The F1 Car That Had Infinite Gears | CVT Explained
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This 1993 Williams has one of the most unusual gearboxes ever in F1. Rather than 8 gears like modern F1 cars, it had an ingenious mechanism that could smoothly change through an infinite number of gear ratios.
It promised to make the car easier to drive, more efficient and much, much faster.
It's called a Continuously Variable Transmission, a CVT. It’s not a new thing, but was new to something as powerful as a 90s F1 car.
It meant the car was always in the right gear and could make best use of the engine's power, delivering all 850 horsepower, all the time.
There are many different types of CVT - with more clever ones being trialed in cars all the time. They’re not new though, and are often used on anything from a Pillar Drill to a Scooter.
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But this is the one that was used in the Williams car, it’s essentially two pulleys, with a belt connecting them. One pulley is connected to the engine, the other to the wheels.
Each pulley has one side fixed in place, whilst the other side can move.
When the pulley is squeezed together, it forces the belt up the cone, the same as shifting to the largest cog on the back of your bike.
The same happens in reverse, pull the two sides apart and the belt moves to the bottom, similar to the smallest cog on a bike.
If you were to hold the pulley somewhere in the middle, you can have any gear ratio you like, as the belt can deliver power anywhere on the surface of the pulleys.
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#Formula1 #Engineering #WilliamsF1
00:00 The Williams FW15C CVT
00:19 Why Engines Have A Power Band
02:13 Why You Need Gears
02:43 How a CVT Works
07:46 Fuel For Fans - Link In Description
08:46 Why Did It Never Race?
Pubblicato il 3 mesi fa
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Not a fan of it... That type is same as on all snowmobiles and it is better with gears when you do not have sophisticated electronic control (like on the snowmobiles).
@Peter L Yes I tried one of those in the 80's was pretty cool, but not a very popular option. Same with Volvo and DAF. They had some models with the CVT. Went as fast backwards as it did forwards.
Nissan
@Driver61 Clickbait! There was nothing "infinite" about this gearbox. That is why it was called the CVT and not the IVT.
Yes, an long as they can make a RELIABLE version
I thought most modern cvts could not take more than 250hp. 850hp on a cvt? Impressive. Edit: I commented at the start of watching the video. I truly look forward to the day, if ever one such would exist, where CVTs may be viable on vehicles with high horsepower.
Sounds like a boat
Just like mopeds and motorscooters lol
I like how the CVT is good on race cars but terrible on regular road cars
We might have nanotechnologies and materials science able to make a infinite gear ratio work. Also, future nanotechnologies might be able to solve the radiator problems. Unfortunately, F1 has banned it! Well, maybe we can get them to unban it!
Dad used it years before in F3.
Oh hey sun
Such an interesting design and extremely practical. I was a mechanic for Saturn. And some of the Vue and Ion models used CVT transmissions. They had their issues, but when they worked they were very efficient. I think most of the problems actually came from improper use rather than design. But when they went they sent the belt teeth all throughout the transmission. And needed to be completely replaced.
Basically whats inside snowmobiles is what was used in an f1 car. Thats cool
I have a weird idea: a cvt on a bicycle. Combined with frictipn shifters this would be amazing. But how do you intergrate brake levers with friction shifters? No one likes down tube shifters!
This video and the one about clutches inspired me to invent a new kind of CVT system that I think might even bypass the CVT ban because it's technically not a CVT at all. pepijndevos.nl/2021/02/21/switching-continuously-variable-transmission.html
Great but wish you talked about the car more and the definition less. Plz get DC's impression of that Williams car. Driving a CVT road car is the worst sensation!. Yes an F1 engine sitting @ 18k rpm all day long would have totally blew up much more than the engines did back then omg......
explaining cvt in f1...innovative and ground breaking... cvt in my nissan....not so innovative and ground breaking as explained
I innovated a way to beat Ferrari. FIA:ban innovation
This made automatic seems like manual
Pretty sure you just edited the acceleration video to when a manual gearbox car was in top gear. Seems to cut out the first part.
Proof we are not as intelligent as we used to be
Williams only has like 2 things on fuel for fans sooo...
Cvt at some point, will be better, I think. However, everyone who bought s cvt chevy equinox has suicided themselves or their car by now, do yeah thats going to be awhile. Its the best thing that ever happened to go carts, if you still have old school setup on your ho cart, check out go powersports torq-a-verter and you will thank me
F1 Teams: Hi F.I.A.!! F.I.A: Banned!
this car is in the daf museum in the netherlands
Williams was so good FIA literally banned their innovations
CBT is the such an amazing idea
excellent upload as always. Just read about this recently in newey's book.
as a young guy i had a small scooter called piaggio zip. it had only 9hp or something like that after a few mods, but it kicked so hard. the right weight of the variomatic-weights and automatic clutch springs were nealy the most important ;D
infinite gears? More like no gears... And even if it where really gears, it's definitely not infinite,... clickbait.
If this wasnt real life and it had a fast and furious runway which is basically the usa to russia, infinite gears = infinite speed???
Honestly, I get used to it with the Koenigsegg Regera yet in fact I'll buy Regera if I have money than other Koenigsegg cars, so i think it's okay tho😅
that was a pretty smooth segway into the sponsor
Honestly, I don't think that Williams or any other team used such type of 'gear box' in F1. I know for some 50 years that it was used in street cars DAF, and that's what is shown in this video too. And I read then that this system is not usable by larger cars, cars with stronger engine. Now, imagine how is it then possible with some 700 HP F1 car in 90-es . Maybe yes, but not with single belt. And something related. I watched F1 races on track in 1993 and 1994, on location with many corners. And I could hear work of cars very well, as not possible on TV. Williams was extremely fast with gear changes, much better than any other. Just to mention that Ferrari was only one with 12 cylinder engine, and that was much higher engine sound. So, Williams probably used some digitally controlled gear box control, what could sync. gear speeds much faster than usual solutions. I guess, it became standard years later. And even if it is true, is there real reason to ban it ? Surely, automatic gearbox was forbidden, but this could be with manual control. Saying than gear count is limited too - yeah, but here no gears :-) Well, something like with DAS last year. Anyway, as said, hmmm ... Good way to pull attention.
CBT
And you can drive it down the track in reverse just as fast
Hmmm, why can’t we make that for bicycles???
DAF 66 had a cvt also.
Isnt that an automatic?
All the scooties here in India uses CVT
9:44 that sega logo 😍
I can't find the cvt in the tumbnail.
Is this the tech on the Regera?
90s Williams was so ahead of the game with their tech.
Ok but imagine this on current f1 cars Better cooling, lower rpms, more advanced ecu and engine mapping could have the cvt run before the max peak to cool down and slow down wear.
Wrong explanation of torque/horsepower. CVT allows access to "unavailable horsepower" that cannot be got with fixed gear boxes because maximum acceleration in any FIXED gear (speed open) is always at the torque peak while maximum acceleration at any fixed speed(gearing open) is always found at peak horsepower. A fixed ratio trans can never give access to peak horsepower cvt can. Hence the term "Unavailable Horsepower".
Never knew cock and ball torture was so useful
How the hell the nowadays ctz suck?
COCK AND VALL TORTURE FROM WIKIPEDIA, THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA
The title alone proves you don't really understand what is going on.
This sound like an electric car that uses gasoline/petrol
My 1997 Honda Civic HX had a CVT transmission. Big deal.
This CVT just sounds like a fancy torque converter
Shout out to the cvt in my altima lol.
doesn't modern-day f1 cars have 7 gears? that is what most drivers have said
Oh hey sun, great video
Why would they go for max engine torque rather than power during acceleration? Doesn't max engine power equal max wheel torque?
I made a sort of CVT on forza motorsport 7 for in 7th gear
You forgot the whole technology started in snowmobiles , in the 6O's and is useless in f1 due to fuel use, works fantastic in snowmobiles and machinery
It sounds like half the forza cars
I can do burnouts in 80th gear.
Williams is always astonishs me I m sure hé shall come back To the top
Probably banned for being too annoying. 13000 RPM for more than half a minute won’t be beneficial for your mental state and your ears.
I always wanted to find out what happens if you run a gearbox with a cvt just for s's&g's
CVT on F1 car makes perfect sense - cost is not prohibitive, it only has to survive one race so endurance is not a problem compared to daily commuter, in F1 people don't care about the sound but care about lap times, when executed properly it's actually lighter than standard gearbox :)
Me: Yo my car is having a diarrhea. Mechanic: No it has a CVT.
This is uncomfortably close to being called CBT
The only REAL CRIME was that Williams wasn't big enough.
If Ferrari or Mercedes had done this the FIA would have just ignored it for several years.
That's a powerful moped
imagine designing a new transmission and building it, only for it to be made illegal.
Looks just like the one on my Polaris fourwheeler
Cvt transmission are great until your try going up a hill, its like you can feel it stuttering
this technology paired with new manufacturing capabilities in modern times would be tremendously amazing! Gj FIA for prohibiting ingenious engineering...
I completely understand f1 parts are some of the strongest that exist, but most CVT cars are 4cyl, and CVTs tend to fail very early compared to standard transmissions even with those motors. They often fail under high load due to overheating like hard driving or going up steep hills that are long. I imagine an f1 car would make this problem even worse, and while the cvt may provide fast lap times it would likely start to slip and slow down as the race were to progress. My opinion would be f1 banned them to prevent manufacturers from going down a rabbit hole and engineering cars they would have to ban after a few seasons of development.
Prius has this type of transmission too, even the old dutch DAF 600 car from 1958 had this type of transmission
I feel baited by your thumbnail. I wanted to see what that transmission was all about!
FIA is against innovation, that much is clearc
I think I watched and enjoyed enough videos to sub.
aaah but they dont like torque, anyone who has driven a cvt car or scooter uphill will know
Im hearing all these great points but whats the catch 🤔
So this is where Nissan got that shitty idea? Lets take a perfectly good auto trans and add more parts that can break... On top of that lets buy the cheapest ones
6:42 less peaky you mean.
A few facts: 1. CVT Was invented by DAF ( = van Doorne Automobile Factory, which most people nowadays know as truck builder), but who in the 50-s to 70-s produced small cars for the low budget 2. They invented CVT actually as a way to make driving easiers for people who found changing gears to difficult 3. For that reason the little DAF's in Holland where called "granny shakers with garterbelt propulsion" (free translation) 4. The original CVT used a (rubber) pulling belt reinforced whith steal cables. 5. These however were not a able to withstand more about 70 HP tops 6. To make them stronger DAF invented and patented a new type of belt, which does not pull, but actually transmits the power by PUSHING (!) 7. It does this by the this by way of stacks of small steel plates which are slid onto the belt 8. These are the steel plates that you actually see in the animation 9. Because has a very high compressive strength a great of torque and power can be transmitted in this way 10. That, however, did not solve some other problems like wear and tear, and the like
So do CVT gear belts push or pull? I thought that they push not pull like most belt drives.
Ill be honest. I can't think why they'd ban it. Sounds to me like it might actually be useful in the hybrid era. I bet they could make a reliable one now and i actually think it would make these hybrid cars sound better with one engine tone.
Interesting to see Williams go from a super innovative, modern team that wins championships to the terrible thing that is today.
could you make a video about Königsegg Regera Direct Drive Gearbox?
Nuvinci bike hub..
Shame F1 doesn't do an unlimited class like rally races used to have or the Pikes Peak challenge. Can you imagine the performance of an F1 car with all the banned techniques and technology being allowed.
i swear, almost every F1 innovation story ends with "and then they banned that too"
It's amazing they can make it so reliable for an F1 car but my 2015 Nissan Altima won't make 60000 miles without burning that piece of poo CVT up driving conservatively to
Infinite gear(s) would imply capable of a 1 to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ratio. I think not.
We know the cvt gearboxes in the older cars are known as slush boxes. You really think this could of lasted a 65 lap race 😂😂😂😂
Can I buy this??? 👀
New innovative..... I remember the clutch on my 1973 ski doo snowmobile !
Be it on a regular car, or a F1, CVT makes the engine sound experience so disappointing. No good, might as well go full EV and make do with the vacuum cleaner noise.
This was uploaded on rhe 28.11 and on rhe 23.1.21 it says that it was uploaded 1 month ago🧐
All the belt driven four-wheelers are pisssseedddd
So it has infinite top speed
At this point, the FIA just wants more car crashes and more drama. Otherwise, who the fuck would watch a motorsport, right?
So technically it could of been an automatic no?
Williams before: We are speed Williams now: Everything was better before