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From: mberns@ut-ngp.UUCP (Mark Bernstein)
Newsgroups: net.auto.tech
Subject: Re: 5 speeds vs. Overdrive
Message-ID: <2970@ut-ngp.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Feb-86 12:25:16 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-ngp.2970
Posted: Mon Feb 17 12:25:16 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 18-Feb-86 04:18:37 EST
References: <693@isrnix.UUCP>
Organization: Univ of TX at Austin, Speech
Lines: 39


**

> From: greg@isrnix.UUCP (Gregory Travis)
>  A recent poster 

me

>  mentioned that
>  Volvo supplies (as an option) an overdrive for its transmissions.  

Actually, I don't think it's a true option anymore.  Starting with the
1981 models you'd be hard pressed to find one without this feature.

>  Volvo
>  has addressed the needs of the highway cruisers this way since at least
>  1960.  As far as I know, their transmissions (the M40, M400, M45) have
>  always been 4 speeds - you can get an overdrive box for any of them
>  however.  Why not simply make a 4 speed and a true 5 speed box?  The
>  cost has got to be lower to slap another gear (and make the box a bit
>  bigger) into the transmission instead of adding what amounts to a
>  whole 'nother (2 speed) transmission onto the output of the first.

Well, that's an interesting question.  The Volvo people aren't total
ninnies  (no flames please !  :-)  )  So the question is, why *do*
they do it this way?   Does anyone know???

>  Note that I know that 5  speed is sometimes called overdrive even on
>  true 5 speed gearboxes.  By overdrive I mean an extra electro-hydraulic
>  box attached to the output of the main gearbox.

Right, this is indeed what Volvo has done.


--
Mark Bernstein, Univ of Texas at Austin, Speech Communication, Austin 78712
ARPA:  mberns@ngp.UTEXAS.EDU
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