Bruce, you obviously know about this tranny, would you care to take a crack at a non-mainstream application with a couple of very non-standard mods? To give you a hint, it's a sports car application, attempting to raise the bar on 5 speed manuals for driving on road courses. The market for this is pretty huge but the traditional shift characteristics of the auto box makes it particularly unsuitable. What we need is the following:
1) An instantaneous manual shift, both up and down but up is more critical.
2) Shift firmness is modulated by throttle from full firm at WOT to very soft at closed throttle.
3) Manual downshift is always soft at part throttle, as soft as it is possible to make it, but at wide throttle openings it is firm and fast.
4) Automatic up and downshifts occur only with the shifter in the OverDrive position. In any other gear it stays put until shifted.
5) Shifter located lock-up switch which can operate automatically in OD but is manual otherwise. Can be automatic with a manual unlock.
Finally, and perhaps the most controversial mod, would be the ability to disengage the transmission at any time with a foot switch such as one attached to the former clutch pedal. This is not intended to be a launching device and the ability to launch with it should probably be disabled in some way. Instead it is intended to allow the driver to, "push in the clutch" at any time and release it with the drivetrain essentially re-engaging smoothly and without shock. I realize this is a challenge to implement, particularly the re-engagement, as the engine speed and throttle, vehicle speed, and gear selection might all change, but if it could be done it gives us something we've never had before in an automatic equipped vehicle, and pretty well eliminates the very last vestiges of perceived manual transmission advantages. So I guess the real question is, do you see the vision?
Regards,
Jim
