Efficiency Analysis of Multi-Mode Passenger Car Transmission Concepts Featuring a VariGlide® CVT

A comparison of overall transmission efficiency, under normal vehicle operating conditions, is made between a production multi-mode CVT and a prototype multi-mode VariGlide CVT. The comparison is made through a combination of test data and simulation. A production passenger car with a stock multi-mode belt-type CVT was tested and evaluated for overall efficiency. Similarly a multi-mode VariGlide CVT had been previously built, tested and modeled. Through a combination of test data and model simulation an optimized configuration of the Variglide transmission was compared to the test results of the production transmission. The results show that when the VariGlide equipped transmission is splitting power between the VariGlide CVT and the mechanical path, significant improvements in overall transmission and vehicle efficiency can be achieved versus the stock CVT.