Volvo Cars launches Powershift - Two Transmissions in One
-Fully-automatic and sequential six-speed transmission
-Twin wet clutches give extremely fast and smooth changes
-About eight percent lower fuel consumption
-Optimised for powerful diesel engines
Two-litre turbodiesel versions of the Volvo C30, S40 and V50 are now also available with a fully-automatic transmission. This new Powershift transmission is a six-speed unit. It features twin wet clutches that provide gearchanging comfort on a par with that of a fully-automatic transmission, yet with the performance one expects of a manual gearbox. What is more, it significantly cuts fuel consumption compared with a conventional automatic transmission.
The Powershift transmission has been developed by Volvo Cars in cooperation with its transmission partner Getrag. Powershift operates in principle as two parallel manual gearboxes. It has twin wet clutches that work independently of one another. One clutch controls the odd gears (1, 3, 5 and reverse) while the other handles the even ratios (2, 4 and 6). The two clutches operate alternately, with one engaging while the other disengages. This means that at the same time as the engine gets full power and maximum thrust in first gear, second gear is placed in readiness to be engaged. And when second gear has been engaged, third gear is readied, and so on. This promotes a continuous flood of power without any disruption in power delivery or any torque loss, resulting in extremely fast and silky-smooth gearchanges while maintaining acceleration throughout the gearchanging process.
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