On Fri, 2 May 2003, Ethan Dicks wrote: Well, now - not so fast! While your Bug may not have power steering, if it's got an automatic transmission - then I submit that: The automatic transmission as found in a good portion of the cars, trucks, and busses on the roads today, is a marvelous and complex analogue computer - solving for the match of the mechanical impedances of the vehicle versus the engine - given the obvious constraints of both: the vehicle must be capable of being stopped for variable periods of time, while the engine cannot be stopped in normal operation, and furthermore the range of input shaft to output shaft ratios must be maintained to allow for the torque/horsepower curves of the engine, and, by extension. it's economical and 'safe' operating ranges, and finally the output information must be able to have it's sign changed by operator command. ('reverse') The engine power must be coupled and uncoupled at various times to allow speed range changes, and the transmission must accept range-modification commands from the driver and from the engine systems - like acceleration kick-down. All this must be done in a very harsh environment, handling many foot-pounds of torque and generally multiple hundreds of HP, and be able to be produced in the millions of units - and do all this maintenance-free for years... Then of course the output 'information' from the tranny flows to a nice little mechanical computer that continuously solves the differential equation that arises when two wheels separated by an axle need to negotiate varying radii while maintaining a fixed and 'solid' relationship to the input signal. That's why is *called* a "differential". But Y'all knew that already, I reckon.... Cheers John

Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote: You'd be surprised... There are a couple three of them daily driven here in my little town (2k pop). Jim

Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote: No. Mac LCs. ;) Jim

--- John Lawson <jpl15(a)panix.com> wrote: Nope... 4-speed manual. There was this thing called an "auto-stick", but that was a servo-operated clutch (and an ordinary manual transmission) that engaged when you began to move the stick. You still shifted, but you didn't clutch. Anyway... I didn't mean to spawn a car thread here - I just wanted to speak up because of the comments that suggest that we all drive power-everything cars. My 1976 MicroBus does have an analog-component fuel-injection computer, but I think we've hashed those out here before (and it has manual steering and a 4-speed manual transmission, too, plus a vacuum-assisted non-power hydraulic brake system). I do agree that _a_ power steering rig on _many_ cars is an example of a fluidic amplifier. Presumably, one could argue the same for the master cylinder/slave cylinder on hydraulic brakes. There's even a logic element - a safety mechanism that's been standard in cars sold in the U.S. for decades - a slug in the master cylinder that sits between the front fluid loop and the back fluid loop that *normally* just sits there. In cases where you lose pressure in one loop, it is forced to the low-pressure side and operates the brakes in fail-over mode. I'm not sure whether to call it a comparator or a flip-flop. Maybe it's a comparator that drives a flip-flop when the pressures aren't equal. In any case, in a VW, there's a red light on the dash that lights up when the slug moves. It works. Trust me on that. :-) -ethan P.S. - re-reading the top of this, in case my use of the term "auto" was read as short for "automatic transmission", it wasn't meant as such. I was recycling the term from the previous poster and using it as an abbreviation of "automobile" (unless you are a fan of "Futurama", then it's "automacar" ;-) The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com

--- "Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)" <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> wrote: I remember the phrase "servo" from literature of the time. I have never owned one, nor have I worked on one. I've only seen them drive by. -ethan The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com

[VW with "Auto Stick Shift"/"Awful Shit Stick"] On Fri, 2 May 2003, Ethan Dicks wrote: I'm sure that you have passed MANY more than have ever passed or driven by you.