Car News & Updates

Automatic Transmission:
This is possibly most popular type of gearbox you will find on cars. Generally these kind of gearboxes give a few option to driver before car start to move and after that gearbox will change the gears based on driver choice. Gears would usually placed in sequence of:
P(Park)
R(Reverse)
N(Neutral or No gear)
D(Drive)
A few numbers in sequence, may come after this order which shows that only specific gears will engaged or some specific option like snow or dirt may be seen.

Generally when car is moving gearbox will choose the right gear based on engine torque which higher torque would brings higher gear.

Choosing the right gear and best gear ratio based on torque is key element in designing and developing Automatic Transmission. In order to achieve this, gearboxes nowadays are more engaged with Mechatronic. For example, Peugeot 206 and Citroen Xsara have same kind of gearbox which gearbox choose the right gearbox based on driver driving habits which it means it always suit driver needs no matter how he drives. For developing this, developers need to use of one of the most advance technologies in Computer Sciences which is called Fuzzy Logic.

Depend on the manufacturer these gearboxes may come with Overdrive option, which in case of urge, driver can active it by pushing acceleration pedal to the end. Overdrive would instantly change gear changing ratios and this will result in lowest possible gear for current speed or simply fastest acceleration possible.

Advantage of Automatic Transmissions is that they are highly fuel efficient and very easy to use but drawback is that they are not bringing as good performance as Manual or Semi-Automatic gearboxes bring.

One of the most common questions about these gearboxes is that why some of them has stair-like scheme to change option. Well the reason is that in this kind of stair sequence (which replaced the straight line sequence)aim is to remove changing button on gear and makes it more user-friendly. Also it helps to keep gear in right position so during driving it has less chance of sudden change.