I think you better stop talking about cars before you hurt yourself. That whole BS about FWD being the same amount of work as RWD for transaxle repair exposed your ignorance. Before working for an aircraft company, I was a mechanic/instructor for 15 years. They dont compare period.
Now you are talking about Prius and its "transmission is continuously-variable gearing". No such thing. The "transmission" is an electric motor/generator. There is a second motor/generator attached to a gasoline engine (it should have been diesel for even more efficiency). Power is shunted around between all the components, both electrical power and mechanical power. But ultimately an electric motor is atached to the drive shaft and the continuous nature of it is due to electric motor characteristics, not to any fancy gearing. ---------------------------- Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: "Jerk factor"? Are they talking about themselves or the cars? ;-) I was never very interested in that. I prefer properly balanced, responsive power delivery. My Alfa Spider is only around 130-135 hp and weighs 2400 lbs, but it's responsive and fun to drive: it requires skill to get the most out of it, not a heavy foot. Not something to "jerk" me around. No wonder I've never been interested in American automobiles much. The Prius has two motors ... the 1.5L four cylinder gas motor at 76 hp and the electric motor at 67 hp. The drive system is designed to use them together: very low speeds entirely on the electric, switch to the gas for standard cruise and then add power with the electric on demand. The net is that you have 143 hp available for acceleration, which provides just fine performance over the road. The transmission is continuously-variable gearing so the end result, with the integrated drive of two motors, is extremely smooth power delivery, good acceleration and economical cruise. I took one for a test drive and was delighted with it. It went well and accelerated just fine, FAR better than some of the cars I've had in the past, and cruised quite comfortably at 75-85 mph with passing power to spare. It handles well, and has a very comfortable interior with lots of seating/storage space. 50 mpg around town and 45 over the road will save me over $150 a month ... I liked it enough that I've ordered one. Godfrey -- Peter Grove Seattle WA ________________________________________________________________________ Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail -- 2 GB of storage and industry-leading spam and email virus protection. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
