"Torque Converter" Automatic Hybrid Options

BOWFER

oldagetraveller1 said:

"I can understand the reluctance towards CVT, they're awful things."

Why? You obviously have vast experience of owning/driving one or are you just quoting someone from down the pub(outdoors, of course!) or one of those "experts" in a motoring magazine?

They take a bit of familiarisation but are perfectly fine for "normal" driving in my experience.

Yes, I've driven several.
I just don't like the constant, unvarying, droning revs.
Lexus even fit fake gearchange noises to their CVT equipped cars to make drivers less aware of the drone.
Bit of a moot point anyway, as hybrids are becoming more and more irrelevant every day and I'll never own one..

BOWFER

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Deleted_User said:

How do hybrid cars cope with gearboxes?
Do they not have to cope with driving solely on electric? 

That's something of a 'how long is a piece of string' question.  The answer is that hybrids, depending on type, can use almost any sort of gearbox.  Most use either a CVT or a simple manual.  

There aren't any hybrids that actually drive the wheels using electric-only for sale with a manual gearbox right now - not one.
You can buy a manual mild-hybrid that boosts the engine a bit, but they never actually drive the wheels with electric only.

cajef

BOWFER said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

"I can understand the reluctance towards CVT, they're awful things."

Why? You obviously have vast experience of owning/driving one or are you just quoting someone from down the pub(outdoors, of course!) or one of those "experts" in a motoring magazine?

They take a bit of familiarisation but are perfectly fine for "normal" driving in my experience.

Lexus even fit fake gearchange noises to their CVT equipped cars to make drivers less aware of the drone.
Bit of a moot point anyway, as hybrids are becoming more and more irrelevant every day and I'll never own one..

I am not sure which CVT gearbox cars you claim to have driven but one thing I do know is that the CVT gearbox in my car does not make a constant drone, if anything it is far quieter than a conventional gearbox, I also understood that Lexus added a fake gear change noise because people complained they could not hear the gear changes they were used to with a conventional gearbox when they changed to a  CVT gearbox.

BOWFER

cajef said:

I am not sure which CVT gearbox cars you claim to have driven but one thing I do know is that the CVT gearbox in my car does not make a constant drone, if anything it is far quieter than a conventional gearbox, I also understood that Lexus added a fake gear change noise because people complained they could not hear the gear changes they were used to with a conventional gearbox when they changed to a  CVT gearbox.

The whole 'thing' about CVT gearboxes is that they take the engine to a certain RPM and stay there.
So, if accelerating hard, the engine will go to (example) 5000rpm and the car will accelerate with no change in RPM and no change in pitch of the engine.
if you're driving gently it will go to something like 2500rpm and stay there.
That's what I'm referring to as 'drone', the RPM just fixing at one point.
With any other gearbox, the engine RPM and pitch will change as they change gears.
It's that constant RPM thing that does my head in, I cannot stand it.
You claim Lexus added the fake gearchange noise because CVT was 'too quiet', I understand they did to avoid the annoying fixed RPM effect (which I call drone).

daveyjp

BOWFER said:

cajef said:

I am not sure which CVT gearbox cars you claim to have driven but one thing I do know is that the CVT gearbox in my car does not make a constant drone, if anything it is far quieter than a conventional gearbox, I also understood that Lexus added a fake gear change noise because people complained they could not hear the gear changes they were used to with a conventional gearbox when they changed to a  CVT gearbox.

The whole 'thing' about CVT gearboxes is that they take the engine to a certain RPM and stay there.
So, if accelerating hard, the engine will go to (example) 5000rpm and the car will accelerate with no change in RPM and no change in pitch of the engine.
if you're driving gently it will go to something like 2500rpm and stay there.
That's what I'm referring to as 'drone', the RPM just fixing at one point.
With any other gearbox, the engine RPM and pitch will change as they change gears.
It's that constant RPM thing that does my head in, I cannot stand it.
You claim Lexus added the fake gearchange noise because CVT was 'too quiet', I understand they did to avoid the annoying fixed RPM effect (which I call drone).

Old news.  Modern 'stepped gear' CVTs (which aren't what Toyota use) don't shoot to 5,000 and then speed up, they react exactly the same as torque converters.

Revs rise, the car accelerates,then changes to the next step and the revs drop. If you want to accelerate they will kick down a step or two and accelerate just like manual, or you can use paddles to change through the steps.

Ditzy_Mitzy

BOWFER said:

cajef said:

I am not sure which CVT gearbox cars you claim to have driven but one thing I do know is that the CVT gearbox in my car does not make a constant drone, if anything it is far quieter than a conventional gearbox, I also understood that Lexus added a fake gear change noise because people complained they could not hear the gear changes they were used to with a conventional gearbox when they changed to a  CVT gearbox.

The whole 'thing' about CVT gearboxes is that they take the engine to a certain RPM and stay there.
So, if accelerating hard, the engine will go to (example) 5000rpm and the car will accelerate with no change in RPM and no change in pitch of the engine.
if you're driving gently it will go to something like 2500rpm and stay there.
That's what I'm referring to as 'drone', the RPM just fixing at one point.
With any other gearbox, the engine RPM and pitch will change as they change gears.
It's that constant RPM thing that does my head in, I cannot stand it.
You claim Lexus added the fake gearchange noise because CVT was 'too quiet', I understand they did to avoid the annoying fixed RPM effect (which I call drone).

Presumably the drone also makes the car extremely difficult to drive, as there are no auditory cues in regards to speed and rate of acceleration.  One presumably has to rely on the speedometer at all times.  

cajef

BOWFER said:

cajef said:

I am not sure which CVT gearbox cars you claim to have driven but one thing I do know is that the CVT gearbox in my car does not make a constant drone, if anything it is far quieter than a conventional gearbox, I also understood that Lexus added a fake gear change noise because people complained they could not hear the gear changes they were used to with a conventional gearbox when they changed to a  CVT gearbox.

The whole 'thing' about CVT gearboxes is that they take the engine to a certain RPM and stay there.
So, if accelerating hard, the engine will go to (example) 5000rpm and the car will accelerate with no change in RPM and no change in pitch of the engine.

Funny how when driving mine it reacts exactly the same as my old torque converter, my rev counter changes just like any other vehicle as it goes through the gears and the engine pitch certainly changes and it does not sit at one RPM unless I am doing a constant speed, I suggest you try a modern CVT driven car before condemning all CVT gearboxes.

BOWFER

daveyjp said:

Old news.  Modern 'stepped gear' CVTs (which aren't what Toyota use) don't shoot to 5,000 and then speed up, they react exactly the same as torque converters.

Revs rise, the car accelerates,then changes to the next step and the revs drop. If you want to accelerate they will kick down a step or two and accelerate just like manual, or you can use paddles to change through the steps.

So not old news on Toyotas, which is what we test drove 8 months ago (the CH-R)
We went for an Evoque.