What is a transfer? Read more about transmissions here.

We assume that all motorists know a fair amount of what the gearbox in a car does, but probably not everyone knows how it actually works. In addition, there are many different types and configurations of the gearbox. Read more here and learn how gears work.

The transmission is the main part of your car. It is mounted directly on the engine and converts the combustion power of the engine into an impulse that drives the wheels.

Transmission responsible for efficient driving. By shifting gears, you ensure that the RPM (rpm) is kept low so that the engine is not overloaded and fuel consumption is reduced. The transmission is responsible for converting speed and momentum into power, which then drives the entire car, and its main goal is to make the engine as efficient as possible by reducing fuel consumption while obtaining maximum power.

In other words, the transmission works by transferring power from the engine to the wheels via the drive shaft and axle, allowing you to steer the car.

All this is achieved through the use of gears and gear ratios that the driver selects automatically or manually.

In a car with a manual transmission, clutch will connect the engine and transmission so you can change gears when you press the clutch pedal. IN Automatic transmission, this happens completely automatically.

In the service manual you can see when time to change the gear oil. It is an integral part of any vehicle maintenance and is usually included in service inspection. Even small objects can cause serious damage to the gearbox. Therefore, if you notice that it does not behave as it used to, you should call a mechanic to inspect it.

You if you decide to fix the gearbox yourself, here is a guide.

If you are about to buy a car, it would be a good idea to think about which gearbox to choose, because some classes of cars have it. In this article, we'll help you get started so you can make the right decision. We will also help you gain an understanding of the many types of gearboxes used in today's vehicles and how they work.

Manual transmission vs automatic transmission

A car with a manual transmission has 5 or 6 forward gears and 1 reverse gear, between which the driver shifts, while cars with an automatic transmission perform the necessary gear changes automatically.

British car owners have traditionally and predominantly operated manual transmissions. Autobutler mechanics estimate that around 80% of the entire British car fleet has a manual transmission. However, over the past 30 years, the number of automatic transmission vehicles on the road has increased significantly.

In 1985 only 5% of British cars had an automatic transmission and today 20% own cars with an automatic transmission. In 2017 40% of cars sold in the UK market had an automatic transmission. – so the British are becoming more and more accustomed to this kind of transmission.

The advantage of driving an automatic car is, of course, that you don't have to shift gears at all. It's about comfort. Especially when driving in traffic, it's incredibly nice to have an automatic transmission so you don't have to concentrate on changing gears.

However, if you buy a car with a manual transmission, you will enjoy the feeling of control and grip when shifting gears. Many car owners like the feeling of having a manual transmission. Aside from that, for some cars it also seems like a manual transmission is cheaper to maintain in the long run.

Automatic transmission - how it works

The "conventional" automatic transmission is electronically controlled in the gearbox and powered by a hydraulic system. And since the gearbox is designed to shift to a new gear when changing the speed of the car, this also means that the fuel economy of the automatic transmission is good.

As the name suggests, the car driver does not have to change gears manually. The most common shift lever settings are P for park, R for reverse, N for neutral, and D for drive.

Read more on our blog at how to drive with automatic transmission.

Automatic transmissions are often designed so that in the center of the gear is a large cogwheel - the "sun gear" - that transmits power from the engine. Around the gear wheel are several small gears called planetary gears (similar to the planets around the sun). They have different sizes, and can also be interconnected and separated. Surrounding them is another large gear that transmits power from the planetary gears, which then transfer the power to the wheels. Gearshifts occur in a seamless transition between the various planetary gears, making for a smoother and quieter ride than if you had to disengage and engage the clutch with manual gears.

Many cars, for example Ford has a version of the automatic transmission called Power Shift. This works by making the gears respond even better to pressing the accelerator and therefore get better traction, so if you press hard on the speeder, the car can accelerate relatively better and faster.

In addition, there is a CVT (Continuous Variable Transmission) gearbox on the market. It is characterized by the presence of a single chain or belt, which is adjustable between two drums depending on the speed and revolutions. Thus, in this automatic transmission, the transition is even smoother than in the case of a gearbox with gears and shafts.

It is important to remember regular maintenance fully automatic vehicle transmission. This is because the gearbox is more prone to direct damage and wear over time than a manual gearbox where clutch more prone to wear. For a service inspection, a fully automatic transmission must be cleaned of deposits and other wear-related contaminants in the transmission oil.

Semi automatic transmission

In a semi-automatic transmission, the clutch is still part of the transmission (but not the clutch pedal), while the computer keeps the gear shifting automatically.

The way a semi-automatic transmission works in practice is very different from car to car. In some cars, you do nothing at all when shifting gears and can let the engine and electronics do all the work for you.

In others, you need to "tell" the engine when you want to upshift or downshift. You push the shift lever in the direction you want, and then the electronics change gears for you. The actual change is made in the so-called "drives».

Finally, other cars give you the option to choose for yourself whether you want to be completely hands-free or use the shift lever to shift gears.

From a financial point of view, buying a car with a semi-automatic transmission can be beneficial because it requires less maintenance in the long run. If something breaks in a fully automatic transmission, the mechanic must dive deep into the transmission to fix it, which can be expensive. With semi-automatic transmissions, you have the clutch that wears the most, not the gearbox, and the clutch is somewhat cheaper to repair than the gearbox.

Vehicles most commonly equipped with semi-automatic transmissions Peugeot , Citroën, Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda и Seat. Of course, each brand may have its own gearbox design, but these are typical car brands using a semi-automatic system.

DSG gearbox

The DSG transmission is a cross between a manual and an automatic transmission because the car has a clutch. This is unlike other fully automatic transmissions. There is no clutch pedal, but the function of the clutch itself is retained in the dual clutch, which ensures easy and quick gear changes.

This gearbox is most commonly found in Audi, Škoda and Volkswagen vehicles and therefore mostly in Germany's large car fleet.

Some of the problems with the DSG transmission are that you need to be more careful about its maintenance. If you do not service a DSG transmission and make sure that gearbox oil and oil filter changed, it can last for a relatively short time compared to manual transmissions. It is desirable to have service inspection every 38,000 miles as the gears in the gearbox can be damaged by wear-related dust and deposits.

Sequential gearbox

Some cars also have a sequential gearbox where, as the name suggests, you have to change every gear whether you are upshifting or downshifting. So you shift gears sequentially on a pair of gears, and unlike a manual transmission, you can only shift into the gear that comes before or after the current one. This is because the gears are in line, unlike the H format you know from manual transmissions. Finally, the advantage is that you can change gears faster and get faster acceleration, which is why the sequential gearbox is used in many racing cars.

Active switching control

Lately Hyundai developed an improved version of the transmission in hybrid vehicles. A hybrid car is special in that it has both a gasoline and an electric engine. The big advantage of this car is that it uses an electric motor at a time when conventional gasoline cars consume the most fuel, especially when starting off and accelerating.

In other words: when fuel consumption is at its highest, the hybrid car uses the electric motor. This gives really good fuel economy and is also good for the environment.

However, Active Shift Control technology does even more for fuel economy, shifting and transmission longevity. In this case, the acceleration becomes better.

This is the responsibility of the ASC system, also known as Precise Shift Control, which optimizes momentum and power transfer to the wheels by optimizing shift speed. This is achieved by a sensor in the electric motor detecting the speed in the gearbox, which is then synchronized with the electric motor. This one will then intervene when shifting gears. In this way, energy losses of up to 30% can be avoided thanks to smoother shifting, when the electric motor maintains high vehicle speeds throughout the entire shift. The shift time is reduced from 500 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds, and the friction in the gearbox is less, which increases the service life.

The technology is being introduced first into Hyundai hybrid vehicles and then into established Kia models.

All about gearbox / transmission

• Make your transmission last longer
• What are automatic transmissions?
• Best price when driving with automatic transmission
• How to change gear