The engine is a workhorse. It is designed to perform work, and to be the driving force behind the vehicle. In order to be this, an internal combustion engine takes the linear motion of the pistons pumping, and converts it into rotational motion along the crankshaft. Through some well designed and rotating gearing mechanisms, known as the vehicle transmission , this twisting motion is harnessed and fed ultimately to the twisting driving wheels of the motor vehicle in order to provide the force to move the vehicle and its load from one place to another. It is the rotational twisting motion, which is fed by the engine’s combustion process, which is known as torque. Torque is the effort, provided by the linear combustion process, devoted toward twisting or turning a rotating component.

The transmission is the mechanism that captures the torque from the engine to multiply the torque received from the engine to suit the driving load and road speed. The word transmission also applies to the entire system of gearing by which the torque is transmitted from the engine to the road wheels.

The transmission is a system of trading speed for power, or vice versa, through gearing or torque conversion. The transmission includes various devices and combinations of devices that can change the ratio between engine revolutions and driving wheel revolutions.

Basically, there are two types of transmission, automatic and manual. Tiptronic transmission is a cross between the two, with the driver able to override the automatic transmission if they want to.We hope that helps answer the question ‘What is What is a Transmission?’!

Back to Car Glossary