The Elio Automatic Transmission

[goofyone]

Let me restate my quote...
If I understand this now, iAV will not be doing the manufacturing of the engines--some company other than iAV will be producing ~700 engines a day (second year). That other company may well be Elio at Shreveport.

Sorry for the confusion. I was just emphasizing my understanding that iAV will not be the manufacturer.

It's ok, thats why I asked as we are always looking for more information to add to this puzzle.

I also agree that IAV is the design and integration firm and will not actually be producing the engines however IAV engineers may be on hand at times to verify the engines are being built to the correct specifications. The information I have seen to date is that the engines will be machined and assembled in the Shreveport plant with Comau providing the equipment and expertise. If assembly were to be handled by another company my guess is that company would be Comau taking over the entire process. I have not seen confirmation either way on this so this is just another thing that we will just have to wait and see about.

 

[Richad]

Double clutch automatic? That is starting to sound exotic (pricey)? I just hope they can save their price point of 6800. I am gonna opt for the 5 spd manual. That is more a proven technology.

double clutch is no longer exotic. I have that in my 2014 ford focus and it works fine. It's also in more and more vehicles. dodge Dart, fiat 600l and I'm sure many more. It's a manual trans that clutches for you automatically.

 

[Terrence]

If so, I'd need to test drive the automatic to make sure it wasn't a dog. But I would really prefer not to go back to a 5-speed at this point in life.

Please do, please report back on your finding after your test drive.
I'll be looking for your review my Elio Friend
Terrence

 

[Mark Ambrose]

Double clutch automatic? That is starting to sound exotic (pricey)? I just hope they can save their price point of 6800. I am gonna opt for the 5 spd manual. That is more a proven technology.

Paul stated the AMT will be a single clutch design in one of his interviews.

 

[Richad]

Thats what I want a 5 speed. Although I like my double clutch design it is on the jerky side from a start but you live with it for the high gas mileage.

 

[ElioDigger]

My only concern is the Gear position Senor or a electric motor going out. Very pricey for the smartcar since it is a dealer part from mercadies.....I have over75K on my AMT and it has worked great so far. I drive it in manual mode mostly

y.

 

[Ray O]

I drove a Toyota corolla CVT I was impressed with the fact that the RPM went so far down when I was driving at consistent speed. I like driving with a standard transmission but I see that a CVT transmission could save MPG's. The CVT i drove also had a power mode that increased the RPM's and another mode that slowed the car down for hills. I am not sure what transmission are available but CVT may help with MPG and performance.

 

[Avards]

This last week, I had occassion to ride in a SMART Car. I was curious as to the operation of the automatic transmission.

In normal driving, I found the shiftig somewhat slow-witted and slugish. I'd say that it was akin to a new driver being introduced to a manual transmission for the first time and not really remembering what the shift pattern is, and having to search for the correct position for the shift lever. Additionnaly that imagined new driver was not fully up on the art of feathering in the clutch and matching the engine rpm. It wasn't really bad, just not refined. Hopefully, newer management systems will be employed if Elio goes this route.

When doing some driving in a shoping center parking lot, some juddering was experienced when the driver was not applying throttle input. I suspect that the management system was fairly rapidily engaging and disengaging the clutch because it thought that the vehicle was coming to a stop. Perhaps, the clutch has a simple on/off mode of operation. I wouldn't really like to get stuck in traffic backups where one needs to just crawl forward in a vehicle with this transmission.

I never thought that I'd say it, but I think that the CVT transmission would be a better selection for the Elio. And, I don't think that you'd be faced with possible periodic clutch replacement if the CVT were to be used.

Just some useless observations that I thought I'd share,

wr

 

[Jim H]

This last week, I had occassion to ride in a SMART Car. I was curious as to the operation of the automatic transmission.

In normal driving, I found the shiftig somewhat slow-witted and slugish. I'd say that it was akin to a new driver being introduced to a manual transmission for the first time and not really remembering what the shift pattern is, and having to search for the correct position for the shift lever. Additionnaly that imagined new driver was not fully up on the art of feathering in the clutch and matching the engine rpm. It wasn't really bad, just not refined. Hopefully, newer management systems will be employed if Elio goes this route.

When doing some driving in a shoping center parking lot, some juddering was experienced when the driver was not applying throttle input. I suspect that the management system was fairly rapidily engaging and disengaging the clutch because it thought that the vehicle was coming to a stop. Perhaps, the clutch has a simple on/off mode of operation. I wouldn't really like to get stuck in traffic backups where one needs to just crawl forward in a vehicle with this transmission.

I never thought that I'd say it, but I think that the CVT transmission would be a better selection for the Elio. And, I don't think that you'd be faced with possible periodic clutch replacement if the CVT were to be used.

Just some useless observations that I thought I'd share,

wr

Having owned a Volvo (which is a great car) with a CVT in the late 1980's, CVT's would have to had significant improvements before I would buy any car with a CVT

 

[ElioDigger]

This last week, I had occassion to ride in a SMART Car. I was curious as to the operation of the automatic transmission.

In normal driving, I found the shiftig somewhat slow-witted and slugish. I'd say that it was akin to a new driver being introduced to a manual transmission for the first time and not really remembering what the shift pattern is, and having to search for the correct position for the shift lever. Additionnaly that imagined new driver was not fully up on the art of feathering in the clutch and matching the engine rpm. It wasn't really bad, just not refined. Hopefully, newer management systems will be employed if Elio goes this route.

When doing some driving in a shoping center parking lot, some juddering was experienced when the driver was not applying throttle input. I suspect that the management system was fairly rapidily engaging and disengaging the clutch because it thought that the vehicle was coming to a stop. Perhaps, the clutch has a simple on/off mode of operation. I wouldn't really like to get stuck in traffic backups where one needs to just crawl forward in a vehicle with this transmission.

I never thought that I'd say it, but I think that the CVT transmission would be a better selection for the Elio. And, I don't think that you'd be faced with possible periodic clutch replacement if the CVT were to be used.

Just some useless observations that I thought I'd share,

wr

currently owning and driving a smart, what you say is true to the beginning smart driver. After a short learning curve the average driver can learn how to smooth out the shift points on the AMT. If you want to drive it like you stole it, then it is not the greatest. The smart also has paddles to drive in manual mode which is good for this style of driving.