Playing a two finger symphony on just three keys is probably one of the best ways of describing the "tricks" of driving a car. Mastering the fine art of managing the clutch, brake and accelerator, and shifting smoothly into the correct gear, is what separates the really good drivers from the "kerr ... plunk ... kini..kini..." artists on our roads.
Believing the text books that the clutch was a mechanism to smoothen the transfer of power from the engine to the wheels to get the car moving and the gears were only intended to help you get up to speed, was your first folly, you will ultimately discover. With a road filled with 'enemies' who were intent on annihilating you, and with a not-so-friendly 'guru' by your side shouting himself hoarse (poor chap runs a high blood pressure perennially, thanks to his suicidal disciples!), you discover that two feet are not enough to manage all the three pedals. You end up cursing the inventor and, of course, yourself for the crowning folly of deciding to learn to drive! And today in our grid-locked cities where you spend more time pumping the clutch and shifting gears than driving, this could soon make you join the queue at the RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) clinic. It is in moments as these that universally one's thoughts turn to an automatic transmission that will take care of the 'nitty-gritty' and let you enjoy driving. Yes, thoughts of automating the whole "tap-dance" of driving is probably as old as cars.
Generally automatic transmissions, introduced in the 1940s and refined over the years, are of two types. The popular version for cars and heavy vehicles rely on a hydraulic torque convertor, which is a complex and expensive piece of machinery. The second is the Continuously Variable Transmission, again a complex mechanical contraption, which is more suited to lighter vehicles like two wheelers. Of course, developments in recent decades have improved the performance of both types, particularly with the marriage of improved mechanics with 'intelligent' microproocessor-based controllers.
But for the driver, the fact remains that the automatic transmission-equipped cars are priced much higher than their cousins with manual gear boxes, and also that their mileage is an order lower than the manuals. The automatics are fine for cruising along the highway, but in the stop-and-go traffic of our congested cities, the price paid for ease of driving is a far lower mileage.
This has been the case, till the Maruti-Suzuki engineers came up with a brilliant solution. As we all know, the company made its name with small, petrol-sipping city cars priced aggressively. So fitting in an expensive auto transmission was out of the question. This is where the "out-of-the-box" thinking of the design engineers deserves kudos for coming up with a simple solution. When you look at it, what does the driver do? S/he judges the road/load conditions and selects the proper gear, applies the clutch and accelerator as needed (and, of course, the brakes, but which do not come into the 'auto' equation!), and off you go! So the engineers probably thought, why not put a "hydraulic hand" on top of the manual gear box and another one (a 'hydraulic foot'!) on the clutch, and then control the whole thing with a microprocessor running an intelligent program?
 |
| The auto-manual gear lever |
Well, not a difficult task in these days of advanced "mechantronics", and so they did precisely that. Electro-hydraulic actuator assemblies and an 'intelligent' controller takes care of the 'gear-shifting' part. The driver is only tasked with managing the accelerator and the brakes. The engineers have 'tweaked' the system so well that it shifts gears as well as (if not better!) a good driver, and that too quickly and smoothly. The result? A good automatic transmission that does not need a basic redesign of the vehicle -- it is something like a 'bolt-on' unit and so production is not complicated. The same model could be offered in both automatic and non-auto variants, and in all probability, the "auto gear box add-on" could be fitted to most models sooner than later if the demand grows.
You start the car in neutral (N). With brake engaged, shift into drive (D) and the car goes into a slow speed "creep" mode, which is also said to be ideal for bumper-to-bumper city traffic. A press of the "fly-by-wire" accelerator (no conventional cable link here) sends the signal to the "brain" for a peppy take-off. Also, if you fancy it, you may shift into manual (M) and use the + and - "nudges" to shift up or down as need be. Pretty neat! Readers may recall that sometime back BMW (and other makes too) had introduced such "paddle gear shifts". One BMW model, I recall, even had a small switch labelled Economy-Sport, which changed the "gear shifting behaviour" of the microprocessor from a sedate, economical manner to a more aggressive sporty style!
The "icing on the cake" is that the auto version offers virtually the same mileage as the manual gear box car, and the pricing is only marginally higher than a manual model. I guess one more "hidden advantage" for the "average non-expert driver" is less wear and tear on the clutch and the gear box, not to say anything about the wear on the nerves of the driver and the passengers in the bumper-to-bumper city traffic! I am told that the engineers are so confident of the reliability of the unit that the company is thinking of offering a warranty of ten years on the sealed electro-hydraulic actuator system and the controller.
Let us hope that Maruti's novel EZ Drive system is capable of meeting all the requirements of performance and ease of use.
A bonus for us would be the 'ease' it would confer on our pockets, our limbs and our nerves!
-------------------------------------------
PS: It has subsequently been learned that the "automated manual transmission" technology has been sourced from Magneti Marelli, an Italian company that specializes in developing high-tech systems for the auto industry. Still the original thinking behind the simpler approach to the issue is laudable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission
http://jalopnik.com/this-is-how-an-automatic-transmission-works-517581894
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission
