One tech guy said “when it comes to maximizing your speed… its all about how many gears you have… and your power you put out… keeping around your peak motor output… besides you have the corvette with 9 gears coming soon, and this keeps us one step ahead… ”

INFINITE TRANSMISSION RATIOS! ZERO GEAR SWITCHING SPEED LAG!

The new 2017 GT500 will be the brute force attempt to win the world over. Without the lag of switching gears, and while keeping the engine at its sweet spot at the same time, 0-60 times are quoted to be reduced by more than .35 seconds.

This will certainly be the fastest mustang ever built

The CVT isn’t a gearbox because there are no gears, just pulleys and belts that simulate gear changes. It’s the first CVT built, and it responds probably better than any CVT we’ve tested. In Intelligent driving mode, it constantly alters its gear ratio to deliver the best fuel mileage, an EPA-estimated 28 mpg Highway.

This is a game changer. A belt-driven design offers approximately 88% efficiency, which, while lower than that of a manual transmission, can be offset by lower production cost and by enabling the engine to run at its most efficient speed for a range of output speeds.

The system – continuously (or “continually”) variable transmission – existed in various different forms. DAF had produced a road car in 1958 called the 600 (or “A-Type”) which featured a “Variomatic” gearbox – which was essentially a CVT. The problem for using such technology in racing cars was the difficulty of finding a strong enough belt to transit the power from an F1 engine. In 1993 Williams cracked it and David Coulthard tested the car on a wet July day at Pembrey in Wales. It was later driven by touring car racer Alain Menu (his Renault 19 race car was prepared by Williams at the time). At first it was feared that a ban on electronically controlled gearboxes would do away with the CVT before it could race. But in the end the FIA came up with something much more direct to get rid of it. They stipulated that, from 1994, F1 cars had to have between four and seven fixed gears – and for good measure added a sub-clause specifically banning CVT. Williams’ CVT car sounded revolutionarily different to contemporary (and modern) F1 cars because of the different way it used the engine. Instead of the revs rising and falling with each corner they remaining constant through each bend – a wholly unusual sound for spectators. There was also speculation that it had instantly proved several seconds per lap quicker than the conventional Williams – which was already streets ahead of its rivals.

The transmission ratio of an iCVT has to be changed one increment within less than one full rotation of its variator pulley. This means that the transmission diameter of the variator pulley, made generally from rubber, has to be changed from a diameter that has a circumferential length that is equal to an integer number of teeth to another diameter that has a circumferential length that is equal to an integer number of teeth; such as changing the transmission diameter of the variator pulley from a diameter that has a circumferential length of 7 teeth to a diameter that has a circumferential length of 8 teeth for example. This is because if the transmission diameter of the variator pulley does not have a circumferential length that is equal to an integer number of teeth, such as a circumferential length of 7½ teeth for example, improper engagement between the teeth of the variator pulley and its chain will occur. For example, imagine having a bicycle pulley with 7½ teeth; here improper engagement between the bicycle pulley and its chain will occur when the tooth behind the ½ tooth space is about to engage with its chain, since it is positioned a distance of ½ tooth too late relative to its chain.

Regarding the previous paragraph, the chain of an iCVT forms an open loop on its variator pulley that partially covers its variator pulley such that an open section, which is not covered by the chain, exist. This is similar to a sprocket of a bicycle where there is a section of the sprocket that is covered by its chain, and a section of the sprocket that is not covered by its chain. During one complete rotation, the toothed section of the variator pulley of an iCVT passes by the open section and re-engages with the chain. Here if the transmission diameter of the variator pulley does not represent an integer number of teeth, improper re-engagement between the teeth of the variator pulley and its chain will occur. Also, the transmission diameter of the variator pulley cannot be changed while the toothed section of the variator pulley is covering the entire open section of its chain loop. Since this is similar to where a plate is glued across the open section of a chain loop, which does not allow expansion or contraction of the chain loop as required for transmission diameter change of the variator pulley. Therefore, the transmission diameter of the variator pulley has to be changed one increment during an interval where the variator pulley rotates from an initial position where a portion of the toothed section of the variator pulley is positioned at the open section of the chain loop but not covering the entire open section, to the final position where the toothed section of the variator pulley passes by the open section of the chain loop and is about to re-engage with the chain. Since it takes less than one full rotation to rotate the variator pulley from its initial position to its final position mentioned in the previous sentence, the transmission diameter of the variator pulley has to be changed one increment within less than one full rotation.