Manumatic

Last updated

The modern usage of the automotive term manumatic denotes an automatic transmission that allows the driver to select a specific gear, typically using paddle-shifters, steering wheel-mounted push-buttons, or "+" and "-" controls on the gear selector. [1]

Contents

In the 1950s, the Automotive Products company in the United Kingdom produced an automated clutch system for automobiles called the Manumatic. This system was installed in cars with a manual transmission, allowing them to be driven without needing to use a clutch pedal.

Automatic transmissions

Since the popularization of the hydraulic automatic transmission in the 1940s, many automatic transmissions have allowed indirect control of the gear selection, usually in the form of locking out higher gears. This was provided to allow engine braking on downhills or prevent the use of overdrive gears when towing and was typically achieved using positions such as "3", "2", and "1" on the gear selector.

An automatic transmission with a manumatic function provides a greater level of control by allowing the driver to request an upshift or downshift at a specific time. This is usually achieved using "+" and "-" positions on the gear selector or with paddle-shifters mounted beside the steering wheel. Manufacturers use a variety of tradenames for the manumatic function, as listed below.

The driver often does not have full control of the gear selection, as most manumatic modes will deny a gear change request that would result in the engine stalling (from too few RPM) or over-revving. Some transmissions will hold the requested gear indefinitely, while others will return to automatic gear selection after a period of time.

Tradenames

1950s automated clutch system

The Automotive Products company in the United Kingdom produced an automated clutch system for automobiles in the 1950s called the Manumatic. This system is largely unrelated to later use of the term relating to automatic transmissions. The Manumatic was installed in cars with a manual transmission, allowing them to be driven without needing to use a clutch pedal. [2] According to the modern use of the term it would be classified as an automated manual transmission and not as a manumatic transmission.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automatic transmission</span> Type of motor vehicle transmission that automatically changes gear ratio as the vehicle moves

An automatic transmission is a multi-speed transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transmission (mechanical device)</span> Drivetrain transmitting propulsion power

A transmission is a mechanical device which uses gears to change the speed or direction of rotation in a machine. Many transmissions have multiple gear ratios, but there are also transmissions that use a single fixed gear ratio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manual transmission</span> Motor vehicle manual gearbox; stick shift

A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission, or stick shift, is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear changes require the driver to manually select the gears by operating a gear stick and clutch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freewheel</span> Mechanism which disconnects a driveshaft from a faster-rotating driven shaft

In mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft. An overdrive is sometimes mistakenly called a freewheel, but is otherwise unrelated.

A semi-automatic transmission is a multiple-speed transmission where part of its operation is automated, but the driver's input is still required to launch the vehicle from a standstill and to manually change gears. Semi-automatic transmissions were almost exclusively used in motorcycles and are based on conventional manual transmissions or sequential manual transmissions, but use an automatic clutch system. But some semi-automatic transmissions have also been based on standard hydraulic automatic transmissions with torque converters and planetary gearsets.

Ultramatic was the trademarked name of the Packard Motor Car Company's automatic transmission introduced in 1949 and produced until 1954, at Packard's Detroit, Michigan East Grand Boulevard factory. It was produced thereafter from late 1954, thru 1956 at the new Packard "Utica" Utica, Michigan facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Direct-shift gearbox</span> Type of dual-clutch transmission

A direct-shift gearbox is an electronically-controlled, dual-clutch, multiple-shaft, automatic gearbox, in either a transaxle or traditional transmission layout, with automated clutch operation, and with fully-automatic or semi-manual gear selection. The first dual-clutch transmissions were derived from Porsche in-house development for the Porsche 962 in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preselector gearbox</span> Type of manual transmission

A preselector gearbox is a type of manual transmission mostly used on passenger cars and racing cars in the 1930s, in buses from 1940-1960 and in armoured vehicles from the 1930s to the 1970s. The defining characteristic of a preselector gearbox is that the gear shift lever allowed the driver to "pre-select" the next gear, usually with the transmission remaining in the current gear until the driver pressed the "gear change pedal" at the desired time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercedes-Benz 7G-Tronic transmission</span> Motor vehicle component

7G-Tronic is Mercedes-Benz's trademark name for its seven-speed automatic transmission, starting off with the W7A 700 and W7A 400 as core models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automated manual transmission</span> Type of multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system

The automated manual transmission (AMT) is a type of transmission for motor vehicles. It is essentially a conventional manual transmission equipped with automatic actuation to operate the clutch and/or shift gears.

A transmission control unit (TCU), also known as a transmission control module (TCM), or a gearbox control unit (GCU), is a type of automotive ECU that is used to control electronic automatic transmissions. Similar systems are used in conjunction with various semi-automatic transmissions, purely for clutch automation and actuation. A TCU in a modern automatic transmission generally uses sensors from the vehicle, as well as data provided by the engine control unit (ECU), to calculate how and when to change gears in the vehicle for optimum performance, fuel economy and shift quality.

Teletouch is the trade name for the transmission controls found on many Edsel brand automobiles manufactured by the Edsel and Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln (M-E-L) Divisions of the Ford Motor Company. The significance of the Teletouch systems lies in its conception, design and symbolism for American automobiles produced in the 1950s, and the gadgets designed into them. The main distinguishing feature of the system was its use of push buttons on the steering wheel to shift gears as opposed to a gear stick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gear stick</span> Lever used for shifting gears manually

A gear stick, gear lever, gearshift or shifter, more formally known as a transmission lever, is a metal lever attached to the transmission of an automobile. The term gear stick mostly refers to the shift lever of a manual transmission, while in an automatic transmission, a similar lever is known as a gear selector. A gear stick will normally be used to change gear whilst depressing the clutch pedal with the left foot to disengage the engine from the drivetrain and wheels. Automatic transmission vehicles, including hydraulic automatic transmissions, automated manual and older semi-automatic transmissions, like VW Autostick, and those with continuously variable transmissions, do not require a physical clutch pedal.

Easytronic is the Opel tradename for a type of transaxle-based automated manual transmission or gearbox, as used in some Opel/Vauxhall cars.

The name Autostick has been used for a Volkswagen semi-automatic transmission, which is a vacuum-operated automatic clutch system, coupled with a conventional 3-speed manual transmission. The "AutoStick" system designed by Chrysler allows for manual selection of gears with a standard hydraulic automatic transmission, also known as a manumatic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sequential manual transmission</span> Motor transmission

A sequential manual transmission, also known as a sequential gearbox, or a sequential transmission, is a type of non-synchronous manual transmission used mostly for motorcycles and racing cars. It produces faster shift times than traditional synchronized manual transmissions, and restricts the driver to selecting either the next or previous gear, in a successive order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selespeed</span> Automated manual gearbox

Selespeed is the name of an automated manual transmission used in Alfa Romeo cars, developed by Italian company Magneti Marelli and made by Graziano Trasmissioni.

Twin Clutch SST is the brand name of a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, developed by Getrag for Mitsubishi Motors. The system was first incorporated in the 2008 Lancer Evolution X, and was designed to be a more performance-oriented system than that developed by rival manufacturers, with shorter gear ratios optimized for acceleration.

9G-Tronic is Mercedes-Benz's trademark name for its nine-speed automatic transmission, starting off with the W9A 700 as core model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car controls</span> Car parts used to control the vehicle

Car controls are the components in automobiles and other powered road vehicles, such as trucks and buses, used for driving and parking.

References

  1. "MANUMATIC English Definition and Meaning". Lexico.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  2. Abbey, Staton. "Practical Automobile Engineering - Clutch Systems": 193–194.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)