Hey everyone, I am new to the forum and i drive a 98' Accord EX with a CAI and an insane system..but hopefully in a few months i'll be parting ways with it for a 2000 or 2001 Prelude..


But I digress..the reason i'm posting this is I have an informative speech due in 2 days and the topic i decided on is how a car works. I have divided it into three sections, pistons to transmission, transmission to driveshaft, and driveshaft to wheels. I have gotten pistons to transmission, but I just hit a wall. I'm not sure what a transmission does, I know there is manual and automatic but I just don't know the purpose. The same with the driveshaft. If anyone would like to give me an explanation, it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

 

A transmission pretty much takes the movement of the engine flywheel and transfers it to the wheels. You wouldn't need a transmission if you only wanted one gear ration. A transmission allows you to have more than one gear ration and reverse. If you goto howstuffworks.com it has some really good info along with helpful diagrams and animations.

 

howstuffworks.com will have some great info.

A transmission allows the engine to spin at a different speed then the wheels. It allows the car to have more power for pulling or accellorating in one gear (say 1st or 2nd), while allowing a good engine friendly and fuel conserving cruise speed in another(4th, 5th or 6th gear). The transmission is designed to keep the engine in it's optimum power spectrum in regards to different speeds and conditions.

The driveshaft(s) is the linkage between the transmission output and the wheels. It simply connects the two together. It should be capable of withstanding the engine's max torque.

 

You have rode a push iron (bike) with gears then you will know what they do

Lets say you bike has 10 gears. 1st gear you feet turn round many times compared with the distance travelled. Helps big time for climbing steep hills.
Then on the flat you select 10th gear. Your feet turn round alot less for the same distance, this allows you to cruise at higher speeds.
It really is the same in car.

Good luck with your speech

 

thanks guys i appreciate all of your help..one more question though..how does the driveshaft connect to the wheels?

 

In a front engine/rear drive car, it connects from the output of the transmission to the wheels by a a differential. From there, two individual drive axels are attached to each side and each one connects to the wheel through the wheel hub. In a front drive car (and mid engine car), the differential is built into the transmission, so two seperate drive axles are used to connect to each wheel hub straight from the transmission. If you're wondering how the shafts attach to the transmission and hubs, they use a splined shaft, which is a bunch of keyed groves that securely attach the things together (In the same way gears mesh, except these fit into one another). It also makes it easy to remove them, since you pretty much just pop them out.

 

WELL HELLO AND GOOD LUCK ON UR SPEACH...ID LIKE TO ADD SOME TO IT IF i CAN.

Engine:

All an engine does is produce rpm, a broad range of rpm....say from 500 rpm to 6500 rpm. Simply its an air pump with some fancy items.

FlyWheel:

Well this is what makes the movement of a car possible. The fly wheel has something called inertia. Inertia is a tendency. This item has a specific mass and size. The mass and size are intentional and directly related to how driveline works. If the flywheel was not present, the car would stall everytime a gear engaged.


TRANSMISSION:
A transmission is a mechanical device that maniges the torque (or rpm), produced by the engine, for that specific gear to create smooth movement. A transmission engages a single or multiple gears to create a ratio that will create the smoothest motion and achive the desired output.


Axle:
An axle can be defined in two ways. What it physically is and what it does. Its a tubular shaft (hollow or solid) and it transfers power a set distance.


Wheel:
Part of suspension that takes turning of trans & engine to car's acceleration. Puts power of car on ground.