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| Golden Age of Gears |
Gearboxes have leapt from the greasy under(car)world into the limelight.
Last year, Ferrari introduced an auxiliary two-speed automatic
transaxle to power the FF sport wagon’s front wheels. Porsche presented a
seven-speed manual for the new 911, and ZF unveiled a nine-speed
automatic slated for use in 2013 Chrysler minivans. To keep the gear
count rising, Hyundai has confirmed that the world’s first 10-speed
automatic will arrive in the next-generation (probably 2015 model year)
Equus and Genesis models.
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| Goodbye to Flats |
Goodyear hopes its Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) will send flat tires
the way of the buggy whip. This elegantly simple idea positions a
small air tube inside a groove molded into the tire sidewall. As the
tire rotates, atmospheric air entering the tube through an inlet port is
pressurized by sidewall deformation and pumped through a check valve
into the main tire cavity. AMT is self-regulating and requires no
electrical power or electronic controls. The U.S. Department of Energy
and the Luxembourg government are backing Goodyear’s AMT car and truck
test programs.
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