" From: Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx> " " Fuel efficiency is why they're going with large numbers of gears in " automatic transmissions. The goal is to keep the engine at peak efficiency " as much as possible (which makes me wonder why CVT transmissions haven't " caught on).
belt/pulley cvts are very hard to engineer for capacity, and if the belts are rubber, for efficiency. i don't know about hydrostatic transmissions except they require extremely tight tolerances, and that means expense - and then there's the plumbing, and maintenance. electric transmisison has potential, especially in combination with batteries, but i think weight is still a problem.
hydrostatic and electric do have interesting possibilities for all wheel drive.
mhaas@xxxxxxx Cincinnati, OH http://www.mattsoldcars.com 1967 Rambler American wagon 1968 Rambler American sedan =============================================================== According to a February survey of Internet holdouts released by UCLA's Center for Communication Policy, people cite not having a computer as the No. 1 reason they won't go online.