On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 15:47:03 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 13:42:12 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Phil Bradshaw wrote:
Doctor Drivel wrote:

The epicyclical cluster shares power

The gearbox then.

Dribble obviously doesn't understand that cluster in this case means
'gear cluster'. How he wriggles and squirms. If he were more
intelligent he might be a troll.

I suppose that his argument is that the Primus doesn't have a gearbox
of the type that a conventional IC car does - i.e. a box with gears
where the ratio from one side to the other (engine to axle) is changed
by means of of a manual control or automatic mechanism.

But it does have a mechanism which alters the gearing betwixt petrol
engine and road wheels. And this is an automatically varying ratio - it
has to be given their is no clutch. Otherwise the engine would be driven
by the road wheels even when not in use.

Sure. Call it what you like, but essentially it has one speed and
torque on one side and a different one on the other.

Most people, in the context of a car, would call that a gearbox.



Looking at it from the perspective of a user who never opens the
bonnet, the control on a Pius is basically the same as an automatic
conventional car - forwards, backwards and stop, although it doesn't
seem to have an "L" setting.

Indeed. However, on a DIY group it's not unreasonable to go beyond this
and explain how such things are achieved.

However, it does have a box of tricks containing gears which serves to
match the speed and torque characteristics of the power sources with
the requirement of the car on the road and between the power sources.
In that sense, it can be called a gearbox.

Anything which contains gears and some form of mechanical input and output
is a gearbox. It really is that simple. Anyone who says different is a
fool or charlatan. Gearboxes may also have names which further define
their function, but a gearbox they remain. Dribble seems to have latched
on to 'in line' - does a right angle gearbox therefore cease to exist?

This was my point. I've never studied the mechanical intricacies of
a gearbox for a transverse engine, front wheel drive car vs. an inline
one. I'm sure that the layout is different, but the principle is the
same.

If he means that the gearbox in a Prion is not the same as that for
other types of car, then that's probably true because it has to handle
the electric motor etc. as well as the petrol engine. However, at a
higher level, it is still a gearbox.




ISTM, that the terminologies used by the manufacturer like "CVT" and
all the rest of it are just there as marketing-speak to position the
car differently to others to the impressionable, while creating
technobabble for those who are into that.

Ad speak. Something dribble certainly believes in.

OK, so it's fancier than that of a conventional car. So what? As a
user, what I care about is cost of ownership, performance, usability
and perhaps comfort.

I wouldn't buy one of these because I am unconvinced about it in all
of these respects.



--

..andy