Date: 11 Jul 2002 13:37:40 GMT From: davehinznopsamcop.net Subject: Re: Sensonic gearbox
Someone who looks an awful lot like Simon Putz <simon.putznopsamline.de> wrote: > <davehinznopsamcop.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag > news:agiqhd$m8ndj$1nopsam34476.news.dfncis.de... >> >> Yes, the sensonic is exactly *not* what you describe. (I was in a hurry and didn't have time to elaborate when I wrote that) > if i understood correctly, sensonic has kind of contact or something in the > gearstick, so if it senses movement, it uses a vacuum mechanism to engage > the clutch and it will disengage it for you when you are in gear. You've just described the Sax-O-Mat clutch that Saab fitted on some of the 2-stroke 95's and 96's in the 1960's, not Sensonic. > to me it > sounds pretty failure-prone. Based on what specific knowledge of how Sensonic works, exactly? The operation of the Sensonic is similar to how the Sax-O-Mat works, in that the gearshift for a manual transmission is moved by the driver, but that the clutch is engaged and disengaged automatically. However, Saab built intelligence into it, so where the Sax-O-Mat used a vacuum booster (similar to a power-brakes booster) to activate the clutch, the Sensonic looks at a number of factors, such as if you're speeding up or slowing down, if you're at wide-open-throttle, and how quickly you're moving the gearshift lever, in order to determine how abruptly to disengage and engage the clutch. Gives you the benefits of not having to use a clutch pedal, while also giving you the benefit of being able to choose your own shift points, and the fuel savings of a manual gearbox. I don't know how it behaves in traffic, stop-n-go situations, though. Can anyone comment on that? > i like to have control over stick AND pedals. OK. I'd buy a Sensonic in a second if I could, I guess it comes down to a matter of taste. Apples are *way* better than oranges, by the way. Dave Hinz