down). When the engine is running and the clutch is engaged (i.e., clutch pedal up), the flywheel spins the clutch pressure plate and hence the transmission. The design of most manual transmissions for cars is that gear ratios are selected by locking selected gear pairs to
4800-401: The same axis, since this reduces the torsional forces to which the transmission casing must withstand. The assembly consisting of both the input and output shafts is referred to as the main shaft (although sometimes this term refers to just the input shaft or output shaft). Independent rotation of the input and output shafts is made possible by one shaft being located inside the hollow bore of
4875-749: The same function as a modern torque converter , only without torque multiplication. A conventional clutch , and three- or four-speed manual transmission was installed behind the fluid coupling. Fluid drive was used in many military vehicles produced for the US Armed Forces during the Second World War . It was offered for civilian use from 1939 through 1953 in Chryslers, 1940 through 1953 in DeSotos , and from 1941 through 1954 in Dodge models;
4950-441: The same speed when engaged; otherwise, the teeth would refuse to mesh. This was difficult to achieve, so gear changes were often accompanied by grinding or crunching sounds, resulting in the gearboxes being nicknamed "crash boxes". Even after passenger cars had switched to synchronous transmissions (i.e. with synchronizers), many transmissions for heavy trucks, motorcycles and racing cars remained non-synchronous, in order to withstand
5025-422: The selector forks within the transmission. Motorcycles typically employ sequential manual transmissions , although the shift pattern is modified slightly for safety reasons. Gear selection is usually via the left-foot (or, on older motorcycles; right-foot) shift lever with a layout of 1–N–2–3–4–5–6. During the period when U.S. vehicles usually had only three forward speeds, the most common gear-shifter location
5100-529: The transmission the Tip-Toe Shift , while Dodge used Gyro-Matic , Fluid-Matic , Fluidtorque , or Gyro-Torque . Chrysler and DeSoto sold the unit from 1946 to 1953, while Dodge did not introduce it until 1948. Plymouth introduced their Hy-Drive semi-automatic in 1953, but all were replaced by the PowerFlite hydraulic automatic in 1954. Attached to the transmission was an “underdrive” with
5175-484: The transmission. FF (front-engined, front-wheel drive) vehicles, RR (rear-engined, rear-wheel drive) vehicles and front-engined vehicles with rear-mounted gearboxes often require a mechanical linkage to connect the shifter to the transmission. Some vehicles have a gear lever mounted on the steering column. A 3-speed column shifter, which came to be popularly known as a "three on the tree", began appearing in America in
5250-525: The unit to work without gear clashing, it contained a freewheeling device (in Underdrive, Low and High), and the Owner's manual cautioned drivers not to use “1st or 3rd” gear when descending hills because there was no engine compression braking in those free-wheeling ranges. Generally, most drivers started an M6 car in High and accomplished the shift to direct drive somewhere between 13 and 25 MPH by releasing
5325-467: The vehicle's transmission in much the same way a floor-mounted shifter can. However, because of the location of the gear shifter in comparison to the locations of the column shifter and the floor shifter, as well as the positioning of the shifter to the rest of the controls on the panel often require that the gearshift be mounted in a space that does not feature a lot of controls integral to the vehicle's operation, or frequently used controls, such as those for
5400-466: Was introduced in the 2012 Porsche 911 (991) . In 2008, 75.2% of vehicles produced in Western Europe were equipped with manual transmission, versus 16.1% with automatic and 8.7% with other. A manual transmission has several shafts with various gears and other components attached to them. Most modern passenger cars use 'constant-mesh' transmissions consisting of three shafts: an input shaft ,
5475-406: Was much slower in high gear than it was in first. It must be emphasized that Fluid Drive was not a transmission, only a fluid coupling between the engine and clutch. Fluid Drive could also be mated to the semi-automatic transmission, which was not automatic in any way and should not be confused with Fluid Drive. With the semi-automatic transmissions, the driver shifted manually, selecting reverse or
5550-461: Was on the steering column, a layout that was sometimes called "three on the tree". By contrast, high-performance cars, and European vehicles in general, mostly used a four-speed transmission with floor-mounted shifters. That layout was referred to as "four on the floor". Most FR (front-engined, rear-wheel drive) vehicles have a transmission that sits between the driver and the front passenger seat. Floor-mounted shifters are often connected directly to
5625-405: Was required. For this reason, DeSotos and Dodges were favored by city cab companies from the mid Forties to early Fifties. The semi-automatic came under a variety of names - Vacamatic, Prestomatic, Fluidmatic (Chrysler), Simplimatic, Tip-Toe Hydraulic Shift (DeSoto) and Gyromatic (Dodge). A Fluid Drive Dodge with Gyromatic was far less expensive than a Hydramatic -equipped Pontiac , and had
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