CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION (CVT)

CVTs are gaining popularity and are used in several new fords, Saturns and Audis.lnstead of gaars. The CVT uses a belt vetween two pulleys. One is driven by a shaft from the enging, the other drives a shaft to the differential unit and drive arrive

Axles.Both pulleys are split so that their halves can slide closer together and farther apart.As the belt rides higher and lower in the pulleys, the effective gear ratios between the driving and driven shafts change.

TRANSAXLE

The operation of any transaxle is exactly the same as that of any transmission. The difference is this: lnstead of being connected via along driveshaft to the rear axle, the

Transmission’s output shaft drives a large gear that meshes directly with the differential’s ring gear. And the differential itself (which would be mounted on the rear axle in arwd car) is located in the transaxle housing mounted parallel to the transmission. As power is applied,the differential distributes it to the two front wheels via halfshafts.