Over the previous decades, the automotive business has gone through significant improvement and transformations. One of the areas with the most improvements is transmission systems. Among semiautomatic transmissions, Easytronic stands out as a positive combination of automatic and manual technical systems. This innovation provides drivers with advantages of manual driving and functionality of automatic gear shifting. Moreover, it eliminates the use of a clutch pedal. The paragraphs below will address the working principles of Easytronic and why it has become more and more popular among modern drivers.
What is Easytronic?
Easytronic straddles the divide between manual and automatic transmissions, and is a type of semi-automatic transmission. More accurately, an Easytronic is just a manual gearbox with an electronic control unit (ECU) that operates the clutch without the driver pressing a pedal. The result is a ‘kickdown' manual gearbox without a clutch pedal.
What this means in practise is that Easytronic allows the driver to perform the gear-change themselves, but it handles all the clutch-work automatically. Easytronic, then, is a half-way house between those who have grown up driving vehicles with manual gear boxes (the so-called ‘sticks', whether three-on-the-tree or the more typical five) and those who have come to expect the ease of a stick-free automatic.
How Does Easytronic Work?
The core hardware behind the Easytronic system consists of an electronically controlled clutch. Here's how it works:
Or in a Manual Mode, you can 'shif your shifter' without having to coordinate it with engaging the clutch or disengaging the clutch, with the clutch operations in both directions being done automatically by the ECU.
Automatic mode: The system makes all gear changes whilst you drive 1. When you are driving, you do not need to select or change gears or automatically cancel gears: you just go. Driving feels like driving with a conventional automatic.
Gearshift timing: It adjusts the timing of gear shifts according to the vehicle's speed, load and driving conditions, in order to balance fuel-efficiency and performance more effectively than is commonly possible with fully automatic systems.
Advantages of Easytronic
Easytronic has a number of advantages and therefore is attractive for many drivers who want to maintain the element of control while still making driving life easier:
no clutch pedal: … Easytronic is more accessible to more drivers, especiallty those who find operating a clutch for stop-and-go traffic unnecessary and tiring. This extra benefit for the driver reduces driver fatigue even further, making it easier to handle.
Fuel economy: Because Easytronic is built upon a manual transmission platform, it frequently provides more frugal fuel economy than full automatic transmissions, since the system coordinates shifts to reduce needless use of fuel, particularly in more congested town driving.
Low Maintenance Costs: Easytronic systems are less complex than conventional automatics and so are generally cheaper to repair and maintain. A manual gearbox means fewer mechanical components, thereby reducing repair costs.
Flexibility: You can switch between the automatic functions of TCS and ESP to enable manual control where this is necessary; for example, by overtaking or driving uphill and downhill.
Disadvantages of Easytronic
Despite its advantages, Easytronic is not without its limitations:
Slower Gear Changes: Some car owners comment on the gear changes Easytronic and Easytronic pro not being as quick or as smooth as the gear changes in a true automotive transmission (which is even faster than ZF's Easytronic pro). In particular, drivers feel a perceivable lag at high accelerations and ‘sporty' driving.
Learning Curve: Any driver who's accustomed to a fully automatic transmission is going to take some time to get comfortable with Easytronic. If shifting gears manually (in Easytronic's third or ‘Sport/Manual' mode), it might take some experience before you get the load/speed curve right.
Conclusion
Easytronic gives those drivers the improved fuel efficiency, flexibility and ease of use, with the control override of a manual transmission without the effort of a clutch pedal. If you like the touch, sound and feel of a real manual car, Easytronic won't be for you. For someone who enjoys a good drive, and is driving in a new environment, Easytronic is the best of both worlds: you can drive confidently and quickly in the city, and power through the long stretches between. For these reasons, Easytronic is perfect for beginners, advanced, and everyone in between.
