Evolution of gear shift patterns for six speed automatic transmission vehicle

Abstract

The increasing level of stringent exhaust emission regulations and the rising index of carbon dioxide emissions from the road transport sector have pushed vehicle manufacturers and designers to develop solutions for more efficient vehicles, with well designed vehicle transmission and gear shift patterns among the alternative approaches employed. For a six speed automatic transmission, the current article proposes a design method for developing a suitable gear ratio set and gear shift patterns. The MATLAB/Simulink platform was used to create the Maruti Suzuki 2020 four speed transmission model and the results were verified using experiment data. The effectiveness of the new selected gear ratio set and gear shift patterns was then evaluated using a six speed transmission model based on the validated four speed transmission model. To investigate fuel consumption and acceleration performance, all models were simulated based on motor vehicle emissions groups. Sport mode, eco mode, and combined both mode patterns were developed and analyzed. Based on the eco mode pattern, the six speed transmission model has a 2.74% lower fuel consumption rate than the four speed transmission model, indicating that the proposed design method is feasible and effective.