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Not too long ago there were only two choices of transmission when buying a car, automatic or manual. These days however, there's a bewildering array of gear-shifting devices. Easytronic, Selespeed, SMT, F1, Speedgear, Tiptronic, CVT, Stepshift, Steershift, F-Speed, Multitronic, Q-System, Hypertronic CVT M6, Sportmatic, Freetronic, Speedtronic and a host of other "tronics" and "matics" designed to confuse the unsuspecting car buyer.
The automatic tag is no longer enough for marketing people, who do whatever they can to differentiate products from that of the competition. The truth of the matter is that, bar a few, the majority are just that - automatics. Automatics have always had some degree of manual control should it be required, but the majority of people never use it.
Pre-selectors or sequential shifters were once only found in sports cars. It's surprising, then, that the boundaries between the conventional manual and automatic transmission are becoming so blurred. With buyers in one camp or the other, all these different gear-change methods are a way of seducing us into believing we are buying something different. Americans, in particular, love automatics and the market for automatic transmissions in the US has always been strong.
Many cars offer continuously variable transmissions (CVT) providing greater efficiency and smoothness as they have an infinite range of ratios at their disposal.
Over the years we've been keener to use conventional manual transmissions, with automatic boxes being traditionally associated with larger, executive cars. Things are changing as more and more cars are coming with automatic transmissions.
During the past few years, the demand for automatics has nearly doubled. As a result of emissions regulations and new technologies, this figure is expected to grow even further. The growth in automatic transmissions is expected to go down the CVT road and the system will be matched up to small, efficient engines, rather than the more traditional stepped transmission. CVT essentially works as a gearbox that has no specified ratios - more like a belt that adjusts continuously to provide an infinite range across the engines' operating speeds.
Such technologies are seen as a means of minimising pollution. They are designed to ensure that the engine and transmission interact to provide maximum performance within the most efficient range of the engine. Traditionally only available on smaller-engined cars, recent developments from manufacturers have enabled the benefits of such transmissions to be experienced with larger-engined vehicles.
Common to the majority of automatic transmissions is the ability to self-shift if desired. Often dubbed tip-shift or Tiptronic after the Porsche-developed system, the ability to change ratios by the gear selector, or alternatively steering wheel-mounted buttons, has become a feature on traditional automatics.
This hasn't been lost on manufacturers offering CVT transmissions, with most units providing a range of pre-programmed "stepped" ratios for the driver to select from. The number varies, though Fiat provides a CVT transmission on the Punto with seven ratios to play with.
F1 technology began to filter down to Ferrari road cars. While the manual control of automatic gearboxes may prove a novel distraction on a favoured road, the introduction of automatic manual gearboxes are likely to be embraced by more enthusiastic drivers. These "superstar" drivers do not have a conventional clutch pedal. Hydraulics take the role of the left foot, making for quicker, cleaner shifts, and leaving a free foot for braking.
Such systems have inevitably filtered down to road cars, becoming more and more sophisticated through time. Perhaps the most well-known automatic manual is that offered by Ferrari. This system uses hydraulics to actuate the clutch, the driver free to select the ratios via paddles behind the wheel.
Alfa's Selespeed and Toyota's SMT transmission offer a similar race-car-for-the-road experience, to varying degrees of success. Technically they are not automatics, but for drivers hoping they've found a loophole to get a full driving licence sans clutch control, they are legally automatics.
So where does this leave the increasingly bewildered consumer? When is an automatic an automatic and when is it a manual? The traditional lines have become blurred, with automatics now offering superb performance and a degree of driver control better than ever before, but for those that really enjoy their driving nothing but a conventional clutch and good manual gearbox will do.
