Fiat and Chrysler's multi-speed transmissions have apparently got the other two of the Big Three co-operating to develop their own gas-saving multi-shifters, says this article in USA Today.
My 2008 Dodge has an automatic transmission, but one that is unlike any of the past automatics I've had. This one is made like a transmission in a snowmobile,
with a set of cones and a belt which provides a continuously variable set of ratios, depending on the speed. It's hard to explain, because I've never seen the workings of one yet, but I'm told that it's easier and cheaper to fix than the older style automatics, provides a smoother power range, and better gas mileage. This is the kind of ingenuity that's got Ford and GM nervous, and rightly so. They could have had stuff like this fifty years ago if they'd wanted it.
During the second world war, a guy in England put a truck transmission into his car, and got much better use of his rationed petrol - and if they could do it then,
they can certainly do it now that the world is running out of oil. They don't do these things until they can see themselves losing business unless they do.
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