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Old 05-27-2013, 11:01 PM   #4 (permalink)
Ryland
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
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honda cb125 - '74 Honda CB 125 S1
90 day: 79.71 mpg (US)

green wedge - '81 Commuter Vehicles Inc. Commuti-Car

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Transmissions are not a big hog tho... sure automatics can be, but manuals have slipped down because automakers are marketing manuals to people who want sporty cars.... giving them lousy gear ratios and put the engine at an uncomfortable speed.

Chevy and Ford are teaming up to build a better transmission because if you can build a transmission that mimics a CVC transmission by letting the engine stay in that "sweet spot for how fast it's spinning then you can make the engine get better mileage... but only in that narrow speed range, to do that you need to improve the transmission! so it's not that the transmission is wasting energy it's that it's causing the engine to waste energy, so their goal is an 8 or 9 speed gear box that keeps the engine happy without wasting energy like old automatics did.
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