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Volvo Cars Launches New Powershift AMT for Diesels
11 January 2008
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| The Getrag-Ford Powershift transmission. |
Two-liter turbodiesel versions of the Volvo C30, S40 and V50 are now available with a new six-speed Powershift automated manual transmission. (Earlier post.) The new Powershift transmission is produced by Getrag-Ford Transmissions, a 50:50 joint venture between Getrag and Ford. The transmission was introduced at the 2006 Frankfurt International Motor Show.
In the Powershift, two manual gearboxes work in parallel and are controlled by separate wet clutches arranged on two main shafts. One clutch controls the odd gears (1, 3, 5 and reverse) while the other handles the even ratios (2, 4 and 6). The clutch function is operated by an electro-hydraulic control unit that ensures that one clutch is shut while the other is open, and vice versa. The two clutches thus operate alternately, with one engaging while the other disengages.
This promotes continuous power without any disruption in delivery or torque loss, resulting in fast and smooth gear changes while maintaining acceleration throughout the gearchanging process.
Since Powershift, unlike a conventional automatic transmission, does not need a torque converter, planetary gears or multiple wet clutches, there is also none of the added torque losses that these features bring.
The transmission also cuts fuel consumption by approximately 8% compared with current automatic transmissions, thereby providing the functionality of an automatic transmission with about the fuel economy of a manual.
The Powershift transmission can handle high torque levels and in principle has no limitations on choice of ratio. This makes it a good match for today’s diesel engines.
The version of Powershift that Volvo is now launching is dimensioned to handle torque levels up to 450 Nm (332 lb-ft). In the versions of the Volvo C30, S40 and V50 in which it is fitted, the 2-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel delivers a power output of 101 kW (136 hp) and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque.
January 11, 2008 in Diesel, Transmissions | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
Good to see they selected a transmission with a big torque margin in contrast to VW.
Posted by: GdB | Jan 11, 2008 12:15:53 PM
@ GdB -
lest you forget, the Bugatti Veyron features a DCT (from Ricardo) mated to a 1001hp W16 engine with four turbos. Bugatti is a VW brand, so if money is no object, neither is building a high-torque DCT.
Besides, VW uses the original wet clutch design from BorgWarner for engines delivering up to 350Nm of torque. You can pretty sure there is a big margin of safety on top of that, it just wasn't advertised the way Getrag is now doing for its own products.
Posted by: Rafael Seidl | Jan 11, 2008 2:37:44 PM
