Advanced Transmission for Luxury, Sports Cars Announced

Transmission specialist Xtrac has designed an all-new “hybridized automated manual transmission” concept that will allow future luxury supercars hit stricter emissions standards worldwide.

Xtrac currently supplies transmissions for some of the world’s finest supercars, including the Pagani Huayra, and its new concept design would fit the same compact transmission envelope found in that particular supercar. The H-AMT was developed as an alternative to heavier and more complex dual-clutch transmissions and features a lower total parts count and overall mass.

In concept form, the transmission is a seven-gear box and can provide torque to the wheels independent of the engine, helping reduce the energy required to be absorbed by the main drive clutch. But the key component in the transmission’s design is an integrated electric motor that allows a vehicle to travel at speeds of up to 95 mph on electric power alone.

According to Xtrac, the new transmission can handle torque capacities of 590 lb-ft to 737 lb-ft, depending on the vehicle it’s used in. The company will release more details on its new transmission at the 11th International CTi Symposium and Exhibition which runs December 3rd-6th in Berlin.

“A key feature of the Xtrac 1010 transverse arrangement is to place the differential close to the rear face of the engine block, which keeps the overall package length as short as possible and the centre of mass of the gearbox as far forwards as possible,” said Chris Cholmeley, Xtrac’s principal engineer. “This design creates room rearward of the transmission to effectively package exhaust systems and rear diffuser and also allows for a short rear overhang for styling purposes.”