CFT30 - A Chain Driven CVT for FWD 6 Cylinder Application

The CFT30 is a continuously variable automatic transmission with a chain driven variator. It will be used in the Ford 500, the Ford Freestyle and the Mercury Montego that go on sale in 2004.

The CFT30 is the first CVT that uses a chain drive in a front-transverse installation combined with a torque converter for better launch performance. The transmission is capable of handling the 310 Nm engine torque of modern 6-cylinder engines. It employs fully electronic controls and achieves better performance and fuel economy results than today's 4-speed automatic transmissions and even newly developed 6-speeds in the same vehicle. Perfect shift-feel is increasing the driving comfort.

The paper describes transmission system, design and main components. The contribution of the CFT30 specific design solutions to fuel economy, performance and comfort are explained. Most important test results of component and vehicle testing are shown.