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Posts Tagged “
Transmission
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ennui countermeasure
We got waaaay more entries than we expected in yesterday's Create The Jalopnik Transmission Name contest, so after slogging through all the suggestions (and discarding those with Astroglide references, you pervs- this is serious business here!) we've come up with thirteen finalists instead of the planned "few." The winner gets 25 Little Tree air fresheners and the glory of seeing his or her creation proudly emblazoned on each and every transmission to come off the planned Jalopnik-operated Wall Of Death Transmission Factory assembly line. Make the jump and make your vote count!
More »
Vote For Your Favorite Transmission Name!
We got waaaay more entries than we expected in yesterday's Create The Jalopnik Transmission Name contest, so after slogging through all the suggestions (and discarding those with Astroglide references, you pervs- this is serious business here!) we've come up with thirteen finalists instead of the planned "few." The winner gets 25 Little Tree air fresheners and the glory of seeing his or her creation proudly emblazoned on each and every transmission to come off the planned Jalopnik-operated Wall Of Death Transmission Factory assembly line. Make the jump and make your vote count!More »
ennui countermeasure
Create The Best Transmission Name, Get Fabulous Prizes!
We love contests, so what better way to brighten the gloom of that ol' Monday salt mine than by thinking up the ultimate cool transmission name? Those of you who have been following the Cool Transmission Name Of The Day series have no doubt looked at names such as Toyoglide and Dynaflow and said to yourselves, "Hey, I could do that!" Well, now you can, because we're going to work 24/7 to get the Gawker Overlords to fund the creation of the Wall Of Death Transmission Factory, where the Official Jalopnik Transmission™ will be manufactured! Make the jump to learn how to enter and what you'll win...More »
cool transmission name of the day
Rush-Matic!
The Simca Vedette came with a scaled-down flathead Ford V8, and any French car that looks like a tiny late-50s Chrysler with a 2.1 liter flathead Ford under the hood is aces in our book... but when that car comes with an automatic overdrive unit with a name as cool as Rush-Matic... why, it vaults straight into the Jalopnik Hall of Fame! Check out this Vedette ad to see the amazing Rush-Matic in action. [Club Vedette]
cool transmission name of the day
Rock Crusher!
So far we've had only automatics in the Cool Transmission Name Of The Day series, but that doesn't mean The General's indestructible Muncie M-22 doesn't deserve its day of CTNOTD glory. Oh, sure, "Rock Crusher" wasn't its official name, but I'm making up the rules here and I say it qualifies! In addition to being named after the Indiana town of its manufacture (giving Muncieites the right to look down their noses at residents of Saginaw, Michigan, where the wimpier GM 4-speeds were built), the Rock Crusher was installed in Muscle Era GTOs, Corvettes, GSXs, and the like. [Year One]
cool transmission name of the day
Dynaflow!
Back when each of The General's divisions designed its own hardware, Buick developed the two-speed Dynaflow automatic from the transmission it put in M18 tank destroyers during the war. Yes, the Dynaflow started out as a transmission for a tracked vehicle! Sadly, this Cool Transmission Name disappeared after the 1963 model year. [Wikipedia]
cool transmission name of the day
Toyoglide!
We aren't bothered by the fact that Toyota's first automatic transmission was based on GM's famous two-speed Powerglide, because Toyota came up with one of the best transmission names of all time: Toyoglide! You could get your late-60s/early-70s Crowns and Coronas with the Toyoglide option, and it's a shame that Toyota doesn't use the Toyoglide name on their current offerings. Photo credit: Hemmings Auto Blogs [Wikipedia]
cool transmission name of the day
Cool Transmission Name Of The Day: Ultramatic!
We haven't forgotten the Engine of the Day series, but all the research I've been doing for the next round of EOTD entrants keeps turning up the incredible futuristic names that manufacturers used for automatic transmissions. Back when the slushbox was the Next Big Thing, everyone had to have a catchy name, and today we're going to look at Packard's: the Ultramatic! The two-speed Ultramatic was introduced in 1949 and was used until the end of the Packard era in 1956. Image credit: Autotransmission.fi. [Wikipedia]
question of the day
What's The Proper Orientation Of Manumatics?
Today's review car, which you can read about above, features three ways to clutchlessly shift gears. You can push/pull the thumb buttons, push/pull the shifter or just let the automatic do its thing on its own. Assuming you've given in and gotten a slushbox with the manual mode, we're going to give you credit and assume you'll mostly choose the gears yourself. This brings up the question of which is the proper orientation? Wes and I got into a long debate about this ourselves, not being able to agree if it should follow the racer model of forward (away from you) for downshifts and towards you for upshifts, or do the inverse. More »
news
Ford Reveals New 6-Speed Automatic, More Power For Escape And Mariner
Ford has announced an all new front drive automatic 6 speed transmission with the elegant name "6F35." The new trans sports all kinds of innovative features designed to offer better fuel economy, quieter operation and reduced NVH. The 6F35 has also got a trick up its sleeve in that flat vehicle towing will no longer be a no-no due to a revised pump and baffle design which provides lube when the interior bits turn, regardless of energy source. As important is the announcement the transmission will be installed in the 2009 Ford Escape and 2009 Mercury Mariner, both of which will get a horsepower bump for their engines. The 2.5L four will see another 17 HP, and the 3.0L V6 will get a whopping 40 HP increase. So despite the 4 to 6% fuel economy improvement with the new trans, expect to see only a 1 MPG improvement in fuel economy. Full details in the press release below. More »
transmission swap
Want A 5-Speed Crown Victoria?
We all thought transplanting the drivetrain from a Lightning F-150 into a 2000 Ford Crown Vic was pretty cool, but some Panther owners might want to take on a less ambitious project that still makes our cars a lot more fun to drive. Say, grabbing the T-45 transmission out of a Mustang and installing it in a Panther, for example. Ford never saw fit to put a manual in the Panther, so it's not a straight bolt-in; that's why it's great to have the scoop from someone who's already solved all the problems involved with such a project. We've seen a very good how-to for those wishing to de-slushbox-ize their GM G-bodies, and now dRock96Marquis has put together a comprehensively documented and illustrated guide to doing the same with a 2003 Crown Victoria. [CrownVic.net]
24 hours of lemons
Real $500 Race Cars Have Manual Transmissions... And Inner-Tube Shifter Boots!
When we started out to build a V8-powered Volvo 244 for the May 10-11 24 Hours of LeMons race, most of the team members assumed we'd be using the good ol' C4 automatic transmission. You know, automatics are way easier to swap, with no troublesome clutch linkage to futz with. But Crew Chief Hellhammer (formerly known as Dave) pointed out that he's built plenty of manual-equipped rods, and then he directed our attention to several Ford V8-compatible T-5 5-speeds (and no C4s) sitting in the weeds behind his shop (he's been working on a '57 Ford project, so his stash-o-parts is heavy on Ford running gear). With our minds filled with images of slushboxes overheating and dying at last year's Altamont race, we decided to go with three pedals instead of two... then held our collective breath when it came time to make it happen for real.More »
junkyard find
I violated my "No Emblem Clutter" policy last week, when I found this Malaisetastic Caddy V8-6-4 emblem at the junkyard, and now I've fallen off the wagon again. It is not possible for me to discover a junked '68 Peugeot with an "Automatique" emblem and not dredge up $2.99 for the thing. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but for now it shall live on my office bulletin board.
Sometimes You Must Buy The Emblem
I violated my "No Emblem Clutter" policy last week, when I found this Malaisetastic Caddy V8-6-4 emblem at the junkyard, and now I've fallen off the wagon again. It is not possible for me to discover a junked '68 Peugeot with an "Automatique" emblem and not dredge up $2.99 for the thing. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but for now it shall live on my office bulletin board.
new cars
M-Power! Five Things We Know About BMW's Dual Clutch Transmission
Add another true automanual tranny to the growing list. Call it the M double-clutch transmission with DriveLogic. It's BMW's new 7-speed switchgear that's shipping with the new M3s, and likely will replace the divisive, largely poky and cumbersome — that is, without some serious futzing — M-Sequential (SMG / SMG II) automated manual. The SMG system uses a high-pressure hydraulic actuator to shift gears, with the latest version (i.e., SMG II) offering five automatic modes and six manual modes and shift times in around 80 miliseconds. In dual-clutch systems, like BMW's new system and VW/Audi's DSG, one clutch handles gears 1, 3, 5, 7 (and reverse) and the second handles 2, 4, 6 — they work alternately, engaging and disengaging in a complex dance that allows for uninterrupted upshifts at speeds of a few milliseconds. An algorithm takes into account throttle position, engine speed, road speed and shift mode in use when calculating shift management. What else do we know about the new M double-clutch transmission with DriveLogic? Click through.More »
retro
The Island That Time Forgot: Hurst Mystery Shifter Display
I forgot to mention one of the most important reasons for having so many surviving old cars on the streets of Alameda: Lee Auto Supply. This old-school auto-parts store has been in the same brick building on Park Street since the 1920s, and now stands as one of the only remaining independent parts stores in northern California. If you go to Lee Auto and ask for, say, a timing-cover gasket for an unknown-origin Ford 289 engine that you bought for $50 from some guy and dropped into your F-100, you won't get a puzzled teenager asking you for the year/make/model so he can punch it into The Computer and give you the wrong part. No, you'll get a genuine parts guy, who will have stories to tell about the 289-powered Comet he used to blow the doors off some dude's Barracuda at City Line back in 1973, and you'll leave with exactly the right part...More »
industry news
Happy Production Of Your One Millionth Allison A-Series Transmission, GM!
GM's feting Allison Transmission's milestone achievement of one million Allison A-Series transmissions, a key piece of the GM trucks formerly known for being "Like A Rock." And, although it's not in the press release, we're assuming the General may have also apologized to Allison for selling their big tranny-maker to the Carlyle Group. Maybe even gotten her some chocolates...or some flowers. You know, something to show 'em they care. Full press release after the jump. More »
transmissions
It's always been our contention that the point when automatic transmission vehicles began to outsell manual transmission vehicles here in the United States was the same point 'merican drivers became less concerned about the trip and more about the destination. Looks like the Wheels blog over at the New York Times has just come to the same conclusion. Travel with them on their journey towards enlightenment. We've already seen how it plays out. [NYT Wheels]
NYT Wheels Blog Examines The Shift Away From Shifting
It's always been our contention that the point when automatic transmission vehicles began to outsell manual transmission vehicles here in the United States was the same point 'merican drivers became less concerned about the trip and more about the destination. Looks like the Wheels blog over at the New York Times has just come to the same conclusion. Travel with them on their journey towards enlightenment. We've already seen how it plays out. [NYT Wheels]
new cars
As a leaked dealer memo indicated earlier this year, BMW's set to launch a DSG-style automanual in its new M3. Having seen neither hide nor hair of the new clockworks in Frankfurt, we're moving on to the next report. That is, word from AutoTelegraaf that the new, electromechanical seven-speed — developed with Getrag — dubbed "M DCT" will debut with the M3 sedan. Talk is of faster, smoother shifts than the M5's unwieldy SMG setup. LA or Detroit debut? Place your bets. [AutoTelegraaf via Motor Authority]
Report: BMW to Launch Dual-Clutch Tranny in M3 Sedan
As a leaked dealer memo indicated earlier this year, BMW's set to launch a DSG-style automanual in its new M3. Having seen neither hide nor hair of the new clockworks in Frankfurt, we're moving on to the next report. That is, word from AutoTelegraaf that the new, electromechanical seven-speed — developed with Getrag — dubbed "M DCT" will debut with the M3 sedan. Talk is of faster, smoother shifts than the M5's unwieldy SMG setup. LA or Detroit debut? Place your bets. [AutoTelegraaf via Motor Authority]
