Car transmissions 101

Your car transmission can be easily summarized by the shifter that puts your N Charlotte Toyota into park, neutral, reverse, and drive. However, this large and important vehicle component helps to maintain acceleration and keep your vehicle idling when in park. It can also drastically affect your driving experience. While you can typically boil car transmissions down to manual or automatic, there are several different types that each come with different perks and functions. If you’re a bit confused on this, don’t worry! Toyota of N Charlotte is here with a guide to help better understand the wide world of transmissions.

Going beyond manual and automatic car transmissions

When it comes to your transmission options, manual and automatic are the common choices in your N Charlotte Toyota vehicle. Here are the essential differences between these two basic car transmission types:

Manual

Manual is the original car transmission and it operates using a clutch in which the driver manually changes the gear based on the current rpm reading. For this type of car transmission, drivers usually don’t have a free hand due to frequent shifting. This transmission does typically offer better fuel efficiency over other types.

Automatic

This type of transmission is also common in many N Charlotte Toyota vehicles and is hailed as being one of the more convenient types. Using an electronically controlled shifting system, automatic transmissions move from one gear to the next automatically as the vehicle increases and decreases in speed. Compared to manual transmissions, automatics are somewhat less fuel efficient due to a slip that occurs when shifting. Automatic car transmissions are also versatile with four different types including:

1. Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT): CVTs can be best described as a transmission system without any physical gears or actual shifting. Instead, they use a set of variable pulleys and a torque converter to keep “shifts” smooth. While smooth and shiftless, CVTs are often criticized for their noisiness and lack of power generation.
2. Conventional Automatic: Using a torque converter, this transmission type transfers power to itself and shifts using electronically controlled clutch packs.
3. Automated Manual: Believe it or not, an automated manual is actually a form of automatic car transmission. Typically, these types of N Charlotte automatics don’t require input from the driver to shift gears, but give the option with expanded column and paddle shifters.
4. Dual-Clutch Automated Manual: Dual-clutch transmissions in N Charlotte Toyota vehicles use two separated gear shafts and shift automatically. One column is designated by odd numbered gears (1, 3, 5, and 7) while the other contains the even numbered gears (2, 4, and 6). The system uses an internal computer to electronically select the gear to shift to and while it shifts to the selected gear it selects the one.

Learn more about transmissions at Toyota of N Charlotte

While most drivers really only care about picking between a manual or automatic transmission for their new N Charlotte Toyota vehicle, knowing which transmission would fit best in your vehicle helps you get the most out of your driving experience. If you’re still confused by this complex N Charlotte Toyota part, then you should chat with our expert auto service team at Toyota of N Charlotte. They can answer any questions you have and help you find the one that fits best in your next vehicle. Give us a call at (704) 659 – 2025 for more information.