From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
The features, specifications, and advantages of the New Maybach Transmission.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 128\2\ scan0086 | |
| Date | 5th March 1931 guessed | |
| THE NEW MAYBACH TRANSMISSION Four silent speeds conveniently selected at steering wheel without use of clutch pedal. - The advantages of electrical gear shift control without its drawbacks. Engine end Section Through New Maybach Transmission for Large Motor Cars, Buses, and Utility Vehicles. Type | DSG 40 | DSG 80 | DSGO 80 | DSG 110 --- | --- | --- | --- | --- Max. tourque mkg | 20 | 52 | 52 | 72 at r.{Sir Henry Royce} p. m.{Mr Moon / Mr Moore} | 1600* | 1600 | 1600 | 1000 Max. h.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} p. | 65* | 150 | 150 | 200 4th (direct) | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1.5:1 3rd, through gear wheels Nos. 1-2-4-3 | 1:1.43 | 1:1.5 | 1:1.53 | 1:1 2nd, through gear wheels Nos. 3-4-5-6 | 1:1.91 | 1:1.98 | 1:2.52 | 1:1.52 1st, through gear wheels Nos. 1-2-5-6 | 1:2.72 | 1:2.97 | 1:3.85 | 1:2.28 Ia, through gear wheels Nos. 1-2-7-8 | 1:4.52 | 1:4.5 | 1:5.48 | 1:4.72 Reverse, thr. gear wheels Nos. 1-2-7-9-10-8 | 1:3.8 | 1:3.7 | 1:4.5 | 1:3.95 Speedometer drive | Half cardan shaft speed for all types * In passenger cars, output and torque may be about 30% more. □ Power flow of DSG 110 does not correspond with the above indications. Section Through New Maybach Transmission for Medium Size Passenger Cars To say that present-day customary methods of shifting speeds in automotive vehicles are no longer equal to modern demands, is merely to state a universally accepted truth. For many years, attempts have been made to develop so-called automatic speed selecting gears designed to adapt transmission automatically to any gradient and running speed. Of these automatic gears there are two main types. One of them seeks to obtain adaptation to grades and speeds by the stepless variation of the reduction ratio, an aim which has, however, invariably been frustrated by the great complexity and resultant unreliability of the mechanism. The other type employs the usual four or more speeds, and aims to bring about their selection without any thought on the part of the driver. The trouble with this type is that it is defective in principle, as will become clear by considering its mode of action. In negotiating a grade at a pleasant speed, for instance, it would be undesirable to be suddenly disturbed by the functioning of the automatic gear shift, which was bound to engage the theoretically correct reduction at a moment where such shifting was neither wanted nor necessary. The guiding thoughth in the New Maybach Transmission is to do away with any kind of shifting effort, and to simplify control to te point where going from one speed into another is reduced to a simple though distinctly conscious utterance of the driver's will. This solution is based upon the principle of the well-known Maybach Overspeed Gear. This principle has now been extended to provide, not two speeds as hitherto, but four speeds, any of which may be selected at the steering wheel by a light pressure of the finger. To shift, the driver merely moves a small lever on the steering wheel to the desired position, raises the foot from the throttle lever for a moment, and immediately gives gas again. During this brief instant, the gears have been automatically shifted without the clutch having had to be operated. Apart from its convenience and simplicity, a particularly valuable point about this method of speed selection is that it enables the driver to keep both hands on the steering wheel. In shifting speeds in critical situations, whether in the crowded traffic of large cities, on mountain roads, or elsewhere, this is a most important advantage. The shifting is accomplished with the help of the engine vacuum, a method proved thoroughly successful in practice with the Maybach Overpseed Gear. That this method of control is highly dependable, is indicated by the fact that in many vehicles the vital braking function is controlled in the same way. Until recently, however, all attempts to employ such a vacuum control for operating the gear shift have always failed because it was impossible to engage the gears by purely mechanical means and without “feel”. This difficulty has now been overcome by the introduction of the Maybach “overrun” clutch, which renders it possible to change from one gear to another entirely without feel, at any speed, and no matter at what different velocities the gears may be running. [Image captions under dashboard diagrams]: 1st speed, 2nd, 3rd, 4th [Drawing numbers]: K1246, K1221 | ||