Running gear
The DAF 600 was the first car mass-produced with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) - the innovative DAF Variomatic system. [2] The same system was carried over to the 750, the Daffodil, and its variants. No conventional gearboxes were offered on the cars - all these economy cars came with this automatic transmission system as standard.
Variomatic working principles
The Variomatic employs centrifugal weights to control the drive ratio of the transmission and is enhanced by the engine manifold vacuum. The action of the bob weights and inlet vacuum combined to pull together the cheeks of two variable-diameter driving pulleys, driven directly from the engine. These were connected, by rubber 'V' belts, to two similar driven pulleys, connected to the drive wheels. The cheeks of the driven pulleys were held together by spring tension, which was progressively overcome as the drive pulleys expanded and the tension of the belts increased.
The DAF Variomatics were thereby the only cars ever produced which went faster by the simple expedient of gently and gradually releasing the accelerator once top engine speed had been reached, because the increased vacuum took over from the reducing bob weight speed. The Variomatic also permitted increased engine braking by operating a switch on the dashboard to reverse the action of the vacuum on the pulley's diaphragm, seeking a lower ratio with increased manifold vacuum.
Two separate transmissions underneath the rear seat ran the two driving wheels - one on each wheel, eliminating the need for a differential, since belt slippage allowed for differing speeds of the inner and outer wheels in corners. Strictly speaking, this system worked like a rear transaxle, yielding a favorable weight distribution. The duplication also provided redundancy - if one belt broke, the vehicle would still be driven by one wheel.
An incidental feature was that in reverse (at least for earlier examples) the system allowed the same top speed to be driven as going forwards. Later cars locked the transmission in the lowest ratio when reverse was selected.
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Variomatic is the continuously variable transmission (CVT) of the Dutch car manufacturer DAF, originally developed by Hub van Doorne. It is a stepless, fully-automatic transmission, consisting of a V-shaped drive-belt, and two pulleys, each of two cones, whose effective diameter can be changed so that the "V" belt runs nearer the spindle or nearer the rim, depending on the separation of the cones. These are synchronized so that the belt always remains at the same optimal tension.
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