RESULTS OF VEHICLE-PERFORMANCE AND FUEL CONSUMPTION TESTS OF THE RESEARCH CAR UNI-CAR WITH ELECTRONIC ENGINE-TRANSMISSION-CONTROL

The driving efficiency of motor vehicles during vehicle operation is not only determined by the quality of the engine, but also by the co-operation between engine and transmission. The reason for this is that the engine power is produced with very different efficiencies contingent on torque and rotational speed. On the other hand, there is only one operation point for each power requirement, at which power is produced with least expense of fuel. It is not possible to achieve the greatest fuel efficiency with a manually operated transmission and fuel supply control. On the contrary, the highest fuel efficiency is reached by using continuously variable transmission (cvt) with an intelligent automatic control. This concept of drive management is installed in the research car Uni-Car which is developed by a German university study group by order of the Ministry for Research and Technology. Theoretical research and results of vehicle performance and fuel consumption tests using this cvt with the automatic control are reported. (Author/TRRL)